Flying with Flavour: Travel and Wine Stories with Stephanie Piché

Natalie MacLean
Nov6th
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Introduction

In this episode of the Unreserved Wine Talk podcast, we’re chatting with Stephanie Piché, a chef who in her never-ending quest for new flavours and experiences, has travelled the world to over 30 countries to gather insight and knowledge in international travel, luxury dining, local recipes and the world’s best wines. Enjoy!

 

Highlights

  • How did Stephanie stumble upon a secret cellar in Nice, France?
  • What did Stephanie find in the old cellar?
  • What was Stephanie’s Australian kangaroo encounter like?
  • How can you pair wine and kangaroo?
  • Why did Stephanie have to cringe at her driver’s etiquette in New Zealand?
  • What is Stephanie’s top restaurant dining etiquette tip?
  • Why is Spain Stephanie’s favourite country from her travels?
  • How is the food and wine culture in Spain different from Canada?
  • Which tapas are Stephanie’s favourites and which wines should you pair them with?
  • How does Stephanie create the chorizo dish that she describes as “Spain on a plate”?
  • What’s the best wine trip to take in Spain?
  • Why does Stephanie recommend Paco & Lola Albariño for people who are new to Albariño?
  • What makes Niagara wine festivals stand out?
  • Which wine festivals are Stephanie’s favourite?
  • Why does Stephanie like to pair spicy food with icewine?
  • What other foods can you pair with icewine?
  • Which wines would Stephanie make if she had her own winery?
  • Why does Stephanie like unfiltered Chardonnay and Pinot Noir?
  • What is an unfiltered wine?
  • What would Stephanie call her winery?
  • How was L’Acadie Blanc developed and how did it come to be the signature grape of Nova Scotia?
  • Why did Mike Mainguy bury three barrels of wine at Luckett Vineyards?
  • Why are California vintners experimenting with ageing wine in the ocean?
  • What advice would Stephanie give to her 30-year-old self?
  • What’s the best piece of wine advice Stephanie has ever received?
  • What are Stephanie’s favourite wine tools?
  • Why does Stephanie want to share a bottle of wine with Chef José Andrés?
  • Why does Stephanie encourage everyone to travel as soon as possible?

 

About Stephanie Piché

Stephanie Piché was literally born into the kitchen. All the women on both sides of her family are happiest when they are together cooking and serving food. Stephanie grew up in this atmosphere of love and laughter while learning family recipes that have been handed down for generations. It is this legacy that she safeguards and honours with the name of her company – Legacy Events Inc.

Although tradition is important to Stephanie, in her culinary arts she pushes traditional flavour boundaries at every opportunity by blending her intuition with her adventurous side to concoct an ever-growing bounty of mouth-watering dishes. Known for her unique and innovative ingredient combinations, Stephanie is a chef whose recipes continually surprise and delight. Her distinctive pairings of food and wines reveal a true gift for heightening the fine cuisine experience.

On her never-ending quest for new flavours and experiences, she has travelled the world to over 30 countries (actually…33 and counting!) to gather insight and knowledge in international travel, luxury dining, local recipes and the world’s best wines. With her own website and podcast dedicated to all things food, drink and travel, Stephanie meets, chats and consults with people all over the world through Skype, social media and in-person whenever she can.

 

Resources

 

Wine Reviews

 

Tag Me on Social

Tag me on social media if you enjoyed the episode:

 

Thirsty for more?

  • Sign up for my free online wine video class where I’ll walk you through how to taste wine and pair it with food like a pro – without the snobbery ;)
  • Join me on Facebook Live Video every second Wednesday at 7 pm eastern for a casual wine chat.
  • You’ll find my books here, including Unquenchable: A Tipsy Quest for the World’s Best Bargain Wines and Red, White and Drunk All Over: A Wine-Soaked Journey from Grape to Glass.
  • The new audio edition of Red, White and Drunk All Over is now available on Amazon.ca, Amazon.com and other country-specific Amazon sites; iTunes.ca, iTunes.com and other country-specific iTunes sites; Audible.ca and Audible.com.

 

Transcript & Takeaways

Welcome to episode 49!

In today’s episode, I’m chatting with Stephanie Piche, one of the knowledgeable people I’ve interviewed on wine and food pairing. I introduce the wonderful Stephanie fully when we jump into the episode.

I’ll also put links to Stephanie’s website and social media handles in the show notes at nataliemaclean.com/49.

Speaking of wine and food pairing, if you want to get a free copy of my Ultimate Food & Wine Pairing Guide, just email me at [email protected] and let me know what you like about the podcast and what I can do to improve it for you.

I’ve done several rehearsals of my new free wine and food pairing class with a practise audience and received terrific feedback and encouragement. I know you’re going to love it.

Be sure you’re on my contact list at nataliemaclean.com/join-us to know when it’s published in the next few days. It’s called The 5 Wine & Food Pairing Mistakes that Can Ruin Your Dinner and how to fix them forever. You’ll learn about that plus about my new in-depth, paid course called The Wine Smart Course: A Full-Bodied Framework to Taste, Pair and Buy Wines like a Pro.

Before we dive into the show, I’d like to give a shout out to Peter Humphries from Hamilton, Ontario who emailed me to say: “Thank you for this week’s episode on Texas wines. I learn something every week. I had no idea that Texas even had a wine region, let alone one that is that large. I was intrigued that one of the popular grapes makes up a large portion of their production: Tempranillo which I generally associate with Spain. This episode was most enjoyable.

Peter, I’m so glad you enjoyed episode 46! I know you’re going to enjoy this one with Stephanie. On with the show!

 

You can also watch the video interview with Stephanie that includes bonus content and behind-the-scenes questions and answers that weren’t included in this podcast.

 

Well, there you have it! Here are my takeaways from this terrific discussion with Stephanie:

  1. I love the way she weaves stories around her travels whether it’s tasting wine in the cellar in Nice or encountering a kangaroo in Australia.
  2. Stephanie anchors food and wine to places, like the bacala and Albarno or Spanish chorizo sausage and Rioja wine – Spain on a little plate.
  3. She, like me, believes that travelling to a place to learn about food and wine is one of the best ways you can learn and advises us not to wait until we have the funds to go first class.
  4. I love Stephanie’s advice to pair icewine with the main meal, not just dessert. I can’t wait to try KFC with it!
  5. She had some interesting backstories for why the Nova Scotia grape L’Acadie Blanc excelled there but not in Ontario, and how burying wines can make them taste smoother.

You’ll find links to Stephanie’s website and social media handles in the show notes at nataliemaclean.com/49. I’ve also posted a link to the video version of this interview.

What was your favourite tip or quote from this episode? Share that with me on Twitter or Facebook and tag me @nataliemaclean, on Instagram I’m @nataliemacleanwine.

If you liked this episode, please tell a friend about it, especially one who’s interested in learning more about wine and food pairing. My podcast is easy to find, whether you search Google on its name Unreserved Wine Talk, or on my name.

Finally, if you want to take your ability to pair wine and food to the next level, join me in a free online video class at nataliemaclean.com/class.

I can’t wait to share more wine stories with you next week.

Thank you for taking the time to listen to this one. I hope something great is in your glass this week, perhaps a Rioja with some chorizo sausage on the side!

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