Introduction Do you have trouble pairing wine with spicy dishes? What flavours can survive a spicy pairing? How do you pair wine and dishes with a lot of heat like Tex-Mex or vindaloo chicken? Why are Gen Xers so different as wine drinkers than millennials, and how is marketing to them changed? How can you improve your blood pressure and lower your risk of Alzheimer’s with wine? On today’s episode of Unreserved Wine Talk, I’m sharing my tips for finding the right wine for every spicy occasion and exploring both an interesting insight into wine marketing and a fascinating recent […]
Aromas in Wine
Wine Gossip and Stories with Friends of the Vine and Ian Osborn
Introduction On today’s episode, I’m chatting with Ian Osborn, on his excellent podcast called Friends of the Vine. This is a bit of a turnaround from my usual format because Ian is interviewing me. I highly recommend that you check out Ian’s podcast Friends of the Vine where he does a great job interviewing master sommeliers, masters of wine, winemakers and wine writers. I wanted to share this episode with you because we dug into lots of great wine tips, from how to talk with the sommelier to becoming the expert on your own taste. I also share some behind-the-scenes stories […]
A Game of Clones: A Journey into Croatian Wine
By Andrea Shapiro The Republic of Croatia, located in Eastern Europe is one of the oldest wine growing countries in the world, and yet is relatively unknown to the average Canadian like me. The region possesses both mediterranean and continental climates and a soil structure that travels the spectrum, from sandy to volcanic. The result is a terroir that is proficient at yielding a myriad of varietals – everything from global mainstays such as Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay and Merlot to indigenous grapes such as Graševina, Pošip and Plavac Mali. During the Cold War, as part of The Socialist Federal Republic […]
Wine Confidential: An Insider Look at the Wine World with Bianca Bosker
Introduction Bianca Bosker is an award-winning journalist and the author of the New York Times Best Seller, Cork Dork: A Wine-Fueled Adventure Among the Obsessive Sommeliers, Big Bottle Hunters, and Rogue Scientists Who Taught Me to Live for Taste, which has been hailed as the “Kitchen Confidential of wine.” Bianca has written about food, wine, architecture, and technology for The New Yorker online, The Atlantic, The New York Times, Food & Wine, The Wall Street Journal, The Guardian, and The New Republic, among other publications. Highlights How did Bianca stumble into wine while writing about tech at the Huffington […]
Dr. Gary Pickering’s Supertaster Wine Kit and Mouthfeel Wheel (Video)
Our guest this evening is a Professor of Wine Science and researcher at Brock University’s Cool Climate Oenology and Viticulture Institute, in Niagara. He holds a doctorate in Wine Science from Lincoln University in Canterbury. His focus is on wine flavour and sensory science. He has published more than 100 papers, patents, book chapters and conference proceedings. He is the inventor of the white wine mouthfeel wheel and the supertasting kit, and is co-developer of the Wine Aroma Kits. He’s the recipient of a number of research awards, and is passionate about wine education, and of course, wine. And he […]
A Vine Celebration: The 120th Anniversary of Nino Negri Wines
In October, I traveled to Italy with great excitement to participate in Nino Negri’s 120th Anniversary celebration. As I drove through the historic wine region of Valtellina, I was captivated by its breathtaking beauty and eager to participate in this year’s wine harvest. Valtellina is a serene valley at the foot of the Lombardy Alps, on the Italian-Swiss border. The “vine”, the heart of this difficult mountainous terrain, has found perfect growing conditions here. The vineyards are protected by two high mountain chains, the Retiche Alps and the Orobie Pre-Alps. Exposure to the sun at high altitude, as well as a significant […]
Getting Graphic with Wine and Madeline Puckette of Wine Folly
Would you like to learn more about wine regions, but find it difficult to keep them all straight? We know that tasting wine is a great way to learn about it, but did you know that the power of visuals can really accelerate your learning? That’s exactly what we’re going to learn tonight with our guest who joins me live from Seattle. Our guest this evening is Madeline Puckette, author of the New York times best-selling book Wine Folly! Click on the arrow above to watch the video. P.S. Join us Sunday November 5, at 6 pm eastern with Dr. […]
