Bottles & Bites by Shari Goodman Natalie’s Challenge: Find a bottle. Pair with bites. My Goals: Bottle must be under $25. Bites must be delicious. Lemon Sponge Cake, Lemon Curd and Raspberry Ice Cream Sun meets bubbles in this pairing of bottle and bites. With a light but refreshing drink and dessert combination, this is sure to cool you off in the middle of a heat wave. I love bubbles in the summer. And Prosecco was made for summertime sipping. This Italian sparkling wine (Santa Margherita Brut Valdobbiadene Prosecco Superiore, $18.95) is a light, refreshing and affordable alternative to French […]
Dessert Wines
The Wine that Came in from the Cold: Icewine
Not a breath of wind caresses the snow-blanketed vineyards. The tar-black sky is pin-pricked with stars, and a full moon sends shadows slithering out between the scarecrow vines. Stooped figures in Arctic gear coax their bare fingers to snap off bunches of frozen grapes. That’s what the annual icewine harvest looks like in Niagara at this time of the year. It results in a wine that combines the sweetness of lusciously ripe fruit with a silver edge of acidity that’s as crisp as the winter wind. Despite its modern association with Canada, icewine was actually discovered in Germany, by accident, […]
Top 20 Canadian Icewines of 2015
It’s always a tough task choosing your favourite wines from any category, but when it comes to icewine, it’s even harder. I find there are few duds in this august group. However, here are my favourites that I tasted in 2015. I’d love to hear which ones you love, and which ones I’m missing. Click on the links below for the full wine reviews, food pairings and stock in your closest liquor store. Henry of Pelham Winery Riesling Icewine 2014 Niagara Escarpment, Ontario V.Q.A., Canada Alcohol: 9.5% Sweetness: Sweet Size: 375 ml Drink: 2014‐2022 LCBO: 430561 Score: 93/100 […]
Holiday Gift for Wine Lovers: Give the Gift of Great Wines Year Round
Wondering what to give the wine lovers in your life? How about a guarantee that they’ll enjoy every bottle they open? With a gift subscription to my wine reviews, they get exclusive access to my best value and top rated wines: red, white, rose, sparkling and dessert wines from around the world at all price points. They’ll discover wines they’ve never heard of that go amazingly well with a wide variety of dishes: bottles they would never have pulled off the shelf based on the label alone. No more disappointing bottles, no more paying too much for too little taste […]
Prosecco Wine Video Reviews for a Sparkling Night
On our Sunday Sipper Club via Facebook Live Video, we tasted a variety of Prosecco Italian sparkling wines. The discussion was lively, insightful, and many times, humourous :) You can read the 50 comments (!) here and even post one yourself. Prosecco wines were also part of our year-end big team tasting. Jennifer MacDonald Havers Wine Columnist, Ottawa Citizen Santa Margherita Brut Valdobbiadene Superiore Prosecco Veneto D.O.C.G., Italy Matt Steeves Wine Expert, CTV Morning Live Tenuta Lovia Conegliano Valdobbiadene Proseco Superiore […]
Best Bottles for Outdoor Dining: Wines for the Wet & Wild
By Rebecca Meïr-Liebman of Chef & Somm A couple of posts ago, I wrote about the best wines for summer entertaining – well, I have a bit more to say about the joys of summer sipping. Here’s Part Two, enjoy! Dip and Sip – The Pool Party Crunchy, oily, salty chips and hot dogs with all the fixin’s are so much fun under the sun, especially poolside! My preference is to wash this super-casual stuff down with an ice cold beer or cider, but there are a few playful wines practically made for chillaxin’ by the pool! Adamo Estate Winery Rosé, Hockley […]
Balderson Cheddar Cheese and Wine Pairings: Spot On!
Cheese expert Cecilia Smith and I had so much fun filming this spot for Balderson Cheddar. Of course, we had to be thorough with our research and played with various wine and cheese pairings throughout the day of the shoot. This spot airs on, and is posted with permission from: The Food Network, The Lifestyle Network, Home & Garden Television, W Network and other channels. I was fascinated with the production behind a 30-second spot: it took all day. The film crew were pros. Although I was ready to drop at the end of the day, it was […]
Holiday Wine Team Tasting: Your Wines for Gift Giving and Entertaining
On Sunday, 22 wine-loving, football-sacrificing souls (it was Grey Cup) gathered to taste more than 70 spectacular wines. Click on the arrow above to hear about Jennifer’s favourite wine from the tasting, a Chilean Carmenere with bright acidity, nice little spice, great for a wide variety of foods. Jennifer MacDonald Havers Wine Columnist, Ottawa Citizen Monique explains her reasons for picking Taittinger Champagne to toast her celebration events. Monique Ippolito Wine Columnist, Ottawa Living Magazine Craig’s take on Beringer Quantum […]
Pumpkin, Chocolate and Cheddar Muffins Recipe Paired with Torres Moscatel
Take a Trick or Treat Break Things are getting pretty spooky around here and in just a few days the kiddies will be lining up for yummy treats! I love seeing them all dressed up in their Halloween garb and can’t wait to give them the assortment of candy I bought. I especially can’t wait to whip up and enjoy a little trick or treat of my own. This great recipe for Pumpkin, Chocolate and Cheddar Muffins is the perfect mix of salty and sweet, with a surprising combination of chocolate and Canadian cheese – my two favourite […]
Undercover Sommelier
Unless you count the time I handed out plates at a church supper, I’ve never worked as a waiter. Of course, that hasn’t stopped me from commenting on the service in restaurants—particularly the wine service—as if I knew exactly what I was talking about. Now, to stopper my leaking credibility, I’ve decided to work in a restaurant for a night. Only the best would do, so I selected Le Baccara, an award-winning restaurant in Québec that offers haute French cuisine, with classic service. That would be just perfect for me, I thought—until I realized that as a […]
