The end of the year always brings flurries of new wine books, many of which are destined to become gifts for some wine lover. Two topics are getting a lot of attention this year: budget wines, and the tension between technology and “naturalness” in winemaking. For a view of “budget” wine, there’s “Unquenchable: A Tipsy Quest for the World’s Best Bargain Wines” by Natalie MacLean. Her book is arranged by days of the week, with each day representing a region of the world. The Australia chapter (Sunday) focuses most of its attention on Penfolds and Henschke. Each chapter ends with […]
Book: Unquenchable
Restaurant Wine Lists: Choosing Wines, Sommeliers, Fair Markups – The Restaurant Guys Radio Show
I chat with radio hosts Mark and Francis about restaurant wine lists, from advice on how to choose wines from a list to whether the markups are fair. We also cover a wide variety of other wine topics, including how do you earn a living from wine writing and the new book Unquenchable to shopping for wine with mobile apps and the power of social media, especially Twitter and Facebook, for finding new wines you love.
Book Filled with Humorous Character Sketches and Mouth-Watering Descriptions – The Suburban Magazine
Traipsing around the world sampling the finest wines each region has to offer is the burden Natalie MacLean has chosen for herself — an unlikely career for a Nova Scotia-bred, Ottawa-based wine writer who didn’t grow up drinking the nectar of the gods. “It was beer and whiskey on the table,” says MacLean, adding that she only began tasting the stuff in graduate school when she met her husband. “We started going out for dinner and he would order a bottle of wine and it was unlike anything else. Wine just held this fascination for me and I thought I […]
If you do consider going to any of the seven regions covered in MacLean’s book, you would be foolish to leave home without her – The Atlanta Journal Constitution
Did you ever want to take a trip to wine country with an expert who could not only give you background on what you were tasting and how it was made, but is also loads of fun and not afraid to tip back a few glasses of wine with you? Well, Natalie MacLean isn’t giving any tours, but in her book, Unquenchable: A Tipsy Quest for the World’s Best Bargain Wines, you get to see many of the world’s great wine region’s through her thoroughly mischievous eyes. Unquenchable is the follow-up to Red, White and Drunk All Over, which chronicled […]
Great Insider Tips on Wine – Sympatico.ca
‘Tis the season for feasts, treats and wine tasting. Here are some of our top picks for the food or wine lover on your list. Unquenchable: A Tipsy Quest for the World’s Best Bargain Wines by Natalie MacLean Good food requires that perfect bottle of wine! With this in mind, Canadian award-winning author Natalie MacLean journeys to the vineyards of Germany, Australia, and Niagara — as well as to scenic, offbeat locations in southern Italy, the Mediterranean, Argentina, Chile and South Africa — all in search of the best bargain bottles the world has to offer. Along the way, Natalie […]
This timeless book is full of insider tips, hilarious humor, adventures, funny stories and key tips on how to locate wines with the best value – Culture Vulture Victoria Magazine
This holiday season give a book to your favorite wine, spirits or culinary lover: Unquenchable: A Tipsy Quest For The World’s Best Bargain Wines by Natalie MacLean. This timeless book is full of insider tips, hilarious humor, adventures, funny stories and key tips on how to locate wines with the best value. MacLean takes her readers on a wine journey to eight of the world’s best winemaking regions using her palate and smart wit. With each region she suggests a wine for each night of the week. The goal of this book is to “demystify wine price in relation to […]
The Year’s Most Entertaining and Genuinely Useful Wine Book does for the rest of the world what Kermit Lynch’s did for France – Louisville Courier Journal
The bookshelves in my kitchen long ago exceeded their maximum capacity. Nowadays, those shelves are stocked only with essential titles that come in handy when emergencies arise — like when I forget how to truss a moose or the best way to deodorize a durian. Most of my books about food and beverages are shelved with the rest of the library, a few feet away from the volumes of poetry and fiction, and fantasy — a category that includes the many dozens of tomes that promise to improve my golf swing. In case your holiday shopping list includes books about […]
The author has emerged as one of the most gifted, entertaining and downright funny wine writers – Dayton Daily News
If you have a wine enthusiast or two on your holiday gift list, but feel intimidated at the very thought of trying to find just the right bottle of wine to give them, give the gift of words instead. The 2011 vintage was a robust and satisfying one for wine books. There are some very fine reads available on bookstore shelves and online at various book-seller Internet sites, and the price is right. Your gift recipients can light a warming fire, pour themselves a sampling from one of their favorite bottles, snuggle into the couch and learn a thing or […]
I’m a sucker for good narrative, and I found it in Unquenchable Demystifying Wine Pricing in Relation to Quality – Serious Eats
I like Natalie MacLean’s entertaining and often cheeky writing about wine. Other wine writers might describe riesling as “refreshing in a world awash with vanilla, oak, and jam.” But how many of them would follow that up with this aside (“In life and in wine: too much foreplay is frustrating and too quick satiation is boring.”) without us collectively screaming “Nooo!! TMI!” But in MacLean’s writing, such sassiness works. She’s an everywoman of wine, and in her latest book, Unquenchable: A Tipsy Quest for the World’s Best Bargain Wines, MacLean turns her attention to “demystifying wine pricing in relation to […]
Gourmand World Cookbook Awards Best Drinks Book – Unquenchable
Just received news that Unquenchable was selected as the winner of the 2011 Gourmand World Cookbook Awards Best Drinks Book. Off to get a top up now and continue the research …
