On CTV’s Your Morning Yesterday, the network’s national breakfast show, we paired wine with vegetables and spring produce. Click the video above to watch. Intro Pairing red wine with a steak is easy, but can you drink that same wine with fresh spring produce, like asparagus or artichokes? Here to tell us how to pair wine with veggies and salads is Natalie MacLean, the editor of Canada’s largest wine review site at nataliemaclean.com. Welcome Natalie Station 1 Host: Natalie, why are vegetables harder to pair with wine than say […]
Diet Wine
6 Low-Alcohol Wines That Taste Great
If you love vino but want to lower your alcohol intake, there are lots of wines out there that fit the bill. But which ones are worth giving a try? Here to recommend some of her favourite low-alcohol wines is Natalie MacLean, who offers Canada’s most popular online wine classes. Lovely to see you, Natalie! Let’s start by explaining what is considered low alcohol in wine? • Most dry table wines are about 13% alcohol • Anything under that, I consider low alcohol and you’ll find that usually on the front or back label in tiny mice type Do low-alcohol […]
Can You Lose Weight While Drinking Wine?
Do we have to give up wine if we want to shed a few pounds? No! Click on the arrow above to watch the video … On CTV’s The Social, we put this notion to the test with a fun quiz show format on calories and wine. How many answers can you get right? Three of the wines we’ll taste are marketed as “diet wines” with just 70-80 calories: SkinnyGrape, SkinnyGirl and one other, plus two ringers. Two wines are not diet wines, but are naturally low in calories. The names of two wines give them away, but […]
Does Wine Make You Fat? Looking Through a Glass Thinly
My dieting heroine is Bridget Jones from the movie of the same name—not because she was that successful in losing weight, but because she never abandoned her glass of chardonnay (and still managed to snag Colin Firth). For me, dieting is unbearable if I have to give up all the sweets and my wine. (And if I stopped drinking, I’d be out of a job.) The good news is that you can drink wine without getting fat. When it comes to both calories and carbohydrates, moderate wine drinking won’t ruin your diet. Wine has no cholesterol, sodium or fat, […]
Can You Drink Wine on a Diet? Are Dry Wines Better Than Sweet?
Continued from Part 1 Wine Calories Alcohol contributes more calories than sugar. For example, a six ounce glass of slightly sweet German riesling, with just 7% alcohol, will still have fewer calories (about 110) than a dry, robust Australian shiraz with 15% at about 175 calories. Over the past five years, the level of alcohol in many wines has been increasing steadily. This is particularly true for wines from warm climates such as Australia, Chile and California. Grapes are being picked later in the season when they’re riper and laden with sugar, and consequently get fermented into higher-alcohol wines. […]
Bridget Jones Chardonnay Diet: Pairs Well With Neuroses
Continued from Part 2 Wine Diet Within two weeks of announcing their new low-carb wines, Brown-Forman received orders for more than 200,000 cases. The beer market has had similar success: since Michelob Ultra low-carb beer was launched in 2002, it has become Anheuser-Busch’s fastest-growing brand ever. Low calorie light beers comprise about 40% of the U.S. beer market. Is it even worth trying to save a couple of carbohydrates by drinking these wines? While every carb may count for some dieters, carbs from wine represent a small fraction of the total 50 to 60 carbs recommended in the Atkins […]
The Best Holiday Books & Bottles for Gift Giving
The holiday season is right around the corner. Looking for a great book or bottle to give to someone you love or perhaps as a treat for yourself? Here with her tips is Natalie MacLean, who offers Canada’s most popular online wine classes at nataliemaclean.com. Welcome, Natalie. Great to be here, Leanne! What’s the first pairing you recommend? We’re starting with one of my favourite authors, Dani Shapiro is known for her bestselling memoirs, especially Inheritance. Signal Fires is her first novel in more than 15 years, Signal Fires and it was worth the wait. It’s […]
Last-Minute Gift Ideas for Dad: Books and Bottles for Father’s Day
Father’s Day is this Sunday, and you might like to toast dad with a glass of wine or two, but what should you pair with your vino beyond BBQ? How about some terrific books? Here with her tips is Natalie MacLean, who offers Canada’s most popular online wine classes at nataliemaclean.com. What do you recommend first? We’re starting with Dad Bod: Portraits of Pop Culture Papas by Almonte author and new dad himself Cian Cruise. This is a collection of funny essays about fatherhood depicted in film, television, and video games. Whether they’re spouting homespun […]
Moms Sipping Sangria and Talking Wine with Sheila Walsh and Anita MacArthur
Introduction Which hilariously named Sangria recipe should you try today? How did an unintentional restaurant order spark my passion for wine? Why should you serve Pinot Noir in a big glass? How can you safely expand your wine horizons the next time you go to a store or restaurant? What do you need to know about low-cal wines? How can you use the “wet t-shirt trick” to quickly cool a bottle of white wine? In this episode of the Unreserved Wine Talk podcast, I’m being interviewed by Sheila and Anita for the Moms Sipping Sangria podcast. You can find the wines […]
Champagne Special with the Restaurant Guys Mark Pascal and Francis Schott
Introduction In today’s episode, I’m chatting with Mark Pascal and Francis Schott, on their excellent radio show The Restaurant Guys. They’ve been in the fine dining and wine retail business for more than 25 years, and co-own Stage Left Restaurant in New Brunswick, New Jersey, which the New York Times has ranked in their excellent category and Citysearch named among the Top 10 Restaurants in America and Worth The Drive from any Major City. Since I’ve chatted with them, they’ve launched a second restaurant called Catherine Lombardi and their Stage Left Wine Shop is booming. Although their radio show was […]
