Bring Your Own (Wine) Bottle (BYOB) Etiquette

  Top Fan Paul E Hollander · Don’t often visit chain restaurants preferring more the locally owned ones. But Coopers Hawk Winery and Ruth’s Chris have excellent lists. Guyanne Desforges · 15:29 I find that good restaurant don’t allow or charge too much…the last time I brought wine at a restaurant was at Vieux Dulude in Quebec. (it’s been a while). however after tonight’s discussion, I will call around and choose a restaurant where we can bring it. Jenn Havers · 8:11 We “over bought” some wine in California on our honeymoon, so ended up enjoying a few in restaurants over the last few days of our trip! […]

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Gripping Wine Stories with San Francisco Chronicle Wine Columnist Esther Mobley

Introduction In this episode of the Unreserved Wine Talk podcast, we’re chatting with Esther Mobley, on the gripping stories that catapulted her to become the columnist for one of the most prestigious wine columns in North America, the San Francisco Chronicle, at just 24 years of age. Enjoy!   Highlights How did Esther’s college admissions essay end up in the New York Times? Why did Esther decide to spend her gap year working at a vineyard? What experiences from the vineyard in Napa piqued Esther’s interest in the wine world? Should wine writers all experience winemaking? What came next for […]

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Why You Need to Know Malbec Truly, Madly, Deeply

Introduction Have you tried Malbec? Did you like it? Which ones are your favourites? From Argentina to France,  Malbecs are not all created equal. For me, it was an Argentine Malbec that first piqued my curiosity, leading me to start buying more. I followed that curiosity down to Argentina itself in my second book, Unquenchable: A Tipsy Search for the World’s Best Bargain Bottles. On this episode, in honour of World Malbec Day, I’m taking you with me on a journey to the Bodega Catana Zapata winery in Argentina to chat about all things Malbec and explore why Malbec is […]

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Wine and Books: Holiday Gifts – Breakfast Television

This past Thursday, we chatted about book and bottle pairings as holiday gifts on Breakfast Television. Words and wine seem like a natural pairing to me … here are my favourites. What are yours?   1. Books are Beautiful The publisher selected 30 classic works of literature and assigned each a beautiful colour. Then the editors organized them in a rainbow of words so spectacular that you’re going to want to line them up on your shelves and just look at them.               Wolf Blass Yellow Label Sparkling Brut, South East Australia, Australia: Green […]

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Celebrate Malbec World Day with These Wines (Video)

Even before she graduated from South America’s most prestigious school of viticulture and enology Don Bosco, our guest this evening began working for the Catena Family wineries in Mendoza, Argentina. In 2010, she began making wine at Alamos before taking over as head of winemaking in 2016. She lives her her husband, who is also a winemaker, and four young daughters who are all growing up and working on their family vineyard as she did. And she joins me live now from the Alamos Winery, Argentina: Welcome to the Sunday Sipper Club Marnie and Lucía Vaieretti! Want to know when […]

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Tasting Trapiche Wines from the Mountaintop to the Skytop

  Recently, Canada’s top wine writers and sommeliers gathered in the nation’s capital for a portfolio tasting with Sergio Case, head winemaker with Trapiche Winery in Argentina. Not only did he take us through a spectacular lineup of upcoming releases, but the event was also hosted at Ottawa’s newest event space, the glass-encased ballroom in the sky on the 22nd floor of the Westin Hotel. It’s a 3,200 square foot ballroom with a 270 degree view of downtown Ottawa, the Parliament buildings, the Ottawa River, and the Gatineau Hills, with the leaves starting to turn colour. You can watch the entire […]

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Video: Blending Wine & Medicine with Argentina’s Dr. Laura Catena

What a terrific chat with Dr. Laura Catena, a fourth generation Argentine vintner, physician and author! Click on the arrow above to watch the video. Listen to Laura’s stories about why Catena wines are so special. Discover more juicy tips that will make you wine smart. Cheers, Natalie We’ll be simultaneously broadcasting on Facebook Live, YouTube Live Stream and Twitter Live Video via Periscope. Watch previous episodes of the Wednesday Wining Show (WWS)  and find out who’s coming up next. If you’d like to read the comments for this tasting, or make a comment yourself, visit: https://www.facebook.com/natdecants/videos/10155436261769845/ Here’s a sampling […]

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Mark Oldman: The Wine World’s Greatest Showman Video

What a terrific chat with Mark Oldman author of How to Drink Like a Billionaire! Click on the arrow above to watch the video. Listen to Mark’s stories about adventures in the wine world. Discover more juicy tips that will make you wine smart. Cheers, Natalie   P.S. Join us next Sunday, August 6, at 6 pm eastern right here with Ann Sperling, Winemaker Southbrook Vineyards: www.nataliemaclean.com/live Want to know when we go live next Sunday with Ann Sperling? Click on the Follow and Like buttons on this page to get notified when we go live. We’ll be simultaneously broadcasting […]

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Tasting the Cool Climate Wines of Argentina’s Secreto Patagonico

  By Melissa Pulvermacher Another tasting during my time at the 2016 i4C Cool Climate Chardonnay Celebration was with Secreto Patagonico’s Production and Sales Manager, Tomas Groppo Parisi. Secreto Patagonico is in the southern hemisphere in Patagonia, Argentina. A lot of us immediately think of Mendoza, heat and Malbec when we think of Argentina, which may leave us a bit confused with the relevance to cool climate wines in this situation. Patagonia is actually in the south of Argentina and remember that in the southern hemisphere, the south is a lot cooler than the northern regions. Mendoza, the Malbec-famous region, […]

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Wine Tasting Hackathon: New Way of Social Wine Discovery

Our second team wine tasting yesterday felt like a family reunion. Sommeliers and wine bloggers from Toronto and Montreal flew or drove in to join those from the east to west ends of Ottawa. There was an instant camaraderie among those gathered here who recognized each other as fellow contributors to our online community. What I admire most about these reviewers is that although they have sterling wine credentials and training, they keep it real and conversational — with an effort to connect, not to impress. The tasting also struck me as the wine version of a hackathon. In the […]

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