How do you serve icewine? Food pairings with icewine?

    How do you serve icewine? Serve icewine chilled; an hour or two in the fridge will allow it to reach the ideal drinking temperature of 10C-12C. The traditional time to serve it is at the end of the meal, when most people already feel full. Many producers feel that icewine shouldn’t be called a dessert wine, as it stereotypes the wine into being consumed only at the end of a meal, when most people are already full. Conversely, French sauternes is also served at the beginning of a meal with dishes such as foie gras and cheeses. Icewine […]

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How to Find Budget-Friendly and Splurge-Worthy Wines? (Video)

On Global’s Morning Show, we chat about how to find budget-friendly and splurge-worthy wines.           Santa Margherita Brut Valdobbiadene Superiore Prosecco Veneto D.O.C.G., Italy                     Henry of Pelham Winery Cuvee Catharine Rosé Brut Niagara Peninsula, Ontario V.Q.A., Canada                 Taittinger Brut Reserve Champagne Champagne A.O.C., France                   Westcott Vineyards Chardonnay Vinemount Ridge, Niagara Peninsula, Ontario V.Q.A.                   Joseph Drouhin Chablis de Vaudon Chablis Burgundy, […]

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How to Pair Wine with Chips, Nuts and Snacks?

On Global Television’s Morning Show yesterday, we paired wine and snacks, from fish tacos to Sriracha chips from Loblaws’ President’s Choice Black Label line. Yes, there is a wine for sea salt giant corn nuts ;) . Click the arrow above to play the video.         Wine: Yalumba The Strapper GSM Grenache Shiraz Mataro             Food: PC 85% Cocoa Solids Extra Dark Chocolate Bar (100g): imported extra dark chocolate.     Food: PC 70% Cocoa Solids Dark Chocolate: Irresistibly delectable, imported pure dark chocolate. Excellent for snacking or baking.         […]

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How do You Pick a Great Gift Wine? 5 Tips for Festive Sips

Want to give someone a bottle of wine this year? On Global Television’s Morning Show, we chat about quick tips on how to choose a great gift wine this holiday.       Wine is a great gift because: –    one size fits all –    doubles are fine –    it’s easy to re-gift Also: – it’s easy to return for cash without a receipt – wine doesn’t have to be cared for and it should never be watered – it’s consumable so it doesn’t create clutter adding to more stuff in your home How to decide which wine to give? […]

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Best LCBO Wine Reviews: Vintages Ratings August 19, 2023

  You can access the wines that I reviewed as a text wine list with my complete tasting notes, scores, food matches. If you are a Paid Member, you can add my wine picks to your custom shopping list with one click and access that list on your smartphone to find the stock for each wine in your closest LCBO store. You can also see my wine reviews for August 5th. These are just some of the benefits of supporting out wine community as a Paid Member. Inventory stock numbers are usually posted online a day or two before the release based on the LCBO doing so. Curious […]

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Best LCBO Wine Reviews: Vintages Ratings December 3, 2022

  You can access the wines that I reviewed as a text wine list with my complete tasting notes, scores, food matches. If you are a Paid Member, you can add my wine picks to your custom shopping list with one click and access that list on your smartphone to find the stock for each wine in your closest LCBO store. You can also see my wine reviews for November 19th. These are just some of the benefits of supporting out wine community as a Paid Member. Inventory stock numbers are usually posted online a day or two before the release based on the LCBO doing […]

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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 […]

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How to Pair and Serve Wines at Dinner Parties (Video)

  The hosts of CTV’s The Social and I had lots of fun chatting about which wines to serve at dinner parties, pairing tips and other entertaining suggestions. If you’re hosting a dinner party, how many wines should you serve? Count on one to two glasses of wine per guest per hour, as people tend to drink more in the evening and at a sit-down dinner, than they do at a standing reception earlier in the day. There are 4-5 glasses of wine in a standard 750 ml bottle, so if you’re entertaining ten people for, say, three hours, counting […]

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6 Great Niagara VQA Wines to Drink + Visit

As we enter fall, there’s never been a better time to explore local wines and wineries. Here with her tips is Natalie MacLean who offers North America’s most popular online wine classes at nataliemaclean.com.   Welcome Natalie.   First tell us why it’s a great time to explore Niagara wines.   – Delicious and pair well with fall dishes – Fall harvest is beautiful time to visit the region – Support local producers, Every bottle of Canadian wine made from Canadian grapes contributes about $80 to the economy versus $18 for an import. $11.6 billion to the economy with spin […]

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How to Choose Wine from a Restaurant List like a Pro

On CTV’s The Social yesterday, we chatted about how to choose wine from a restaurant list, including how to indicate how much you want to pay without saying it out loud and sending back a bad bottle. On Twitter, many folks asked which rosé I poured for Teddy. It’s the lovely Anew Rosé from Columbia Valley in Washington State. On Marci’s table is the Jackson-Triggs Cabernet Shiraz. Hope these tips help you through you next restaurant wine experience. Ask for help Find someone who should the wine list well, usually the sommelier, the bartender or your server. Tell your sommelier a few […]

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