The holidays are right around the corner. So here with her tips to make your holiday entertaining a breeze is Natalie MacLean who offers Canada’s most popular online wine classes at nataliemaclean.com. What’s your first tip? Keep it simple. I’m not sure why many of us turn into frantic mini-Martha Stewarts at this time of this year, wanting everything to be perfectly matching, preparing everyone’s side dish, stocking our cellars with more wine than we could possibly drink in a month, but we do. So take a breath, relax and start with bubbly. Sparkling wine is a great aperitif […]
Chocolate pairing
Video: Wine, Lamb and Ham Pairing for Easter
Here’s part two of our conversation about pairing wine with lamb and wine with ham for Easter, though the pairing tips apply year-round if you love these dishes and the wines that make them taste even better. I’ve also included tips on pairing wine with chocolate bunnies … it doesn’t matter whether you start with the ear or the tail! Leanne: Really, the perfect Easter egg hunt takes place at LCBO for Natalie MacLean who is a celebrated wine writer, who’s here offering great tips for your weekend and we have to talk about chocolate. Natalie: Absolutely! Leanne: Just […]
Galentine’s Day Wines for Your Besties Get-Together (Video)
Valentine’s Day is coming up, but what if you’re not in a relationship? There’s a special day for you, too. It’s called Galentine’s Day and it happens every year on February 13th. On CTV News, we chat about terrific wines to drink on both days. Let’s start with what is Galentine’s Day? – It’s one of those made-up micro-holidays, like Friendsgiving just before Thanksgiving, that’s a reaction against the day that commercializes romance and instead celebrates platonic love/female friendship and the bond that lasts longer: women and wine! – As one embroidered pillow on Etsy read: Happy […]
5 Romantic Wine & Chocolate Matches for Valentine’s Day
Bev and I chat about 5 to-die-for wine and chocolate pairings on Canada AM. Bev: Valentine’s Day is famous for flowers and romance and decadence. Mix in a little vino and a sweet treat and you’ve got quite a celebration. Natalie MacLean is the author of Unquenchable. She’s an expert when it comes to wine pairings, and this morning she’s in our studio to help us choose fine wine and chocolate combinations. Which is so perfect. Does it get any better than that? Natalie: No, especially if you like to layer your vices. So, don’t just have wine […]
50 Ways to Keep Your Lover: Matching Wine and Chocolate
50 Ways to Keep Your Lover this Valentine’s Day Want to seduce someone this Valentine’s Day? Just share a glass of wine (or three) with your sweetheart. Wine is liquid sensuality: Its heady bouquet stimulates the appetite and its velvet caress soothes that desire. What other drink is described as both ‘voluptuous’ and ‘muscular’? And when you pair wine with the mouth-coating luxury of chocolate, the combination is impossible to resist. The creamy flavors of chocolate go best with sweet, full-bodied, high-alcohol wines. Find wines to complement 50 chocolate dishes in my matching tool at www.nataliemaclean.com/matcher. Just click on “desserts” […]
8 Great Holiday Wines & Spirits (Video)
On CTV’s Your Morning, we chat about the holidays. As they approach, we look forward to entertaining friends and family. What’s a good drink to serve to guests when they arrive? Sparkling wine is the drink of celebration, especially at this time of year. I’d recommend these two: Township 7 Vineyards & Winery Seven Stars Sirius 2015 Okanagan Valley, British Columbia BC, V.Q.A., Canada PondView Estate Winery Bella Terra Sparkling Rosé 2020 Niagara Peninsula, Ontario V.Q.A., Canada Both are zesty and […]
The 11 Best Wines for Easter and Passover This Year
Easter and Passover are right around the corner. That means it’s time for traditional holiday favorites like roast lamb and chocolate bunnies. But what are the best wines to pair with your celebrations? Wine expert Natalie MacLean is here with some tips. So when it comes to chocolate we need to have wine that’s sweeter, if we don’t do that, the wine will taste bitter by comparison. So the number one pick that I recommend for chocolate is port. I love a good tawny port like this one. It’s a fortified wine, meaning it has higher alcohol, so it’s […]
Wine Supertasters, Food Pairings and Canadian Palates with XChateau’s Robert Vernick & Peter Yeung
Introduction What does it mean to be a supertaster? How did wine consumption habits change during the pandemic? Do Canadians have different wine preferences compared to drinkers in other regions? Why is food and wine pairing such a great way to get into the world of wine? In this episode of the Unreserved Wine Talk podcast, I’m being interviewed by Robert Vernick and Peter Yeung, co-hosts of the XChateau podcast. You can find the wines we discussed here. Join me on Instagram, Facebook and YouTube Live Video Join the live-stream video of this conversation on Wednesday at 7 pm eastern on […]
Chilean Wine in the Driest Place on Earth & England’s Storied Wine History with Janina Doyle
Introduction Are you curious about British wines and their history that dates back to King Henry VIII? How is wine made in the driest place on Earth and where is that exactly? Are stemless wine glasses better than traditional stemware? In this episode of the Unreserved Wine Talk podcast, I’m chatting with Janina Doyle, sommelier and host of the Eat Sleep Wine Repeat podcast. You can find the wines we discussed here. Join me on Instagram, Facebook and YouTube Live Video Join the live-stream video of this conversation on Wednesday at 7 pm eastern on Instagram Live Video, Facebook Live Video […]
Icewine and Chocolate Pairing Video
In this second video chat, Karen King talks about pairing icewine with chocolate as well as being on the CBC TV show The Big Decision. You can also see the Icewine cocktails we discussed in part one of our conversation … Blue Cheese and White Wine Pairing: Video Part 3 Building a Persuasive Wine Brand: Arlene Dickinson Restaurant Wine Service: The good, the bad and the ugly with Scott Carney, MS See all wine video chats here. Icewine and Chocolate Pairing Video Natalie: We’re back with Karen King of The Ice House. We’re talking about her ice […]
