Foodie apps for iPhones and Androids are all the rage of late (PC Magazine recently did a roundup of their favourites), and leading the charge is sommelier and “unapologetically tipsy” wine lass Natalie MacLean.
She recently launched a mobile wine app, offering roadside assistance for LCBO-goers moored hopelessly between the Argentina and Vintages racks.
The app allows users to pair food and drink from anywhere using a smartphone, then share the results via Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, text or e-mail. The app is available on the iTunes App or Google’s Marketplace for Android Apps, and provides access to the 200,000 wine reviews she’s compiled over six years. That’s a lot of tipsy.
Updated daily, MacLean’s app allows users can match food to drink—or vice versa—by first selecting a broad category (“veal,” “white wine”) followed by a specific one (“wiener schnitzel,” “pinot blanc”), and then reading up on the recommended drink.
The pairer can account for even the most unusual suspects, should provisions in the liquor cabinet or pantry run low. Among MacLean’s top 10 classic combos are lamb stew with Irish stout, macaroni and cheese with Argentine malbec, chocolate cake with Kentucky bourbon and (our personal favourite, for cast iron stomachs) spaghetti and meatballs with a bloody Mary.
As is the trend among tippling experts, MacLean goes democratic, including such budget-friendly bevvies as beer, coffee and tea alongside more traditional pairing picks, like wine, spirits and cocktails. (Colombian dark roast coffee, for example, is MacLean’s pick for toffee pudding.)
Oddly enough, the master taster’s favourite blends are “shabby-chic” duos, like Oreos and port. While there’s something slightly perverse about combining archetypal kids’ cookies with alcohol, we think we may just give it a shot—while booking dinner reservations and riding the King car, of course.
Published with permission of Toronto Life Magazine.
Posted with permission of the LCBO.
