Moms Sipping Sangria and Talking Wine with Sheila Walsh and Anita MacArthur

Natalie MacLean
Oct28th
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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 we discussed here.

 

Highlights

  • Which hilariously named Sangria recipe should you try today?
  • How did an unintentional restaurant order spark my passion for wine?
  • Which aspects of Pinot Noir will you find especially inviting?
  • Why should you serve Pinot Noir in a big glass?
  • What red wine components might give you a headache?
  • What influences your buying decisions when shopping for wine?
  • How can you safely expand your wine horizons the next time you go to a store or restaurant?
  • Are there certain things you should consider before ordering the house wine?
  • What do you need to know about low-cal wines?
  • What’s my take on homemade wine?
  • Why should you consider giving canned and Tetra Pak wines a try?
  • Should you always serve wine at room temperature?
  • Are there advantages to you taking a wine and food pairing class online versus in person?
  • What simple tip can you apply to improve your wine and food pairing today?
  • How can you use the “wet t-shirt trick” to quickly cool a bottle of white wine?
  • What are your best bets for choosing wine for Sangria?
  • How should you drink Rosé?

 

Start The Conversation: Click Below to Share These Wine Tips

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The waiter said “Would you like the Brunello?” and we thought, “Yeah, that sounds like a great pasta dish!” - Natalie MacLean Natalie MacLean Click to tweet

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Pinot Noir is my favourite go-to wine because it’s, I think, the wine of hedonists. It’s got all the cherry, berry flavour you love but not the heavy oak and alcohol that will leave you asleep on the sofa at 7. - Natalie MacLean Natalie MacLean Click to tweet

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Wine is a purchase that’s unlike most other consumer products… You can’t try it before you buy it. - Natalie MacLean Natalie MacLean Click to tweet

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Cool climate means that there are fewer ripening days and sunlight and heat to ripen the grapes. As a result, those grapes have less sugar than in a warm climate. Less sugar translates into lower alcohol. Lower alcohol means fewer calories. - Natalie MacLean Natalie MacLean Click to tweet

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If you’re serving red wines in summer heat or in centrally heated homes, it’s often too warm. - Natalie MacLean Natalie MacLean Click to tweet

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Wine has a lot of social hangups but I think the online aspect can really remove a lot of that for people. - Natalie MacLean Natalie MacLean Click to tweet

 

About Moms Sipping Sangria

Long-time friends Sheila Walsh and Anita Reynolds MacArthur are experts on parenting tweens, teens, and young adults. What makes them experts? For starters, they are each raising three children (yep, that’s SIX kids combined!) ranging in age from 11-21. Although they are in the trenches trying to raise good human beings while managing full-time careers, they appear to be surviving the teen years (knock on wood!).

Anita is the former Senior Editor for Lifestyle & Parenting at Walmart.ca. She is a Digital/Print Content Specialist with extensive experience in Educational Publishing K-12. Sheila is a professional Broadcaster, voice talent and Media Professor at The Faculty of Media and Creative Arts at Humber College.

 

Resources

 

Join me on Facebook Live Video

Join me on Facebook Live Video every second Wednesday at 7 pm eastern for a casual wine chat. Want to know when we go live?

Add this to your calendar:

 

 

Tag Me on Social

Tag me on social media if you enjoyed the episode:

 

Thirsty for more?

  • Sign up for my free online wine video class where I’ll walk you through The 5 Wine & Food Pairing Mistakes That Can Ruin Your Dinner (and how to fix them forever!)
  • Join me on Facebook Live Video every second Wednesday at 7 pm eastern for a casual wine chat.
  • You’ll find my books here, including Unquenchable: A Tipsy Quest for the World’s Best Bargain Wines and Red, White and Drunk All Over: A Wine-Soaked Journey from Grape to Glass.
  • The new audio edition of Red, White and Drunk All Over: A Wine-Soaked Journey from Grape to Glass is now available on Amazon.ca, Amazon.com and other country-specific Amazon sites; iTunes.ca, iTunes.com and other country-specific iTunes sites; Audible.ca and Audible.com.

 

Transcript & Takeaways

Welcome to episode 100!

What’s the quickest way to chill a bottle of wine? How can the lemon and butter test help you pair wine with food? Which wines should you use for sangria? And why are online wine courses surging in popularity?

That’s exactly what you’ll discover in this episode of the Unreserved Wine Talk podcast. I’m chatting with Sheila Walsh and Anita Reynolds MacArthur, hosts of the wonderfully entertaining podcast Moms Sipping Sangria. They’ve got 6 kids between them. During each episode, these working moms discuss the ups and downs of motherhood while navigating the pre-teen, teen, and young adult years.

On this episode, they’re actually interviewing me, and we laugh and share stories on everything from gruesome homemade wine to early family experiences with wine.

This is episode 100, and I’d like to thank you for helping to make this podcast one of Apple’s Best Listens of the YEar as well as one of the New York Times 7 Best Drinks Podcasts.

I’d also like to thank my podcast editor Alex Stennett and social media manager Ellen Macdonald, without whom I could not have produced this podcast, or stuck with it to get to 100 episodes.

To celebrate this milestone, I’m announcing the winners of the 3 signed hardcover editions of my second book, Unquenchable, named one of Amazon’s Best Books of the Year. These are going to the three people who come up with the best ideas on how to celebrate this milestone and/or who suggest great interview candidates for the next 100 episodes.

So here there are…. Drumroll please!

Jessica Seitz from Grand Prairie, Alberta who says:

I listen to your podcast regularly and try to catch your Wednesday evening facebook live appearances when I can. Lately you have been mentioning you are looking for ideas to celebrate your 100th podcast that is coming up (congratulations!). I would like to suggest that you release a list of your ‘Top 100 wines.” As a reader and follower of many wine magazine/websites/podcasts I realize a list of 100 wines can be daunting to a reader let alone making one but I would suggest breaking it into smaller chunks like 25 top red, white, sparkling and sweet wines (dessert, ice wines, ports, etc). Then you can still have it be a top 100 without it seeming so daunting to readers and they can go to the section they are most interested in or would match what they are eating it with.

 

Our second winner is John Calderone from Mount Horeb, Wisconsin who suggests:

  1. Bring back one memorable guest from the first 99 episodes and ask just followup questions. What have you been up to? What is new and exciting? How are you dealing with Covid – something (asking questions is kind of what you do best).
  2. Tell us the 100 things you have learned since doing this. Each is quick – many 1 sentence.

I love the podcasts :-)

JC

 

Our third winner is

Ivette Ortiz from Costa Rica

I am one of your followers on social media and your podcast and I happened to listen to episode 93 today. I’m an Opera singer and a CSW candidate with the Society of Wine Educators. I started a project named DeCanta, combining my knowledge of wine and music to do musical pairings, creating a sensorial experience for people while tasting wine. I work with my husband who is an opera singer as well, we have done events online due to the pandemic and also because I started this project to be able to sing for an audience and support my husband who is a freelance and out of job due to the shutdown of opera houses.

I thought that we could pair opera or songs and wine, you could tell me which wines and I will choose the music according to the characteristics of the wines you choose, I will do the music part and you will use your wine expertise. It will be fun and people can enjoy music and wine together.

 

This is a great suggestion and I’ll definitely be booking you for an interview in the New Year when I run out of my booked guests. Speaking of that, I’m looking for suggestions for the 2021 lineup, so please email me at [email protected] if you’d like to recommend a colourful winemaker, sommelier, wine or food writer, or celebrity who has a terrific wine story to tell.

Congratulations to the three winners! I’ll be reaching out to you via email to confirm your mailing addresses.

Okay, on with the show!

–

Well, there you have it! I hope you enjoyed my chat with Anita and Sheila on everything from chilling wine and making sangria to restaurant house wines and taking online wine courses.

Speaking of that, you’ll You can find a link free online wine and food pairing class in the show notes, along with links to the Moms Sipping Sangria podcast, their social media channels, and where you can find me on Facebook live every second Wednesday at 7 pm, that’s all in the show notes at nataliemaclean.com/100.

You won’t want to miss next week when I’ll be chatting with Andrea Kaiser who grew up in Niagara-on-the-Lake amidst the winemaking revolution fueled by her father, the legendary Karl Kaiser, co-founder and winemaker of Inniskillin Wines. Andrea has created her own illustrious career in wine and is now the Chair of the Wineries of Niagara-on-the-Lake. She’s going to chat with us about how the wineries are coping with Covid, tips on visiting wineries now, and what you can do to support these local businesses, including the special holiday packages of wine you can buy online now. I’ll include a link for that in the show notes.

In the meantime, if you missed episode 49 with Stephanie Piche who chats about Niagara wines and the annual icewine festival, go back and take a listen. I’ll share a short clip with you now to whet your appetite.

If you liked this episode, please tell one friend about it this week, especially someone you know who’d be interested in the wine tips that I shared.

Thank-you for taking the time to join me here. I hope something great is in your glass this week, perhaps a wine pairs perfectly with birthdays and other milestone celebrations!

 

Transcript

Unknown Speaker 0:00
Now we noticed on your website you’re holding a glass of red only in those photos, are we to presume that red is your go

Unknown Speaker 0:06
to? Absolutely that glass has long been finished, but it’s been refilled many, many times. That’s not just a prop. That glass is a big one. That’s the one you use for Pinot Noir. my favourites go to wine because it’s I think the wine of hedonist it’s not all of us sort of cherry berry flavour you could love but not the heavy oak and alcohol that will leave you asleep on the sofa at seven. So it’s often served in a big glass because it has so many wonderful, beautiful aromas. Some of those glasses get so big I swear you could probably have a facial in one afterwards.

Unknown Speaker 0:42
There’s an idea.

Natalie MacLean 0:52
Do you have a thirst to learn about wine? Do you love stories about wonderfully obsessive people, hauntingly beautiful places and amusingly awkward social situations? Well, that’s the blend here on the unreserved wine talk podcast. I’m your host, Natalie MacLean. And each week, I share with you unfiltered conversations with celebrities in the wine world, as well as confessions from my own tipsy journey as I write my third book on this subject. I’m so glad you’re here. Now pass me that bottle please. And let’s get started. Welcome to Episode 100. So what’s the quickest way to chill a bottle of wine? How can the lemon and butter test help you pair wine with food? Which wines should you use for sangria? And why are online courses surging in popularity? That’s exactly what you’ll discover. In this episode of The unreserved wine talk podcast. I’m chatting with Sheila Walsh and Anita Reynolds MacArthur hosts of the wonderfully entertaining podcast, mom’s sipping sangria. They’ve got six kids between them. During each episode, these working moms discuss the ups and downs of motherhood while navigating the preteen teen and young adult years. just tired listening to that. On this episode, they’re actually interviewing me and we laugh and share stories about everything from homemade wine to early family experiences with wine. They’re not one in the same by the way. This is Episode 100. And I’d like to thank you so much for helping make this podcast one of Apple’s best lessons of the year, as well as one of the new york times seven best drinks podcasts. I’d also like to thank my podcast editor, Alex Stennett, and Social Media Manager Ellen McDonald, without whom I could not have produced this podcast or stuck with it to get to 100 episodes. To celebrate this milestone, I’m announcing the winners of the three sign hardcover editions of my second book unquenchable, named one of Amazon’s best books of the year. These are going to the three people who came up with the best ideas on how to celebrate this milestone, or who suggested great interview candidates for the next 100 episodes. And so here they are, drumroll please. First up is Jessica sits from Grand Prairie Alberta who writes I listen to your podcast regularly and I try to catch your Wednesday evening Facebook Live appearances when I can. Lately you’ve been mentioning that you’re looking for ideas to celebrate your hundredth podcast that’s coming up. Congrats. I’d like to suggest that you release a list of your top 100 wines. As a reader and follower of many wine magazines, websites podcasts, I realised that a list of 100 wines can be daunting to the reader, let alone making one Aha. But I would suggest breaking it into smaller chunks like the top 25, red, white, sparkling and sweet wines, then you can still have it as top 100 without making it so daunting to readers and they can go to the section that they’re most interested in. Well, thank you, Jessica. I like this idea. You’re right. It’s a lot of work, but I’m going to tackle it in the new year. So stay tuned and I appreciate your suggestion. All right. Our second winner is john Calderon from Mount harem, Wisconsin who suggests bring back one memorable guest from the first 99 episodes and ask follow up questions. What have you been up to? what’s new and exciting? How are you dealing with COVID he also has another suggestion. Tell us 100 things you’ve learned Since doing this, each one would be a quick one, like maybe one sentence. I love the podcasts, JC smiley face. Well, thank you, john, this is a great suggestion as well. And I’m going to think through which guest would be terrific to bring back there were so many of them where I could have gone on for double or triple the amount of time that we spent chatting. So I really like this idea. The hundred things I learned since starting the podcast, probably not to create a list of 100 days. That’s a bit of a job. But anyway, I’ll take that under advisement as well, john, thank you. And our third and final winner is

Yvette hauritz from Costa Rica. And she writes, I’m one of your followers on social media and your podcast and I happen to listen to Episode 93. today. I’m an opera singer and C SW candidate certified specialist of wine. I started a project named decanter, combining my knowledge of wine and music to do musical pairings, creating a sensory experience for people while tasting wine. And I work with my husband, who’s an opera singer as well. We’ve done events online due to the pandemic. And also because I started this project to sing for an audience and support my husband who is a freelancer, and out of a job right now, due to the shutdown of opera houses. I thought we could pair opera or songs and wine, you could tell me which wines and I’ll choose music according to the characteristics of the wine you choose. And it’ll be fun and people can enjoy music and wine together. He that I love this suggestion. And we’re definitely booking you for an interview in the new year on the podcast when I run out of the guests that I’ve already booked. So speaking of that, everyone, I’m looking for suggestions for the 2021 lineup, so please email me at Natalie at Natalie MacLean calm. If you’d like to recommend a colourful winemaker, sommelier, wine or food writer or celebrity who has a terrific wine story to tell and congratulations to all three winners. I’ll be reaching out to you via email to confirm your mailing addresses or the books. Okay, on with the show.

Unknown Speaker 7:25
On this episode of mom’s sipping, sangria, those two things are going to determine what type of wine you can choose.

Unknown Speaker 7:32
And good let’s do it.

Unknown Speaker 7:39
Go to Bob’s if it’s a great I’ve Sheila Walsh I know we sound like we’ve been into the sangria. But we haven’t right

Unknown Speaker 7:45
No, no we haven’t. We’re just giddy. I’m Anita Reynolds MacArthur and we’re sipping on a Oh my a taking a piss Chris.

Unknown Speaker 7:55
Explain.

Unknown Speaker 7:57
taking a piss. It’s taken love.

Unknown Speaker 8:06
Let me just

Unknown Speaker 8:08
it is taken this crisper. Okay.

Unknown Speaker 8:12
sangria. And the reason I chose that Anita, where’s your hair these days is because

Unknown Speaker 8:20
I said we were getting.

Unknown Speaker 8:22
We’re going to be talking to a wine expert by the name of Natalie MacLean, who we just love. Oh my gosh, she was amazing. And this is from her website because she knows all things wine, so I figured we might as well start the episode featuring her with one of her sangria recipes. And this is called taking the piss crisper sangria. And taking the piss is a British saying and CRISPR refers to the CRISPR in your fridge. And that’s all I’m gonna say you’re gonna have to go and look it up because it’s pretty cool. And it’s really tasty. All right,

Unknown Speaker 8:55
well, I will be checking that out and putting it up on our website for sure. But I know you have the CRISPR also is intriguing to me. So as we mentioned on this episode, the sangria recipe comes from a woman who just knows her wine and so many other things. We had a chance to speak with Natalie MacLean earlier this week, and oh my gosh, she is so knowledgeable and funny if she ever. She is named the world’s best drinks writer at the World Food Media Awards and has won for James Baird foundation journalism awards. And Natalie McLean’s first book, red, white and drunk all over a wine soaked journey from grape to glass is a great second book, isn’t it? And her second book unquenchable, a tipsy quest for the world’s best bargain wines. Were both selected as one of Amazon’s best books of the year how she also hosts her own podcast called unreserved wine talk and she teaches wildly popular online wine and food pairing classes at Natalie MacLean calm and she joined us earlier from her home in Ottawa.

Unknown Speaker 10:00
Hi Natalie MacLean aka chief of wine happiness. Welcome to mom’s sipping sangria.

Unknown Speaker 10:06
It’s so good to be here with you, Sheila and Nita. Natalie, how are you? Great, thanks. How are you? Almost cocktail hour, but not quite somewhere, though. We wanted to get right into it because there’s so much to talk about today. Let’s start with what was the path that led to you becoming a wine expert. And I believe some le A is the right word. Mm hmm. Right on. So wine really wasn’t part of my family table growing up, come from Nova Scotia. So it was beer and whiskey on the table, not wine. That was a little too fancy. They really actually didn’t start drinking, as I say, until I met my husband. And I haven’t found a reason to stop. So. But the the knowledge didn’t come till much later in life until we had graduated from the MBA programme at Western in London, Ontario. And we started going out for dinner. Well, I didn’t cook and he didn’t want to. So we would go out a lot and we’d order wine. I remember the first time that we went to this little Italian restaurant around the corner from our apartment in Toronto. And the waiter said, well, would you like to Brunello and we thought, yeah, that sounds like a great pass to dish. But it was, it was a full bodied red Italian wine. And we absolutely loved it. And so that sparked the passion. And then from there, we took some of the course at night because we could drink being a type personalities. We weren’t going to take up golf and that kind of thing. So it went from there. And it continued.

Unknown Speaker 11:36
That’s fantastic. Now we noticed on your website, you’re holding a glass of red only in those photos. Are we to presume that red is your go to

Unknown Speaker 11:44
absolutely that glass has long been finished, but it’s been refilled many many times. That’s not just a prop. That blast is a big one. I don’t know if you beep out certain words, but it’s a big glass.

Unknown Speaker 11:58
Finger but that is a big glass.

Unknown Speaker 12:01
Yeah. Okay. That’s the one you use for Pinot Noir. My favourite go to wine because it’s I think the wine of hardness. It’s but all the sort of cherry berry flavour you could love but not the heavy oak and alcohol that will leave you asleep on the sofa at seven. So it’s often served in a big glass because it has so many wonderful, beautiful aromas. Some of those glasses get so big I swear you could probably have a facial in line afterwards. There’s an idea

Unknown Speaker 12:32
a lot of people say they can’t drink red gives me a headache. What’s the response? And is that all reds is that like Pino and cab and all those different ones?

Unknown Speaker 12:42
It depends everybody’s body is different in terms of what you might react to. So there are I think more compounds, natural compounds and red wine that can affect people like the tannins is one of them. If you eat walnuts or Overstreet tea, you get that free mouth feeling right? So those are tangents that it’s kind of a drying astringency, and it’s often found in red wines, and it comes from the grape skins or the barrels in which the wines are aged. Because with white wine, the grape skins are removed, there’s no colour or very little colour. You don’t get those tannins and especially an unoaked White, so that could be it. Or it could be the histamines or natural histamines in red wine that aren’t as prevalent in white wines as they are in red, but then on the white wine side to get sulfites. It’s not as big a problem as you might think there’s a small percentage of the population who are allergic to sulfites, but there’s more sulfites in a glass of orange juice than an entire bottle of wine. Oh,

Unknown Speaker 13:43
okay. So, staying away from that because of the sulfites. And that’s not necessarily something that they have to be super conscious of. But obviously, if they react, they should take a different direction. Very interesting. Okay. So what is the the ingredients that would affect people differently?

Unknown Speaker 13:58
which would then I guess leads me to the question. So like, why do we choose the wines that we choose? Like, for instance, when we walk into a liquor store, and we’re not sure what we’re going to pick up, especially for women? Is there an answer for why we’re picking up the bottles that we’re picking up? Sure, there’s one of comfort, we often default to the same wine over and over again, which I can understand. And yet there’s a whole world of pleasure and taste waiting for you in wine that I really do encourage people to try different wines, but I can understand it because wine is a purchase that’s unlike most other consumer products. You can’t try it on like you can with a dress, you can’t sort of flip through the first chapter like you could with a book and try it before you buy it, at least not legally. So you have to wait till you get home. And so we’re often looking at a cute critter or a castle or a clever name on the label and that’s how most people make their buying decisions. I think women in particular, we are the major household purchasers still have everything from readies to SUVs family and we buy the majority of wine. The studies show we buy 80% of wine, because we’re also the social planners and the dinner party folks and the shoppers. So we often look for wines that will please, everyone. Like if we’re having a book club, or if we’re having a dinner party, we’re often trying to gauge Okay, which wines are going to be pleasing the palate of many guests. That too can be tricky to negotiate. It’s why I often say you know, if you know you like a certain wine, okay, you love this. Whatever this sheraz for Australia, ask the liquor store staff person, tell that person I like this fine. Can you recommend something else that’s like it, and they’ll already have an idea of your taste preference and your budget?

Unknown Speaker 15:47
Oh, that’s a smart way. So that way you can expand your horizons, but you know, you’re not taking as great a chance.

Unknown Speaker 15:53
Exactly. And you can do that in restaurants too, because often the wines on the list are probably you’re not even familiar with them, nor am I because they try to get wines that are not in the liquor stores to give you a different taste experience. So do the same there to say, I love this particular now back. What would you suggest from your list that would be comparable?

Unknown Speaker 16:14
What are your thoughts on like a house wine brand?

Unknown Speaker 16:17
Well, traditionally, house wines were kind of the Venus dumping ground of restaurants. The lady Anthony Bourdain said it was like legalised mugging you. All the markups were the most on those lines, because they would get something cheap and nasty, and then mark it up so much, because a lot of people order house white or house red without really thinking about it. Again, I don’t fault anyone for that. Because you know, our brains have been making decisions all day. You don’t want to go to a restaurant at night, if you’re not into wine and try to figure out which one of these are we going to drink, just give me the health risk. I was read or housewife. But these days, there are more and more restaurants that care about their wireless. And they also care about the by the glass selections. So to me, if the restaurant cares about something like by the glass, it’s like they care about the bread they serve. It’s kind of that canary in the mind that tells you Okay, this is going to be a good meal. So it really does depend on the type of restaurant you’re going to. And that’s not to say you have to go to a fancy place to get a decent house fine, but you just want to look carefully how are they sort of presenting the list? The calibre and quality of the food and service will also be indicative of what you can expect from the house wine,

Unknown Speaker 17:35
right? And like you said, you can always ask them just like you can ask the lcbo you know, I want to try something like this. This is what I like and then maybe if they know their wines, they’re able to offer you that information. Exactly, exactly. Can I just throw a couple of questions at you regarding looking for maybe what’s a low Pao wine or a low sugar wine? Or can you school us a little bit on Is there such a thing and maybe recommend what to look for

Unknown Speaker 17:59
sure, there have been brands launched internationally that are deliberately low Cal, I haven’t come across any that I’m super keen on because usually they’re making the wine and spinning it out almost denaturing its alcohol. Alcohol is a flavour carrier. It’s also a fun carrier, but it carries the flavour of the wine. So it’s a fine balance that you want to strike when you’re trying to find something that is low alcohol or low calorie. So what I suggest is look for cool climate regions, Ontario, BC Nova Scotia, Germany, Austria, all kinds of them a New Zealand climate means that there are fewer ripening days and sunlight and heat to ripen the grapes. As a result, those grapes have less sugar than say a really warm climate in Napa, or Sonoma or Australia. less sugar translates into less alcohol or lower alcohol. Lower alcohol means fewer calories. So if you look for like Riesling, Pinot Noir from Canada or some of those regions that I just mentioned, that are cool climate, you will find that the alcohol level is lower. And when you see that often, the calorie level is lower. If it’s not an off try wine meaning that there’s some sugar still left in the wine.

Unknown Speaker 19:21
Okay, that certainly helps good before we go as needed ever giggling thinking I wonder what her response is gonna be to this. Make your own wife?

Unknown Speaker 19:30
Yes.

Unknown Speaker 19:33
response. I have nightmares.

Unknown Speaker 19:41
But, you know, I’ve been in situations at dinner parties in the early years before everyone became terrified of bringing me a wine because I wrote about wine. But in the early days when they didn’t have those fears, I’ve been presented with you know, homemade wines which were to me like really ugly babies and you kind of have to look at it and say Well, then you taste it and you go, wow, this is unlike anything I’ve ever tasted. And maybe pleased with that I hopefully will never get that well watered Fern in the corner with the why. But you know, and some people would say, Well, what do you do? And I say, well take an empty pill bottle, fill it with Smarties and then say, Oh my gosh, I’m really sorry, but this is just going to interfere with my medication.

Unknown Speaker 20:32
You really feel there now. All the red ones? Save the red flirty. Okay, so seriously, the flip side is that some people this is a family tradition, and they do take it seriously. It’s all about the ingredients. It’s like cooking, are they getting good ingredients? You know, some people will drive down to Niagara and get fresh grapes, and then take it really seriously step by step. And you know what, it’s not bad. So

Unknown Speaker 20:59
you’re gonna get?

Unknown Speaker 21:01
Yeah, yeah, that’s how far I’ll give on that. But you know, it’s fun, like people who love to make their own bread and our teas and all kinds of foods and drinks and go for it. I just think these days, in the liquor store, there are so many well priced wines that unless it’s just something you enjoy doing, don’t do it to save money and don’t bring it to my house. Right. Very good.

Unknown Speaker 21:24
Okay. Now that we know exactly how you feel on that, moving on to a neat,

Unknown Speaker 21:29
right? So sort of along those lines, things you see them popping up everywhere. Now they’re wine in cans, and of course, there’s wine and tetra packs. How do you feel about that? Does it change the taste? So more and more really good wines are being packaged, I guess you can’t say bottled in cans and tetra packs. And they are convenient. I think they help to take the stuffiness out of wine, because you don’t need a corkscrew, you know, most beverages do not require a special implement just to get into them. They’re great for camping poolside, where you’re concerned about glass breakage. And certainly there are lots of cheap and nasty stuff still in them. But more more better wines are being canned and under tetrapack. You know brand that’s here in Ontario is called Big House from California. It’s terrific. I also like that with these cans, you can get a better idea of serving size, because often they’ll candidate in what would be the equivalent of one glass of wine. So it’s also good for moderation. So so that doesn’t change the taste or anything like that. Yes, and no. First of all, if you just want to have a wine and just drink and whatever, and you’re not concerned about the whole sniffing and sipping thing, then it really doesn’t matter. But a lot of beauty and pleasure of wine is in the nose, not the actual taste we can detect. They think now millions of different aromas. Five tastes on our tongue, you know, the sweet, salty, bitter, sour and umami. But the whole pleasure and complexity if you want to go there is in your nose. So drinking it straight out of the can or tetrapack, you’re not really swirling and you can’t really get that sense. You need a glass. So you could still have glasses though, with your cans and tetra packs. But usually you’re getting that format of packaging, because you just want convenience ease and to get into all of that. So there’s a yes and no, if you’re drinking it straight out of those packages, you’re probably not going to get the aromas as much as you would by pouring it into the glass supposed to

Unknown Speaker 23:30
be an experience. Isn’t it supposed to be the whole thing? Not just sucking some wine?

Unknown Speaker 23:34
Yes, that’s right. It isn’t just about the buzz, although the buzzes part of the package. Yeah. So we have sort of this. I wouldn’t call it like a family feud or anything like that. A little bit of a family debate about red wine and whether it should be sipped at room temperature, or should it be chilled just a titch? Like I know that most of the time. Wine is stored in a wine cellar, so it’s a little bit cooler there. So would you recommend room temperature a little pitch cooler? What’s your take? The advice about serving red wine at room temperature dates back to mediaeval times and mediaeval castles when they didn’t have central heating, and the temperature would have been, I don’t know, 1718 degrees probably chillier. So that’s what they meant by room temperature today, while we’re kind of moving out of summer now, but you know, especially if you’re serving red wines, in summer heat, or in centrally heated homes, it’s often too warm. And what happens when red wine is too warm, or any wine, which you’re going to get first is the alcohol and the tannin and sort of the heaviness of the wine. It’s not going to be refreshing. It’s not going to be sort of zesty with your aromas of bright berries and all the rest of it. So I do recommend cooling it. Just to use your term there. I needed a titch so I don’t know if that which side of the family debate you’re on but

Unknown Speaker 24:59
yeah No, it actually wasn’t me. So I’m gonna, I’m not gonna mention

Unknown Speaker 25:05
deliver now

Unknown Speaker 25:07
caught in the crossfire.

Unknown Speaker 25:11
Sometimes I’ll go into restaurants and is the red wine has been sitting somewhere warm, I’ll ask for an ice bucket, and they’ll think I’m from another planet. But I just want to bring the temperature down just a little. Because, again, when it’s warm or hot, even worse, all you get is a sort of heavy, heavy alcohol and an oak. That’s what’s in the front of the wine.

Unknown Speaker 25:32
That’s it. You know, I was watching Ellen years ago, and Diane Keaton came out and she was talking about how she liked chilled red wine. And Ella was making this big deal about saying, Oh, you know, no one likes that. And why did you drink that? And they brought out chilled red wine for her. And I thought maybe that is how you’re supposed to drink it. Maybe everybody else is wrong. So thank you for that answer.

Unknown Speaker 25:50
Absolutely. This is your licence to chill. This

Unknown Speaker 25:53
is right. And we can find all these hints and stuff. You teach wine courses, you teach all about this? Can you talk a little bit about how that works?

Unknown Speaker 26:02
Well, I come from a long line of teachers in Nova Scotia. My grandmother was an English teacher, my mom taught pre two for 32 years. I taught dance school Highland dancing. Yeah, my maritime routes. So teachings in the blood, I love teaching. So I come full circle now after having written about wine for more than 20 years, and all sorts of other things, mobile apps and so on. Now, I think the opportunity to teach online is wonderful. And people think well, how does that work? You’re going to text me the wine or wine is such a sensory subject. But I think online wine and food pairing classes, like the ones that I offer, have so many advantages over in person classes, especially now with the quarantine and all the rest of it. But even Apart from that, I think there are lots of advantages. So for instance, I have a lot of couples who take my classes. And it’s kind of a two for one, because it’s sort of one course fee, but the two of them take it together and they treat it like date night. And so yeah, yeah, exactly. So they’ll sit down and watch some of the videos, because it’s a mix of pre recorded videos, but also live tastings online. And people can go at their own pace, they don’t have to hire a babysitter, put the kids to bed, no drinking and driving, no finding parking, all that sort of thing. And then for other people, in smaller communities, there may not be wine classes offered there that they want to take. So people in smaller communities find it very convenient. Because a lot of the material is pre recorded, they can go at their own pace, they get lifetime access. It’s not like a in person course where it’s one and done. And then you don’t have any access to your instructor afterwards. I’m there forever, because we keep going with the tastings. They get lifetime access to that too. And then those with mobility issues, all kinds of things. I think they come to these classes, and they’re not as nervous as sitting in a class. They’re not as nervous asking questions. You know, wine has a lot of social hang ups. But I think the online aspect can really remove a lot of that for people

Unknown Speaker 28:14
I couldn’t agree more with I went to a workshop of wine and I asked a question and I was shut down like I complete dum dum and I. And I thought, Oh my gosh, I shouldn’t be here. I’m sure it was done without intention.

Unknown Speaker 28:28
I’m so sorry to hear about that. Really, you’ve been wind shamed?

Unknown Speaker 28:33
Anyone, anyone?

Unknown Speaker 28:37
My classes are kind of a healing therapy for that.

Unknown Speaker 28:41
year, my next year, my next workshop.

Unknown Speaker 28:45
And what people do with my classes is that at first they’ll just lurk like they’ll be on the tastings. But maybe their cameras turned off. No one has to be on camera, by the way. So they just watch. But gradually, I noticed as the course goes on, you know, more and more people turn on their cameras, and then they start asking questions, and then they can’t shut them up. You know, could see the conversation continues. It’s so much fun. And then there’s a private Facebook group, and they’re always sharing recipes. And I just tried this line and and then some of them are starting to meet up in real life and they’ve developed friendships, which is kind of fun.

Unknown Speaker 29:21
Oh, that’s awesome. Oh, that’s really

Unknown Speaker 29:24
you know, with the online teachings or food and wine pairings Can you give us you know, one of your best tips for pairing wine and food? Sure can. So think about this if you would normally slather butter on your dish. Or if you would squeeze lemon on your dish, those two things are going to determine what type of wine you can choose. So if you’re slathering butter on your dish, there was something more full bodied and luscious. Maybe an oaked Chardonnay or even a full bodied red. But if you’re doing a squeeze of lemon, possibly on a fish dish or something like that, If you want something zesty and bright, like one of those reef rings we talked about or a Pinot Noir it kind of can gauge or guide you in that style and way to the wine that you would choose with the dish.

Unknown Speaker 30:13
Oh, that’s so good. And that’s probably why like a Chardonnay goes so well with cheese because it’s like that buttery creamy rich. Oh,

Unknown Speaker 30:22
great. That’s a great tip.

Unknown Speaker 30:24
Good white wine, you know is obviously best chilled. But sometimes you know you’re travelling in a car or what have you. It’s summertime. And when you get to your destination, it’s no longer cold. What do you recommend for chilling a hot bottle of white wine? Hmm, okay, well, I call it the wet t shirt trick and it’s not what you think. You want to dip a T shirt or a towel. I’m thinking of the cottage but again, as we move to cooler weather, just take a wet towel but already got cold water on it wrapped around the bottle and then put the bottle in the freezer and do not forget it so set a time or something and take it out in 15 minutes. If it’s sticking to the bottle, you can run it briefly under warmer water it’s not going to warm the wine that up. But the reason it works is that there’s a full sort of dispersion of that coldness around the bottle. That will really bring it down in temperature twice as fast as if you had put the bottle into the freezer. This is also the reason why chilling a bottle in ice water works faster than ice. So in ice there’s pockets of air on melted ice. But ice water you’ve got a full dispersion of cold water covering the entire bottle so it comes down more quickly in temperature great

Unknown Speaker 31:42
idea. Yeah, cuz I don’t like drinking I don’t know but you need a but I don’t like drinking anything other than ice cold white wine. So Oh yeah, that’s a great shirt. That’s an F g Yeah. You really know what you’re talking about. Don’t you?

Unknown Speaker 31:55
been around the block?

Unknown Speaker 31:58
Well, we wanted to also ask since we are moms sipping sangria and sangria is made with wine. Can you give suggestions for you know best reasonably priced red and a white for a sangria?

Unknown Speaker 32:09
Sure. So sangria has its roots in Spain, as you know and great with toppings. So I read I go with a value priced Spanish red wine made from garnock show which is the grape or Grenada. There is one in the lcbo now called monasterio and it’s about 14 bucks. I’ll post that on my website. The reason why it works too is not just the sort of cultural heritage is that it’s a smooth red wine, which is what you want when you’re choosing a wine for sangria because again the tannins you don’t want those furry mouth tannins in your sangria when they’re served cold. They get really chalky, very free mouth and that’s not a great thing and you’re sangria so that’s what I recommend on the red side and then on the white. Probably you know one of those Rieslings suggesting white wine again, you don’t want to heavily oaked Chardonnay and your sangria. Easy to keep that under 20 bucks. Try Henry Pelham Riesling from Niagara.

Unknown Speaker 33:09
I’ve had that actually. That’s really nice. Okay, good. Excellent.

Unknown Speaker 33:12
What about rosae? What’s the best way to drink that? Quickly?

Unknown Speaker 33:20
thought that was your answer. No, that’s actually your answer.

Unknown Speaker 33:26
She said, pausing. I love Rosie. So you know we have themes or memes online now Rosie all day. But it’s such a wonderful line. It’s my second favourite after Pinot Noir because you get that sort of cherry berry lovely flavour of red. But again without the heavy oak alcohol and so on. So with rosae I do like it chilled for sure. And I’ll even put ice cubes in it. So they’re separately from your wine. shamers. Let’s go tell them. The one

Unknown Speaker 33:55
gods are about to strike down.

Unknown Speaker 33:58
Yeah, that’s right. I better keep moving. But yeah, no, and Rosie is wonderful. right in through like, don’t think about it like wearing white. I can’t do it past Labour Day. It’s perfect with thanksgiving or holiday Turkey. Anything that you know, is a dryer beat. It just has such a wide range of pairing possibilities. Plus, it’s wonderful and its own.

Unknown Speaker 34:21
Nice. And before we wrap up, I know we’ve taken so much of your time you’ve been so generous. Anything else that we should be keeping in mind wine hacks from the world of wine, what is your last few words here.

Unknown Speaker 34:32
When it comes to wine and food pairing, don’t get too uptight about choosing the one perfect pairing or one perfect wine It is about pairing the wine to the diner, not the dinner. So drink what you like when I teach my students are the online wine and food pairing classes and we dive into everything from takeout to veggies to different types of cheeses. It’s all over the place and we have a lot of fun but it’s always comes back to drink what you like please your own palate become an expert on your own palate Be your own personal sommelier, because I do think that is kind of a recipe for happiness.

Unknown Speaker 35:11
Sure, if that makes sense, and you’ve got a free gift for our listeners, tell us a little bit about that where they can get it.

Unknown Speaker 35:16
I do so for your listeners, I’ve created the ultimate food and wine pairing guide. It’s a wonderful template chart that they can print out as they like and keep in the kitchen or refer to it online. But it’s got all the major types of wine, red, white, sparkling rosae and different types within those categories. And which dishes pair best with those wines. So it’s an easy reference if you’re kind of looking for ideas, you know what you’re having for dinner, but which wine and your listeners can get it for free. At Natalie MacLean comm forward slash moms, oh madly awesome. You have your own URL now. Natalie MacLean comm forward slash Mom, you know, my name isn’t the easiest, but it’s na ta Li e m AC. l e. n Natalie MacLean comm forward slash moms,

Unknown Speaker 36:12
that’s amazing. And we’ll put that up on our website. And of course, you have a website where we can listen to your podcasts because you’re a podcaster or writer, you’ve got additional fabulous tools and tips. And so that’s also Natalie maclean.com.

Unknown Speaker 36:25
Yes, it is. It’s the unreserved wine top podcast. And it’s an interview like celebrities from the wine world chefs, winemakers, really crazy obsessive winemakers and other personalities in the wine world, because it’s all about telling stories. But in between you learn a lot about wine too. Thank you so much for your time today. Natalie will be thinking of you and choosing you when we have our next class. So stay safe and well. Oh, I raise my glass to both of you. I need to share the system. A lot of fun. Thanks, Natalie. Cheers. Cheers. Cheers.

Unknown Speaker 37:02
So can I just say I love Natalie MacLean. You know, it was so weird. And you know, we were talking to her as you know, off mic a little bit. And she’s from the same hometown as my husband in Nova Scotia, which reinforces it’s a very, very small world. Like, what are the odds?

Unknown Speaker 37:17
Small World small world?

Unknown Speaker 37:19
It was just crazy. I was floored to hear they they were both from the same town. That’s really cool. Yeah. And I did ask if he knew her, and he said, No, but you know, I mean, anything is small, but it’s not that small. Are you gonna like yeah, Jen, she was related to that. So Nina, you know,

Unknown Speaker 37:32
unless you’re living in PDI. That’s

Unknown Speaker 37:35
according to your husband. Right? That’s so funny.

Natalie MacLean 37:42
Well, there you have it. I hope you enjoyed my chat with Anita and Sheila on everything from chilling wine and making sangria to restaurant house wines and taking online wine courses. And speaking of that, you can find a link to my free online wine and food pairing course in the show notes along with links to the moms sipping sangria podcast, their social media channels, and where you can find me on Facebook Live every second Wednesday at 7pm. That’s all in the show notes at Natalie MacLean comm forward slash 100. Baby, don’t just 100 you won’t want to miss next week when I’ll be chatting with Andrea Kaiser, who grew up in Niagara on the lake amidst the winemaking revolution, fueled by her father, the legendary Karl Kaiser, co founder and winemaker of inniskillin wines. Andrea has created her own illustrious career mine, and is now Chair of the wineries of Niagara on the lake. She’s going to chat with us about how the wineries are coping with COVID tips for you on visiting wineries right now. And what you can do to support these local businesses, including the special holiday packages of wine you can buy online right now. drink wine and feel great about it. I’ll also include a link in today’s show notes as to where you can buy those wine packages online. So again, that’s Natalie maclean.com, forward slash 100. In the meantime, if you missed Episode 49 with Stephanie PHA who chats about Niagara wines and the annual Ice Wine Festival, go back and take a listen. Stephanie is also a podcast host and food and wine writer and she’s terrific. I’ll share a short clip with you now to whet your appetite.

Unknown Speaker 39:36
The classic Sheree. So I used to do one which is really fascinating. It’s really easy and I don’t even have to write a recipe for anyone for this. Take a fresh story. So sausage just roasted enough so that you can slice it in pieces and then top it with red wine and you’re poaching it. So you’re actually cooking the Sheree so in red wine, so all of the garlic and paprika inside the sausage comes out into the wine kind of makes its own sauce. The trees will take on a whole different flavour because it’s been poached in the red wine. And then just pairing that with a classic or yo ha, maybe a crianza or something, be sure so I think it’s gonna overpower a little bit if you have something that’s too big and bold, it kind of like Spain, a little plate, that little bit of meat and that little bit of fat and a little bit of red wine sauce and then the classic real hot. That’s pretty much what everyone would have at six o’clock on a Wednesday afternoon in Spain.

Natalie MacLean 40:29
If you liked this episode, please tell one friend about it this week, especially someone you know who’d be interested in the wine tips I shared. Thank you for taking the time to join me here. I hope something great is in your glass this week. Perhaps a wine that pairs perfectly with birthdays and other milestone celebrations.

You don’t want to miss one juicy episode of this podcast, especially the secret full body bonus episodes that I don’t announce on social media. So subscribe for free now at Natalie MacLean comm forward slash subscribe, maybe here next week. Cheers.

 

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