Cyn: Anniversaries are a time to celebrate and reflect on memories made along the way. So today we’re going to do that through wine! We’re raising a glass to season 10 with the wine expert who’s been with us from the beginning.
Mel: Here to help us pick out awesome anniversary bottles is Natalie MacLean who offers Canada’s most popular online wine classes. Welcome, Natalie!
Jess: We’re going to take a walk down memory lane with you, Natalie, to see if we can recall the wine wisdom you’ve shared with us over the years. But first, you’ve brought us some wine to celebrate our 10th season! What have you selected to highlight the occasion?
Anniversaries celebrate many milestones, including marriage. You can personalize a gift bottle by choosing wine from the year or place the couple first met. In this case, I wanted to celebrate this show that means so much to me since I’ve been with you from the beginning for all 10 seasons. It’s such an honour to be here with you ladies so I wanted to bring you wine from the year we all met back in 2013!
Errázuriz Max Reserva Cabernet Sauvignon
Aconcagua Valley, Chile
This is Errázuriz Max Reserva Cabernet Sauvignon, a full-bodied red wine from the Aconcagua Valley in Chile. It offers aromas of fleshy ripe blackberry and toasty oak. What do you think ladies?
Besides the year, what are some other things to consider when selecting anniversary wines?
You might want to think about where you met the person you’re celebrating or where a couple met for the first time.You can get bottles signed by the winemaker to make them extra special and personalized.
You can also select wines that might be part of an inside joke like the wine called Menage a Trois, which means a threesome. That’s probably not a great anniversary gift unless you’re celebrating a divorce. Better to go with their other wine, Folie a Deux, which basically means two people who are madly in love.
Villa Maria Private Bin Sauvignon Blanc
Marlborough, New Zealand
Going with something that has sentimental meaning is really nice and what I did here. I’ve brought back the Villa Maria Sauvignon Blanc from our very first segment back in season one when we paired wine and fast food. Do you recall why Sauvignon Blanc makes such a great pairing for poutine?
Let’s see if we were right!
Fast Food and Wine Segment Clip “So this cuts like a knife, almost like an acidic knife cutting through all that richness and fatness so it gets you ready for the next bite. So you don’t satiate out. You can have more poutine and it won’t all taste the same.”
Cynthia: When people are looking for a nice bottle of wine, they often go to the fine wine section of the liquor store to pick one out. Does anyone know what a vintage actually tells us besides how old or young a wine is?
Let’s see if anyone was right!
Decoding a Wine Label Segment Clip “Vintage will also tell you has this wine developed to a point where you might want to drink it. The other thing that vintage will tell you is if this a good year to be drinking this wine.”
Conundrum Red
California, United States
So if you love Bordeaux, you should know that 2018 was a legendary vintage that produced great wine as compared to 2013 when there was a lot of rain that diluted the wines and the vintners were sad. However, vintage matters much less in regions that are warm and therefore consistently ripen the grapes, like these two family-owned wines from California that I think make great celebratory wines. Conundrum, which just celebrated its own tenth anniversary, offers aromas mocha, dark berries and smoke.
Tribute Cabernet Sauvignon
Sonoma, California, United States
Tribute Cabernet is a full-bodied, smooth red wine with notes of cassis and blackberry. The bonus is that both wines are ready to drink now, but both will also age well for five years.
Mel: If you’re planning the wines for an anniversary party, budget is always a concern. But we can find wines that taste twice as expensive as they cost. From looking at the bottles, can anyone recall why one of these wines might be more expensive than the other?
Queenston Mile Vineyard Barrel Fermented Chardonnay 2019
St. David’s Bench, Niagara Peninsula, Ontario V.Q.A., Canada
Cheap Wines the Taste Expensive Wine Segment Clip “You want to look for specific region so what I mean by that is something that comes from Russian River, Sonoma Country, California is more specific, has more rules and regulations than something that just says California.”
Let’s see if we’re right!
Fresh Beginnings Moscato
Niagara Peninsula, Ontario V.Q.A., Canada
In this case, both wines come from Ontario. However, the full-bodied, buttery Queenston Mile Chardonnay says it was produced on St. David’s Bench which is a sub-appellation in the region of the Niagara Peninsula. Whereas the zesty Fresh Beginnings Moscato just says Niagara Pennsiula: there’s no vineyard or sub-appellation listed. The first wine has more specificity and winemaking rules and is therefore pricier than the second wine which can source and blend grapes from around the entire province.
Lainey: Nothing says celebration like toasting with some bubbles. What champagne have you brought for us to try?
Champagne is the wine to celebrate new beginnings: a marriage, an anniversary, a child or a ship and, it’s the perfect gift wine if you don’t know the couple’s taste. It’s the easiest to regift if you don’t like it.
Taittinger Brut Reserve Champagne
Champagne A.O.C., France
This classic Taittinger Champagne is also perfect for toasting. It’s complex yet refreshing, like you ladies. I raise my glass to you and your success with The Social going into season ten!
Jess: You’ve also brought a prosecco for us to toast with. Tell us about this one and why it makes a great anniversary wine?
Mionetto Prestige Prosecco Brut
Veneto, Italy
The Mionetto Prosecco is a clean, crisp sparkling wine from Italy. It offers tremendous value compared to champagne, often a third of its price, yet it tastes great.
Cynthia: You served the champagne in a flute but the prosecco in a white wine glass. Does anyone know why champagne is typically served in a flute? Let’s play the clip and see who was right!
Anatomy of a Wine Glass Segment Clip “So the flute you’ll notice is an elongated glass and that is to preserve the bubbles. So that nice beaded liquid pearls so to speak should always be protected.”
Mel: So why did you serve the prosecco in a white wine glass for us today?
Back then I would have said that the bubbles can dissipate, the temperature can come up to room temperature much more quickly in a wider glass. But people, relationships and opinions change over ten years. I now actually recommend a white wine glass for bubbly rather than a flute because I think you should be able to swirl and smell it too. However, if you love the elegance of the flute glass, you do you.
Posted with permission of CTV.
