Links & Podcasts

Wine Links of Interest

Natalie MacLean
“Nat Decants” is a free Canadian wine e-newsletter: Wine picks, articles and humour from Natalie MacLean, named the World’s Best Drink Writer at the World Food Media Awards in Australia. Natalie is also the author of ‘Red, White and Drunk All Over’: A Wine Soaked Journey from Grape to Glass. For more details on this book and to sign up for the newsletter, visit
http://www.nataliemaclean.com

Lately, when I buy wine at the LCBO, $15 has become my new $30. I’m a determined (but cheap) hedonist. A mouth-watering wine with fleshy ripe fruit makes a meal at home great, especially when your ‘speciality’ is spaghetti.
So I’ve completely relaunched my Wine Reviews web site. For $2.10 a month (the cost of a cappuccino), you’re guaranteed to drink wines you love. Avoid one disappointing bottle and your subscription pays for itself. You can subscribe here.

New features include:
• 50,000 reviews of wines in Ontario liquor stores searchable by winery, grape, price, score, vintage, product code, region, country, food matches and delicious recipes
• 6,000 wines under $15 for tasty dinners and tasteful gifts
• Mobile format for Blackberry, iPhone and Smartphone for when you’re in liquor stores or restaurants
My monthly newsletter next week will link to more than 100 new wines from the expanded Wine Reviews section that will all be in your local LCBO stores.
Please let me know what you think of the new Wine Reviews. Let others know too: Feel free to forward this note to them. Or suggest friends here and I’ll send them a note on your behalf.
In the meantime, raise a glass with me and make this resolution: Life is too short to drink bad wine … here’s to a delicious 2009!
Cheers, Natily.

Wine & Food Pairing By Nat MacLean
So, you’ve got the perfect bottle of wine, and you’re not sure what the best food to pair with the wine?  Well, this nifty little widget from renowned wine blogger Natalie MacLean will help make the perfect wine into the perfect dinner.  See our quick guide, and read more about Natalie below.

Natalie MacLean is an independent journalist and author of the bestseller Red, White and Drunk All Over. For Google searches on popular terms like “food and wine pairing,” “food and wine matching” and “wine newsletter,” Natalie’s site is often on the first page of the results as it has become a go-to resource for food and wine lovers. Natalie has won four James Beard Journalism Awards, including the MFK Fisher Distinguished Writing Award. At the World Food Media Awards in Australia, she was named the World’s Best Drinks Writer.

QUICK GUIDE

WHITE WINE AND FOOD MATCHES
Chardonnay: seafood with butter sauce, chicken, pasta with cream sauce, veal, turkey, ham, Emmenthal, Gruyeres, Port-Salut
Riesling: mild cheese, clams, mussels, Asian dishes, sashimi, ham, pork, lobster Newberg, Tandoori chicken, Coquilles St Jacques
Sauvignon Blanc: oysters, grilled or poached salmon, seafood salad, Irish stew, ham, chevre, goat cheese and strongly flavored cheeses, asparagus quiche
Gewurztraminer: spicy dishes, Thai food, curry, smoked salmon, pork and sauerkraut, Muenster, spiced/peppered cheeses, onion tart

RED WINE AND FOOD MATCHES
Cabernet Sauvignon: duck, spicy beef, pate, rabbit, roasts, spicy poultry, cheddar, blue cheese, sausage, kidneys
Pinot Noir: braised chicken, cold duck, rabbit, charcuterie, partridge, roasted turkey, roasted beef, lamb, veal, truffles, Gruyeres
Merlot: braised chicken, cold duck, roasted turkey, roasted beef, lamb, veal, stew, liver, venison, meat casseroles
Shiraz: braised chicken, chili, goose, meat stew, peppercorn steak, barbecued meat, spicy meats, garlic casserole, ratatouille

Wine Tasting Terminology
MOUTH-FILLING…../

Wines possessing intense flavors which seem to affect every sensory nerve in the mouth. Usually slightly high glycerin component, slightly low acid.
To see the complete Glossary of Wine Tasting Terminology by Anthony Hawkins and Tom Beard, Click Here.

Trevor Stirling
Senior Research Analyst – European Beverages
Sanford C. Bernstein Limited
Devonshire House
1 Mayfair Place
London  W1J 8SB
T  +44 20 7170 5087
M +44 7962 103 904
BB +44 7789 923 335
E  *protected email*

Trevor, “ For those of you are new to my distribution list, one of the things I did before joining Bernstein was to run my own fine wine company (hence Stirling Wines). In order to provide some light relief from the hundreds of worthy research e-mails which clog your in-box every day, I send out an occasional wine newsletter, with my random observations on the world of wine, which I hope will be of interest.  Please feel free to download and pass it on to anyone else who may be interested.  If you receive this via an indirect source, please let me know if you would like to be added to the distribution list”.

Trevor on Christmas 2019

Trevor on South African Wines

Trevor on Fortified Wines

Trevor explores the hidden treasures of fortified wines, the treasures of Porto and others.  It is one of the small pleasures of life to indulge is a fine glass of port after a sumptuous meal and of course the requisite round of Stilton cheese in front of a blazing hearth.  Such is the joy of this time of year.  The article focuses on the more familiar fortified wines: port, madeira, sherry and the so-called vins doux naturels of Southern France.

Fortified Wines, Click Here : Trevor Stirling 16

Trevor on Pinot Noir

Pinot Noir is arguably the most famous member of the Pinot family of grapes, which is prone to mutation and stretches from Pinot Blanc (or Bianco), through Pinot Gris (or Grigio), via Pinot Meunier (one of the three main grapes of champagne) to Pinot Noir. The spiritual home of Pinot Noir is undoubtedly Burgundy in North- East France, where it is the principal red grape. However, it has now spread to virtually all the cooler- climate wine regions of the world.

The wines of Pinot Noir, Click Here : Trevor Stirling 15

Trevor on Riesling Resurgent

Riesling is arguably the favourite white grape of most wine critics and yet a high proportion of the drinking public recoils with horror at the prospect of letting a sip pass their lips. So why the huge disconnect? Here are a few thoughts.

The wines of Germany & Alsace, Click Here : Trevor Stirling 14

Trevor on Chile and Argentina – Latin Flair to Ward Off Autumnal Chills

The wines of South America, Yes! Click Here : Trevor Stirling 13

Champagne and Sparkling Wine; Click Here : Trevor Stirling 11

Perhaps the best introduction to the subject of champagne that I can think of is in the words of the late Lily Bollinger: “I drink it when I’m happy and when I’m sad.  Sometimes I drink it when I’m alone.  When I have company I consider it obligatory.  I trifle with it if I’m not hungry and I drink it when I am. Otherwise I never touch it, unless I’m thirsty.”

With the seasonal festivities just round the corner, one’s mind turns to bubbles and, in the light of the straightened circumstances of the global economy, to sparkling wine as well as champagne.  Although nothing quite reaches the towering heights of the very best champagnes (with prices to match), there are some great sparklers out there that are as good as regular champagne and much better value for money.

I am also attaching a recent piece of research in which we explore the business of champagne and the impact of the credit crunch on champagne sales

Champagne sales : Trevor Stirling 12

Trevor on London and Wine Bars,

The IW&FS has been following Trevor’s wine exploits for some time now.  It was with great pleasure that I actually met Trevor in London recently.  We of course did a wine tasting of his choosing, as I would not be presumptuous to second guess his knowledge or selection.  We had a flight tasting at the newly renovated  Fortnum & Mason wine bar  in the basement of this icon of exotic foods and wines.  I was very surprised at the quality of the light lunch and the wine selection.  The wines that Trevor selected were superb.

As you know F&M was founded in 1707 when William Fortnum and Hugh Mason set up a small grocery shop together in Duke Street with money Mason had earned selling partly used candles (a perk of his job as footman in charge of refilling candlesticks in Queen Anne’s Royal Household).
So successful was the partnership that in 1756 F&M moved to the site in Piccadilly that it occupies today.

1707 WINE BAR is nestling within the Fresh Food Hall and is a brand new wine bar designed by David Collins, famed for his work with the Wolseley.
Named 1707 in honour of the year this bastion of Britishness was first opened, the wine bar allows you to order a bottle of almost any wine from the adjacent Wine Department for only nominal corkage, as well as offering an extensive selection of wines by the glass.

The menu, focuses on foods from the Food Hall to encourage experimentation and adventure. I would recommend a special trip to the wine bar while you are in London and you should take Trevor to lunch.

The store is also set to win praise from those campaigning against high mark-ups in restaurant wine lists. For the first time, wine department customers will be able to purchase bottles in store and drink them in one of the four restaurants, although there is a £10 corkage charge.

It means customers will be able to buy Romanée-Conti or 1st Growth 1982s, have them with a meal and not pay crazy restaurant prices.

The 1707 Wine Bar is open Monday to Saturday 12noon to 11pm and Sunday 12noon to 5.30pm.
Reservations like everything in London are recommended:
Fortnum & Mason 1707 Wine Bar
181 Piccadilly London, W1A 1ER
+44 (0)20 7734 8040
Piccadilly Circus, Green Park

Trevor Stirling is a Senior Research Analyst – European Beverages at Sanford Bernstein Limited (UK) and a lover of wine.  One of the things Trevor did before joining Bernstein was to run his own fine wine company (Stirling Wines) and he is qualified to one level below Master of Wine.  In order to provide some light relief from the hundreds of worthy research e-mails which clog your in-box every day, he sends out a monthly wine newsletter, with his random observations on the world of wine, which I hope will be of interest.

“Wine makes daily living easier, less hurried, with fewer tensions and more tolerance.”
Benjamin Franklin

Here are Trevor’s thoughts on wine in the UK.  If, as Canadians if you are going to the UK this will be interest.

UK Wines: Trevor Stirling 1

Trevor on Chardonnay Part II,

Part II is another write-up by Trevor.

Chardonnay:  Trevor Stirling 2

Trevor on Italian Reds,

This month’s edition covers Italian red wine – a veritable Giro d’Italia.   For Trevor, they offer an incredible variety of flavour profiles and are often much better value-for-money than more famous names.  Above all, they are fantastic food wines.  However, sometimes the same variety can turn into confusion.

It is hard to convert a land of 350 grape varieties into three bullet points.  But hopefully this will whet your appetite and entice you into the more obscure corners of your LCBO wine store.

Just witness the Feb. 13, 2007 Regaleali Blanco 2005.

Italian Reds:  Trevor Stirling 3

Trevor on South Africa,

On a day that we published a report on the prospects for the South African beer market, it seems appropriate that we balance this with some commentary on the delights of South African wine.  There has been a tradition of making wine in South Africa since the 17th Century.  But in the late 20th Century, South African wine never seemed to deliver its potential.  Today, I believe that South Africa is poised to show the world what it can really do.  The vineyards that were planted post-Apartheid are starting to reach maturity.   There is a generation of South African wine-makers who have worked outside the country, lapping up the best of New and Old World techniques.  The industry is changing from one oriented to bulk ‘industrial’ production of wine, to one where there is much greater risk-taking and exciting developments in higher-quality, lower-yield cool climate zones.  I hope you taste the wines and agree.

As ever, please feel free to circulate this newsletter as you choose and please let me know if you wish to be added to the distribution list.

South Africa:  Trevor Stirling 4

Trevor on Spanish Reds,

The landscape of Spanish red wine has changed enormously from the days when the typical choice was between a powerful Rioja that was so full of new oak it tasted as if someone had added vanilla essence and coarse red wine that was fit only for making Sangria.

Firstly, the wine-makers in classic regions such as Rioja have followed the path of many other parts of the world and really tightened up their act, lowering yields, fermenting at lower temperatures to preserve the fruit flavours and going much easier on the oak ageing. Secondly, we have seen the emergence of first-class wine from previously unrecognized or undistinguished regions (e.g. Priorat, Toro). Finally, we are also seeing great value-for-money from regions that were previously focused on producing industrial quantities of table wine.

However, Spanish wine still appears to be viewed with some suspicion outside of Spain and has yet to be re-evaluated in the same way as say Italian wine.  This it means that there is not the same level of obsessive demand for top-class Spanish wine.  Hence, with one or two notable exceptions, the wines typically represent good value-for-money at all price points.

Wine is made in virtually every region of Spain and it would be impossible in a newsletter such as this to give the reader a comprehensive picture. So what I have done is to make a personal selection of the famous and the interesting/good value-for-money.

Spanish Reds,: Trevor Stirling 5

Trevor on Rosé,

Now that summer is with us again, it’s again time to think pink and put some rosé in the fridge.  The the range of high quality pink wines continues to broaden in parallel to the sustained growth in consumer demand.  So this is definitely a topic worth visiting.

Rosé: Trevor Stirling 6

Trevor on Rhône Reds,

With the days waning and autumn (or fall if you prefer) just around the corner, it’s time to put away the rosé and think red.  For my money, the Rhône valley remains a great source of good value red, at all price points.  This is particularly true at the top end of the market, where in terms of $/Parker point, the Rhône knocks Bordeaux and Burgundy into a cocked hat.  However, there is more to Rhône Valley than highly priced block-busters;  it is also the home to a plethora of good value, easy-drinking, luscious cuvées.

Santé

Rhône Reds: Trevor Stirling 7

Trevor on Southern France,

Southern France is a wonderful hunting ground for anyone looking for great value in the world of wine.  The catch is that there are a myriad of appellations and finding your way round can be tricky.

A good sommelier will be delighted to give you advice and you will often find that this region is often home to their own personal favourites.

It is very hard to do justice to a region which has been the subject of 750 page books but here is a selection of my personal highlights, starting at the Italian border and working my way round to the Spanish border.

France here we come…..with Maple Syrup and Ice Wine just ‘cause we are sweet….

Southern France:  Trevor Stirling 10

Trevor on New Zealand,

Now if we can’t get them in Canada we’ll just have to go to New Zealand.

This edition of Stirling Wines focuses on New Zealand. The stereotypical image of New Zealand wine is Sauvignon Blanc from the Marlborough area – and there is some truth to the stereotype – this one grape makes up 28% of the total crop. However, there is much more to New Zealand. Over the course of the next few years, expect to hear a lot more about Kiwi wine, as the potential diversity and complexity of the country’s wines starts to be realized.

New Zealand:  Trevor Stirling 9

Trevor and Santa on Christmas Ideas,
See the presents to wish for…..
Christmas Ideas:  Trevor Stirling 8