Chances are great if you are planning on getting your Irish on this St. Patrick’s Day, your gastronomic intake will include something along the lines of Corned Beef and Cabbage, Steak and Guinness Pie and Irish sausage anchoring some sort of bangers and mash dish. You may even throw a little more ubiquitous bar fare like...
We go to a lot of wine tastings. Not only do we host them, of course, but we can’t tell you how many tastings we go to as students every year. And while we almost always find at least one or two gems at each event, rarely does a tasting make the favourable impression as...
Q. Is the year printed on the wine bottle in reference to when the grapes were picked and the wine made, or when the wine was released from the winery? A. A great question and one we get all the time. When you see a year (or what’s also called the vintage), it refers to...
Blood Orange Martini We learned something about ourselves while researching this blog. The best alcoholic combination for Campari is gin. In a martini mood, we originally whipped up a mix of Campari and vodka. It tasted more like bad cough syrup (as opposed to really good cough syrup), than the smooth afternoon elixir we craved...
Q. Why are some wines named after the grape and other wines named after the place it was made? A. This is a fairly complicated answer, that we fear will just leave you with more questions, but welcome to the wonderful world of wine! Wines produced in the New World (that is, any country that...
You ask. We answer. So many of you ask us at our tastings, cellar consultations and plain old conversations what you should buy, what you should drink now and what you should keep for later. So we thought a regular feature based literally on what we are buying, how many bottles we are buying, and for what intended...
Firesteed Pinot Gris, Oregon 2012 $17.80 LCBO 323808 Before you raise your eyebrows in protest of drinking a bright and mineral-driven white during this frigid cold snap we’re experiencing, here us out: Yes, it’s true this crisp white wine could easily be enjoyed in the warm months with its aromas of flint, citrus, stone fruit...
Cocktail Maison This whole month Thirsty Thursday is inspired by Valentine’s Day. And why not? What sparks amour faster than a stiff cocktail? With a wish list of drinks the colour of crimson, dotted with flirty bubbles, and a saucy yet sophisticated blend of sweet and bitter, all the boxes had to be ticked to...
The other day we were hosting a wine tasting for a private client, and the inevitable question happened: “I don’t like oaked wines so I stay away from Chardonnay and stick mostly with Pinot Grigio and Sauvignon Blanc. Is there any way to tell if a wine has been aged in oak?” This question happens...
Pol Roger Brut Champagne, France NV $62.45 LCBO 217158 What’s more romantic than a bright bottle of bubbly? Tis the weekend for amore, and coincidentally, it’s also Erin’s birthday, so she gets to pick her sparkling of choice for this weekend’s sipper. Pol Roger is one of Erin’s favourite champagnes, and as you can likely...
