Wining with Mel

Discover your wine style, one glass at a time

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Focus on Washington wines

July 8, 2016 / / 0 Comments

It was another rough day of wine tasting. But don’t worry, friends, I soldiered through. And I can now confirm something I already knew: Washington State is making GREAT wine.

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Washington cabernet sauvignons have been among my favourites ever since I tasted them in my New World Wine course a few years ago. Since then, I have seen them rise through the LCBO ranks. At first, I was happy when these wines occasionally showed up in Vintages, then ecstatic when a couple of bottles became regular selections in the general listing, and finally over-the-moon to see my local LCBO had created its own Pacific Northwest section.

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Je vois la vie en rosé – part 2

June 21, 2016 / / 0 Comments

Before reading on, be sure to read part 1 on rosé winemaking!!

If you’ve been to a liquor store in the last few months, you may have noticed a surge in rosés on display. Rosé is—for some reason—only a seasonal wine. It shows up on shelves in April and disappears by the end of the summer. This is why it is imperative to stock up if you find one you like. These wines are only made in limited quantities, so once a vintage is out of stock, that’s it. You probably won’t see it again until the spring of next year. That said, depending on how much you drink, you probably shouldn’t get a whole case—these wines are for immediate consumption and are not typically meant to be aged.

As promised, here are my Summer 2016 rosé recommendations!

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The perfect sailboat wine

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Je vois la vie en rosé – part 1

June 19, 2016 / / 0 Comments

Friends,

I’m back! It’s been forever since my last post, and not for lack of things to write about, and definitely not for lack of wine, but rather lack of time.  Work has been crazy. Also, I had a midterm this week, so I was in study mode in the days leading up to it (for those who don’t know, I am taking the Beer course at Algonquin, just to round out my sommelier training—more on that in posts to come). Also, as I have mentioned before, we are renovating our house, and last week we were finally able to move out of the guest room in the basement and back into our bedroom on the main floor. But moving an entire bedroom from one floor to another is harder than it sounds. Have you ever tried moving a king-size mattress? It is a) heavy and b) awkward. Also, the fact that I am pretty useless in the upper-body strength department doesn’t help. So useless, in fact, that my husband affectionately calls me T-Rex.

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Savour Australia

May 25, 2016 / / 0 Comments

Picture this: It’s Friday—the weekend has started. It was supposed to rain all afternoon, but the sky is clear and the sun is shining. It has turned out to be a beautiful spring day, and you are practically skipping as you leave work. The party is in a gorgeous backyard, where a cool breeze rustles through the foliage. A tent has been set up to protect the day’s wares, an unnecessary measure considering the afternoon’s change in meteorological course.  Along the perimeter of the tent, tables have been set up, and the wines have been laid out for the enjoyment of the garden party’s guests. It is the first Canadian stop on the Savour Australia Roadshow, and you have been lucky enough to receive an invitation. And yes, while you are there, you forget to take a picture, so you have to use words to describe it. In this case, a picture is worth 148 words.

Without further ado, here are my top picks from the Savour Australia garden party!

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Week in review: New Zealand wines

May 17, 2016 / / 0 Comments

Well it’s been quite a week for Wining with Mel. It was bad enough that a terrible stomach bug had me out of commission for five days, but even worse that during that time the thought of wine…no…I can’t even…it’s too awful to say. The thought of wine for the last four days…repulsed me. Me! The lover of wine! I couldn’t even stomach the thought of it. Friends and family always know it’s bad when I turn down wine. It’s never a good sign.

I am hoping that I’ve now turned a corner. It has been much too long since the last post, and I have sooooo many wines to tell you about! As I mentioned, it was quite a big wining week before this gnarly illness took hold. And I am taking the fact that I can now imagine drinking these wines without my stomach turning as a sign that it is time to get back on the wine horse. That said, rather than enjoying a glass while I type, I am sticking with a cup of herbal tea this time around. Baby steps…

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