From The Nat Decants Newsletter:
Sunday, October 2, 2011
Natalie MacLean's Unquenchable!
Saturday, May 14, 2011
Ultimate July 1 Barbecue with a New Wine Mobile App
Game-changing technology allows you to instantly scan 150,000 wines in the liquor store
Toronto, May 12, 2011 – A new free mobile application will change the way Canadian wine lovers find, buy and enjoy wine this summer. The Natalie MacLean Wine Picks & Pairings app lets you use your smartphone camera to snap a picture of any bottle label bar code in the liquor store. With one click, you get tasting notes, scores, and food pairings.
“You’re in the liquor store wondering if you should buy the bottle with the castle on its label or the one with the fluffy squirrel,” says Natalie MacLean, the editor of Canada’s largest wine web site at www.nataliemaclean.com. She created the tool to make buying wine easier for consumers.“Now you just point and click to find out if that shiraz actually is a good wine to go with your pepper steak, or if the sauvignon blanc would work with your grilled veggies. No more guesswork based on castles and critters.”No more shopping lists either since you can scan the wines right in front of you in the store. The app’s key features allow you to:- Instantly access tasting notes, scores, prices, recipes and food pairings- Search 150,000 wines at the LCBO, SAQ, BC Liquor Stores and other liquor retailers across the country- Get real-time stock for every wine at the store in which you’re shopping- Check the number of bottles in stock at nearby stores via GPS real-time inventory search- Track your purchases in your virtual cellar with just a few clicks- Create a wine journal with your own wine notes and pictures in the app- Share your favourite wines and pairings on Twitter and FacebookThe new Wine Picks & Pairings app is the next generation of Natalie’s mobile app, which was selected among the top five food-and-wine apps by both Computerworld Magazine and the New York Times. It’s the only one featured on Apple’s iTunes store under App Essentials for both “Food & Wine” and “Date Night.”Fans use Canada’s most popular wine and food app to get more than 700,000 wine picks and food pairing suggestions a month—the number of users has grown 230% over the past year. The app, designed by Fluid Trends, bundles a suite of 10 wine apps including reviews, cellar journals, recipes, food pairings, articles, blog posts, a wine glossary, a bi-weekly newsletter, a directory of wineries around the world and excerpts from Natalie’s bestselling book Red, White and Drunk All Over.A certified sommelier and winner of the World’s Best Wine Writer award at the World Food Media Awards, Natalie wrote and vetted all the pairings and wine reviews in the app rather than relying on computer-generated algorithms and crowd-sourced material.Natalie’s Top 10 Well-Done Wine and BBQ Pairings:1. Juicy Steak and Shiraz2. Grilled Salmon and Pinot Noir3. Seared Tuna and Gamay 4. Flame-Broiled Hamburgers and Zinfandel5. Grilled Portabello Mushroom and Rosé6. Herbed Chicken and Syrah7. Lobster in Butter and Sparkling Wine8. Grilled Veggies and Sauvignon Blanc9. BBQ Pork Chops and Chardonnay10. Roasted Marshmallows and Tawny Port
About NatalieNatalie MacLean is a Canadian wine journalist and author of Red, White and Drunk All Over.She connects with more than 123,000 wine and food lovers who get her free e-newsletter. Nat is the only person to have won both the M.F.K. Fisher Distinguished Writing Award from the James Beard Foundation and the M.F.K. Fisher Award for Excellence in Culinary Writing from Les Dames d'Escoffier International. More bio here: www.nataliemaclean.com/bio.
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Thursday, November 18, 2010
Wines for the Top 10 Tough-To-Buy-For People on Your Holiday List
By Natalie MacLean Pairing wines with personalities for gift shoppers—there’s a Canadian app for that (and a web site) “Wine is one of the few presents that makes both the giver and the receiver look good,” says Natalie MacLean, the red-nosed e-sommelier behind www.nataliemaclean.com, Canada's largest wine web site. “You look like you spent a bundle on the gift (even if you didn’t) and the recipients are happy that you think they know something about wine (even if they don’t).” This holiday season, anyone can tap into MacLean’s expertise via her free web site and mobile apps for iPhone, BlackBerry, Droid and other smartphones. They help consumers with a whole new type of pairing: wine with the people on your Christmas shopping list. The app and site also pair wines to thousands of dishes, including holiday favourites, such as turkey, goose, duck, and even partridge in a pear tree. “When you give wine, doubles are fine, there are no wrong sizes and you can always find something good in stock,” MacLean adds. “Vintage gifts will get anyone into the holiday spirits.” Natalie’s Top Ten Gift Wines for Your ... 1. Hairdresser: For the person who combines humour and optimism every time she styles your mop. Go for a light, gulpable wine like a dry rosé. It’s versatile and fuss-free—a great quaff for your coif. 2. Psychiatrist: Of course, he’ll analyze whatever you give him so choose a wine that’s all about balance. Easy-drinking pinot noir is medium-bodied yet packed with flavour. Surprise him with a large-format bottle, like a magnum. Big thinking means big progress for you. This wine also works for psychologists, marriage counsellors and bartenders. 3. The Boss: Pick too pricey a wine and your boss will think your last raise was too much; go cheap, and she’ll think you lack judgement. Focus on a label with a lot of white space since that makes the bottle look more expensive. A castle in the distance also works, but avoid fluffy animals. 4. Personal Trainer: Think a muscular, robust red would work? Hold that position. Instead, try riesling: this light white wine pairs well with a health-nut diet of salad and seafood, plus it’s low in alcohol. You can also give it to Pilates instructors, yoga masters and Tai Chi coaches. 5. Financial Planner: You and he both know it’s going to take decades before your portfolio recovers after the crash of 2008. With that long-term view, vintage port makes the perfect gift. This fortified wine from northern Portugal, with its long aging potential, will be around for both of you into your retirements. 6. Travel Agent: She’s been everywhere and seen everything, so go local with your choice of wine. Even better, if you live close to the winery, get the bottle signed by the winemaker. 7. Teacher: If you can’t find a suitably obscure wine with a Latin name, there’s always cream sherry. It’s the tipple of Oxford dons, not to mention the centerpiece of Edgar Allan Poe’s classic short story The Case of the Amontillado. 8. Mail Deliverer: Go for a winery that’s consistent year after year in producing a wine that can be enjoyed in snow, rain, sleet or hail. Try an Australian shiraz or Argentine malbec. 9. Mechanic: Yes, there’s a wine called Red Truck, but try to be more imaginative. Why not give a wine made by Mario Andretti in California or Ferrari in Italy? 10. Online Date: So you’re on your second or third rendezvous with the person you met on eHarmony or Dating.com. If you’re not sure yet whether marriage is a possibility, try something middle-of-the-road, like merlot. Yes, it’s the soft jazz of wine, but until you know, play it safe. And after all that shopping, don’t forget yourself: even Santa’s little helpers need more than milk and cookies. Try something with high-alcohol like Italian Amarone or Rhone syrah: these big reds easily drown out tone-deaf carolling and pair beautifully with tired feet. For Natalie’s favourite wineries, tasting notes and recipe matches for all the wine types mentioned above, please visit: http://bit.ly/GiftWinesTWITTER.COM/LOCALFOODWINE
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Wednesday, November 3, 2010
Canadian Woman Wins Les Dames d'Escoffier International M.F.K. Fisher Award
LOUISVILLE, KY--(Marketwire - November 02, 2010) - Natalie MacLean, an award-winning wine writer from Nepean, Ontario, won first prize in the M.F.K. Fisher Awards for Excellence in Culinary Writing competition, sponsored by Les Dames d'Escoffier International. In addition to a $1,000 cash prize, MacLean won a trip to the LDEI Annual Conference in Palm Springs to accept the award at the October 23 gala banquet honoring M.F.K. Fisher. Profile: Natalie MacLean, First Prize Winner "I was shocked," Natalie MacLean said in response to being told that she had won the 2010 MFK Fisher Award for Excellence in Culinary Writing. "In fact, I'm still convinced there's been a tabulation error in the results, so I'm hoping to collect the award quickly before anyone discovers the mistake. "On a serious note, winning this award is something you must live up to rather than something you deserve. The point is to remember and honor M.F.K. Fisher and her gloriously sensuous prose." At the World Food Media Awards in Australia in 2005, MacLean was named the World's Best Drink Writer. She has also won four James Beard awards and six IACP Bert Greene Awards. MacLean is a leader in social media for the wine industry. www.twitter.com/nataliemaclean and www.facebook.com/natdecants More than 10,000 websites and blogs have posted her Drinks Matcher tool (www.nataliemaclean.com/matcher). In 2008 MacLean won third prize in LDEI's contest for a story about women Champagne makers in France. Her columns have appeared in more than 60 newspapers and magazines; more than 115,000 subscribers get her free monthly newsletter. In her book "Red, White and Drunk All Over," Natalie chronicles three years of sipping, spitting and slogging her way through the international wine world. The book was chosen the Best Wine Literature Book in the English language at the Gourmand World Cookbook Awards. Rex Pickett, author of Sideways, says that MacLean "writes about wine with a sensuous obsession," and is "laugh-out-loud funny." A Rhodes Scholarship finalist, she studied 19th-century English literature at Oxford University in England and earned an MBA at UWO, London. However, for her current preoccupation, she credits the long Scottish line of hard drinkers from whom she descends for her ability to drink like a fish -- and for the motivation to write about it -- in a transparent attempt to make it look respectable.
Second prize of $500 went to The Washington Post staff writer Jane Black. And T. Susan Chang of Leverett, Mass., a food writer and regular cookbook reviewer for the Boston Globe, won third prize and $250.
MacLean won with an Internet entry, "Flying High," on her website www.nataliemaclean.com. Her story, about Featherstone Winery in Niagara, chronicles the winery's battle to protect the vineyards from airborne predators and weeds without using synthetic chemicals. It's also the story of a husband and wife team who dream of creating a benchmark wine despite a harsh climate.
"Winning this award is something you must live up to rather than something you deserve. The point is to remember and honor M.F.K. Fisher and her gloriously sensuous prose," MacLean said, in accepting her award.
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Black's award was for "Snob Appeal. Won't Someone Knock Heirloom Tomatoes off their Pedestal?" Black writes, "The best tomato I ate last summer was not an heirloom tomato. If those don't seem like fighting words, then clearly you do not take tomatoes seriously." She adds, "'Heirloom' is not synonymous with 'good.' The key to a great tomato is how it is grown."
T. Susan Chang's award was for "Gather Ye Squash Blossoms While Ye May," a feature on National Public Radio's website, www.npr.org. The article details the handling and cooking of squash blossoms that "on the vine... unfurl like a Kleenex crumpling in reverse." Chang writes that picking the blossoms is "a highly effective form of zucchini birth control."
About LDEI's 2010 M.F.K. Fisher Awards
M.F.K. Fisher, one of America's finest food writers, was described by the poet W.H. Auden as the best prose writer of her time. She wrote more than 20 books before her death in 1992.
The 2010 contest in her memory drew 78 entries. "This is the best contest I've ever judged. Very difficult," a veteran food editor and judge commented. "All three of the winning stories are right in sync with the spirit of M.F.K.," noted another judge.
New to this year's competition was the inclusion of works from Internet websites and blogs. Judges did not know the source of the entries, which included 24 stories from newspapers, 22 articles from magazines, 15 excerpts from books and 14 from the Internet.
Representing seven states, the eight judges are food editors at Better Homes and Gardens Magazine (Iowa), Houston Chronicle, New Orleans Times Picayune, Desert News (Salt Lake City), San Francisco Chronicle, and Indianapolis Star. A writing coach from Charlottesville, Va., and a newspaper columnist also judged. None of the judges was a member of LDEI. The 2010 M.F.K. Fisher Awards chair was CiCi Williamson, of LDEI.
To read more about the winners and the prize-winning articles, go to www.ldei.org
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Profile: Jane Black, Second Prize Winner
"As a former judge of LDEI's M.F.K. Fisher Award (in 2008), I know how stiff the competition is. So it is an honor to be one of the winners," said Jane Black. "I was also thrilled to win for an essay, a blend of personal experience and real reporting, which I think can be so effective when writing about food."
Jane is a food writer at The Washington Post where she covers food politics, trends and sustainability issues. Her reporting has taken her from Immokalee, Fla., where she wrote about tomato pickers' struggle for better working conditions, to Monterey Bay, where she attended a "secret meeting" of the "Sardinistas," a group of environmentalists who advocate the culinary joys of small, sustainable fish.
Black began her career as a business and political reporter. In 2003, she switched directions and attended culinary school in London. Before moving to Washington, she served as food editor at Boston Magazine. Jane's writing has received many awards including two James Beard Awards for The Washington Post Food section. Her work has also been featured in the collections of Best Food Writing in 2008 and 2009.
Profile: T. Susan Chang, Third Prize Winner
"I'm more pleased than I can say to be recognized by Les Dames d'Escoffier and the judges for third prize in the M.F.K. Fisher Award," said T. Susan Chang. "I think that when we write about food, we share something both intimate and exposed. I don't know if it's hard for everybody, but it's certainly hard for me. In my experience the food writer lives, absurdly, by the following set of axioms: 'We think, therefore we are. We think about what we eat. Therefore, we are what we eat.'
"It's the easiest thing in the world to fall victim to a jaded palate and start over-intellectualizing the act of eating. What I always love about M.F.K. Fisher is that she knew you could fall for what was right there on the plate before you. You could fall simply and forever, and you could live to tell about it. I never dreamed I would have the chance to share just a bit in her legacy. Thank you so much for giving me that chance."
Chang has been a food writer since 2000, when she first began writing for the Boston Globe. Prior to that, she had worked in academic publishing as an acquisitions editor specializing in literary studies.
Currently, Chang is a frequent contributor to the Kitchen Window series on NPR, where she also appears twice yearly with a comprehensive list of seasonal cookbook recommendations. She is the regular cookbook reviewer for the Boston Globe, where her reviews appear about once a month. At the cookbook indexing website www.eatyourbooks.com, Susan is the host of the Community page and resident cookbook reviewer. She's also the cookbook reviewer for AOL's new website, Kitchen Daily. Links to her newest pieces can be found at www.tsusanchang.com, along with a complete list of publications.
In 2004, Chang was named a Food and Society Policy Fellow by the Kellogg Foundation and began work advocating for food sustainability. During her fellowship, she wrote federally mandated wellness policies for her regional school district and started a teaching garden at her children's elementary school. She continues to advocate for kids' nutrition and bringing fresh, local foods to the school lunchroom. Susan lives in western Massachusetts with her husband and her two children. She enjoys gardening and sewing, and is excessively fond of apples.
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