When choosing a wine to match salad, just remember: It’s all about the dressing. 

Like the perfect seasoning on a great cut of steak, choosing the right wine for your meal brings both to another level. You’re probably adept at pairing wine with heartier, meat-based meals, but what about lighter fare, like a fresh green salad or a Caesar salad?  

The perfect combination is within reach if you choose carefully. Don’t just think about the salad ingredients, though. When it comes to food and wine matching, it’s all about the salad dressing. The essential info to keep in mind is that high acid dressings, like vinaigrettes, suit equally crisp wines, while creamy salad dressing partners well with fuller-bodied whites. Looking for a wine to match as salad with feta or chèvre? A tkk style of red would be an excellent choice.  

Here are five winning food and wine pairings for when you’re serving salad:  

Spinach-strawberry salad 

A spinach and strawberry salad features both savoury and fresh, fruity flavours.  

The salad: Top spinach leaves with toasted almonds, dried cranberries, sliced strawberries, and oranges. Then, make your vinaigrette. Try a base of balsamic vinegar and olive oil with puréed strawberries, Dijon mustard, honey and salt.  

Perfect pairing: A fruity Riesling has the crisp acidity to hold up to this vinegar-based dressing, and its fruit notes complement those sweet berries in the salad. 

Wedge salad with blue cheese dressing 

The salad: A wedge salad is a simple showstopper: Dress a large pie-shaped slice of iceberg lettuce with cut cherry tomatoes, crisp bacon, and bold blue cheese dressing.  

Perfect pairing: Red wine lovers rejoice: Many salads don’t pair perfectly with reds, but this flavourful blue cheese dressing creates the delicious exception which would be complemented by a medium-bodied Merlot.  

Grilled chicken and Caesar salad 

The salad: A Caesar salad with crunchy romaine, Parmesan cheese and croutons, calls for a fuller-body wine. For a top-notch experience, make your own croutons with day-old bread, olive oil, minced garlic and salt. Pick – or make – a dressing that goes light on the anchovies and then add sliced grilled chicken to make a full, fresh but hearty meal.  

Perfect pairing: An unoaked or fuller-bodied Chardonnay is an excellent match for this creamy dressing and the chicken. 

Salade Niçoise 

The salad: Tomatoes, black olives, capers and beans, plus eggs, tuna, lettuce and potatoes get tossed with a dressing of lemon juice, olive oil, garlic, and basil, in a classic Niçoise Salad recipe. 

Perfect pairing: This salad gets its name from Nice, France, where it originated. Imagine you’re on the Mediterranean coast and pair this salad with a crisp, dry rosé inspired by that sunny locale. 

Goat cheese salad

The salad: Mixed salad greens – arugula, endive, green and red leaf lettuce – topped with goat cheese is the basis of a simple but super-satisfying salad. Add roasted vegetables, like beats, asparagus, peppers or butternut squash to increase the flavour, texture and heartiness factor.   

Perfect pairing: Sauvignon Blanc’s bright acidity, signature citrus and herbal notes, partners well with tangy goat cheese and all these greens, creating a fresh combination.  

Start small. That advice works for many life endeavours, including wine collecting.  

Keep the following tips in mind when building your wine collection, and remember to enjoy the process: 

1. Start small.

This advice works for many life endeavours, including wine collecting. In this context, small can refer to the physical space you carve out for your collection, but also budget.  

2. Define your budget 

Determine how much you’d like to spend over a year: $500, $2,500, $5,000 or more – it’s up to you. Your plan could also be structured as a monthly budget which would allow you to enjoy shopping and investing on an on-going basis as you discover new brands, makers and wine clubs. 

3. Know your favourites 

Take note of what varietals and blends you like; explore them from different countries, regions and wineries. This also might be the basis of how you organize your bottles, too, while in storage. 

4. Create storage space 

You don’t need anything fancy here; simply keep a vertical wine rack in a cool, dark place (like a basement) and you have the makings of a wine cellar. Ideal storage temperature is about 13°C–18°C. If budget allows, wine fridges now come in a wide range of price points, and many are dual-zone and designed for cellaring both red and white wines. 

5. Customize your collection 

You might wish to begin your collection with a range of super-special or sentimental bottles (your anniversary year, kids’ birth years, etc.) and value wines. A 50-50 mix of “drink now” and “cellar for later” bottles is an excellent starting-off strategy. 

6. Keep notes 

Buy a wine journal, or use an app to capture your impressions. You’ll build your wine knowledge with every sip. It's also important to keep a record of the bottles in your collection.  

When you’re in the mood for something comforting, there’s nothing quite like a mug of mulled wine. Gently warmed along with fruit and spices, red wine becomes a magical elixir. Tradition says it’s served around the holidays, but we love mulled wine as an anytime-alternative to a cocktail.   

What’s the history of mulled wine? 

Mulled wine dates back to the ancient Greeks and Romans, who added ingredients like honey, saffron, pepper, bay leaf and dates. In the Middle Ages, the drink had become popular throughout Europe, with each culture using different recipes based on what they had available. Most of us know of the drink from mentions in Victorian novels and Christmas stories, where it’s laden with clementines and apples. Mulled wine’s been around for so long for a very good reason. 

Mulled wine: It’s perfect for a party 

Mulled wine is fabulous cocktail for parties – it is a wine cocktail, after all. You can use a budget-minded, large-format or boxed red wine to make a big batch using a Dutch oven on the stovetop or it can be prepped in a slow cooker. It also suits appetizers and party food beautifully; so serve it alongside charcuterie, spiced nuts, aged cheeses and pâté.  

Mulled wine sets a welcoming mood 

If you are hosting a get-together, mulled wine will charm guests the moment they arrive. If you’ve prepared mulled wine in a saucepan on the stove or in that Crockpot and it’s been simmering, your entire home will be perfumed with its gorgeous aroma. Tip: Get your mulled wine started about half an hour before guests are set to arrive to achieve the full aromatic affect. 

Mulled Wine is super easy to make 

For the best mulled wine recipe, start with a delicious bold and fruity red wine. Put about a cup of wine per person into a large saucepan, and add sliced, firm fruit (apples, tangerines, blood oranges, nectarines); spices (cloves, nutmeg, cinnamon, star anise, allspice), and honey or maple syrup to taste if you’d like it sweeter. Ladle into mugs and add a few pieces of fruit and some spices to each. Here’s our favourite recipe (below), but feel free to improvise. One of the best things about making mulled wine is that it’s customizable. Feel free to freestyle with the ingredients, too, adding more of those spices and fruit you love the most. 

Try this classic Mulled Wine Recipe below, or try another of our versions which includes brandy, star anise and maple syrup here. 

Mulled Wine Recipe 

Bursting with baking spices and warm, fresh fruit, mulled wine is guaranteed to please. 

INGREDIENTS:

• 750 mL red wine (Meritage or similar)
• 1 cup apple cider
• 2 tbsp honey
• 1 tbsp sugar
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 1 piece star anise
• 3 cloves, whole
• 1/2 orange, whole

DIRECTIONS:
Combine all ingredients in a saucepan and bring to a gentle simmer.
Remove from heat and allow to steep for 15 minutes.
Strain and reheat, serve with a sliced orange garnish.

Wine and cheese: What's not to love? Not only is a cheeseboard the perfect reason to sip some of your favourite wines and try a lineup of delicious cheeses, it's also an ideal item to serve at a whole range of occasions, from book club and movie nights to holiday and birthday parties. 

If you're wondering what cheese to pair with your favourite wine – or vice versa – take the following as a primer to get started:

1. Sauvignon Blanc With Chèvre

   The wonderful citrus and mineral notes in Sauvignon Blanc bring out the herbal and nuttiness in goat cheese.

2. Pinot Grigio With Feta

   Crisp and fresh, Pinot Grigio pairs with light dishes and soft cheeses. It's ideal for balancing feta’s saltiness.

3. Chardonnay With Camembert

   Chardonnay cuts through the richness of this creamy cheese in the best of ways, plus the pairing allows the fruit flavours in this varietal to shine.

4. Cabernet Sauvignon With Aged Cheddar

   Cabernet Sauvignon’s rich flavour and high tannins make it a confident and thoroughly satisfying choice with cheddar.

5. Pinot Noir With Gruyère

   Pinot Noir is renowned for its berry flavours making it a fantastic match for classic Gruyère, the nutty, medium-firm cheese.

6. Merlot With Gouda

   A versatile red wine and a flexible cheese, both Merlot and Gouda share a similar acidity. It’s a must-try combination.

7. Sparkling With Brie

   From the high acidity to the dazzling bubbles, sparkling wine plays the perfect contrast – and delicious foil – to soft, creamy Brie.

8. Rosé With Havarti

   A delightfully crisp and lively, red-fruit rosé complements Havarti’s mellow flavour beautifully.

9. Reds, Whites, Sparkling and Sweet With Blue

   Bold wines such as Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay, sparkling and Icewine are great matches for pungent blue cheeses such as Roquefort and Stilton.

10. Sparkling With Parmigiano Reggiano

    For those who love the “king of cheeses”, with its intense and nutty flavours, it doesn’t get any better than bubbly. Sparkling wine’s effervescence cuts through all that salty richness in the most delightful way.

Photo Credit: Al Douglas

A Vegetable-Packed Feast

Healthy, flavourful veggies take centre stage in three of our favourite recipes from Chef Michael Smith’s latest book, Farmhouse Vegetables.

Potato Gnocchi, Nutmeg Spinach Sauce, and Orach Salad 

Serves 4 as a vegetable main or 6 as a side 

Gnocchi are easily made deliciously chewy dumplings that are part mashed potato, part pasta. They’re particularly tasty simply browned and crisped in butter. Tender spinach is puréed into a bright green sauce scented with fragrant nutmeg. Orach is an ancient vegetable with a savoury mineral flavour like spinach and chard. Its microgreens and tender leaves pair beautifully with earthy potatoes.

See Recipe

Cauliflower Chickpea Fritters

Makes 24 or so fritters, enough for 4 to 6 as a vegetable side

Simple techniques elevate broccoli and cauliflower in this delicious side dish. Smooth white cauliflower purée and chickpea flour make gluten- and dairy-free yet memorably crisp fritters. Briefly cooked broccoli is smoothly puréed into a bright green sauce with lots of mellowed garlic.

See Recipe

Butternut Squash Pie with Bourbon Cream with Squash Blossoms

Makes one 9 or 10-inch (23 or 25 cm) pie, enough for 8 generous slices

You can easily make a pumpkin pie with a butternut squash instead of a pumpkin because it’s all about the spice blend anyway. That is, unless you roast the squash first to concentrate the flavours before gently baking the squash purée in a delicious spiced custard. As homage, ground pumpkin seeds are bound with sugar and butter into a crispy, crunchy crust. Bourbon elevates simple whipped cream to harmonize with the fragrant pumpkin spices.

See Recipe

If the thought of entertaining a large group stresses you out with visions of meticulous scheduling, hours of cooking and the stress of seating plans, we’ve got the solution. Well, four, actually. Whether it's Family Day, a holiday celebration or a big birthday bash, we love the thought of breaking free from formality and embracing a more relaxed approach to hosting. On that note, here are four unconventional ideas that make entertaining a crowd not only enjoyable but surprisingly easy for everyone including you, the host! 

1. Buffets are Serve-Yourself Brilliant

Ditch the plated service and opt for a buffet-style spread. This allows guests to mingle, choose their portions, and explore a variety of dishes without the formality of a seated affair. For an added touch, create themed stations, like a taco bar or a build-your-own pasta buffet. For the wine, go with versatile crowd-pleasers for this casual setup – one red, one white. A crisp Sauvignon Blanc and a light Pinot Noir fit the bill, and work with the varied food preferences of your group.

2. Brunch: Whip Up Morning Magic

Brunch is a delightful and stress-free way to host. With a mix of breakfast and lunch options, you can prepare dishes ahead of time, and guests can help themselves throughout the morning. Offer classics like quiches, pastries and fresh fruit. Other options could include a fresh bagel brunch, with bagels, lox and cream cheese and a couple of fresh salads on the side. Brew lots of fresh coffee and tea, and enhance the experience with a sparkling wine or a light Rosé. They’re perfect pours to match the lively vibe of a mid-morning gathering.

3. Lunch: Afternoon Elegance is Made for Lingering

Who doesn’t love lunch? The occasion is flexible to please the late sleepers and leaves you, as the host, with a free evening later in the day. Lunches are also a charming and less formal alternative to dinner. Whether indoors or outdoors, a well-curated lunch spread provides the opportunity to wow your crowd with lots of fresh flavours without the heaviness of a formal dinner. For the menu, choose your favourite cuisine, order in from a favourite restaurant or caterer, or prep grilled sandwiches and salads ahead of time so you too can relax and lounge with your guests. A sparkling zero-alcohol signature cocktail allows you to put your personal stamp on the gathering and also suits the mid-day occasion. For those who enjoy wine as part the experience, chill a trio of Chardonnay, versatile Pinot Grigio and sparkling white and you’ll have something to please everyone assembled. 

4. Dessert: Sweet Simplicity

Break with convention and host a dessert party. Gather an array of sweets, from cakes and pies to cookies and tarts, but remember, baking is optional. With so many top-tier local bakeries around, your prep might just include strategic shopping versus time at the oven. Charming and considerably easier to organize than a multi-course dinner, a dessert-invitation is guaranteed to surprise and charm your crowd. And for those who stay clear of the sugar and chocolate, a beautiful cheese tray would be a welcome addition to the menu.  

For this get-together, keep to the sweet theme with the wine: dessert wine like a Late Harvest Riesling, Icewine or off-dry sparkling wine are all spot-on choices for your bar.  

 In embracing these dinner-party alternatives, hosting becomes simply more fun for everyone, host included. They’re more accommodating for those who simply don’t have the physical space to seat a large group, too. Breaking away from tradition opens up a world of possibilities, ensuring that your get-together remains firmly focused on the moment, where friends and family come together around great food and wine, and enjoy the life-affirming pleasure of each other’s company. 

February might be considered the most romantic of months – officially – but we’re of the belief that cozying up to a luxurious array of chocolate with a beloved is sublimely romantic at any time of year. Heck, we’d might even argue that it can be considered an act of self-care. However you wish to enjoy, a well-crafted chocolate board is an exceptional, and seasonless, dessert. Consider it the no-cook, crowd-pleasing treat everyone will remember. 

Whether you’re snacking solo or sharing a sweet spread with a loved one, follow these five tips for making a deliciously indulgent chocolate board. Then pair it with the right wines to make the best of the moment. 

1. Cover off the basics  

Include the universal varieties on your chocolate board: Milk, white, and dark chocolate. Remember that bittersweet, semi-sweet and sweet dark are all classified as dark chocolate, with a cocoa percentage range from 55-85 percent. With that assortment covered, you can layer in flavoured chocolate bars or squares, like caramel, orange, almond and coconut.  

2. Play with textures

Include a variety of milk, dark and white chocolate in different forms on your chocolate board. A mix of textures, from crunchy chocolate bark and hard squares to delicate wafers and a light, creamy chocolate mousse, keep things interesting and ensure you’ve got something to suit everyone’s taste. 

3. Think global

Bonus points for taking a gourmet journey around the globe with chocolates that are unique to different countries, from Belgian chocolate and Italy’s chocolate wafers, to French truffles and Switzerland’s world-famous milk chocolate. As you shop for your sweets, look for ethically sourced Fairtrade chocolate, too. 

4. Accessorize your board

A next-level board is all about the details. Add fresh fruit to cut through the richness of your cocoa offering; whether cut in slices, wedges or chunks, they act as palette cleansers. Fruit can also serve as the perfect vehicle for dipping. Plus, colourful fresh strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, cherries and even pomegranate seeds add a pretty punch of colour to your chocolate board. Next, complement your sweets with some savoury fixes. Add small bowls of salted nuts, chocolate-covered nuts and espresso beans, sea salt chocolate bars and pretzels. 

5. Match your chocolate with wine 

Name a better duo than chocolate and wine! The style of wine you choose, however, makes all the difference. Keep in mind the general wine-and-food pairing rule, that you should pair sweet with sweet. That means dessert wines such as Icewines are well suited to a chocolate board.  

If you want to stick with a table wine versus a dessert or fortified wine, however, aim for a bottle with some residual sugar, which can often be found in a Merlot, Shiraz or red blend. Since chocolate and wine both contain flavanols, the flavours can clash if you mix a dry, tannic red with a darker, bitter chocolate so look for at least 10g of sugar per litre. 

When looking for a wine, also pair like with like. For example, intense dark chocolate will best suit intense, deep, full-bodied wines. This also means that chocolates with nutty or dark berry flavours or ingredients would naturally be well matched with wines possessing those same notes. And for those chocolate-dipped strawberries? Try nibbling on those with an off-dry rosé wine with those same berry notes for a delicious match! 

Our expertly curated wines are perfect for gifting and for wishing loved ones health and good fortune for the year ahead.

If you’re asking yourself “what are the best gifts are for Lunar New Year?”, know that the best presents should symbolize luck and prosperity. And if in doubt, choose a gift in red or gold – or something wrapped in those auspicious colours. 

Taking that colour cue, we believe wine always makes a thoughtful gift. Icewine (sometimes dubbed “liquid gold” by winemakers and enthusiasts alike) and bold, prestigious red wines, are our chosen solution for Lunar New Year gifting. They’re also ideal for serving at the big New Year feasts that many families host to welcome the coming year.  

To help with this gifting and hosting occasion, we’ve selected a few exceptional wines to herald a happy and healthy new year.  

Score at your next big game get-together with a menu that will win points with both sports fans and non-sports fans alike.  

Let’s face it, it’s all about the food and that holds true whether you’ve assembled for a Saturday night hockey game, a midweek basketball game or a big weekend championship football match. 

Munchies make a great pregame show 

Dip is a non-negotiable for watching sports. But whip up your own for the game-day experience and you’ll be glad you did. A few of our crowd-pleasing favourite recipes include Roasted Red Pepper Dip, Butternut Squash Hummus, Baked Goat Cheese Dip. They’re classics but each comes with a delicious, savoury twist.  

A game day signature cocktail makes a most refreshing sipper for your gathering, too. The requirement: It should be fresh, fruity and effervescent. If there was ever a moment for a big- batch cocktail, this is it.  

Our Winter White Wine Sangria recipe fits the bill. It blends apple cider and cranberry juice with crisp white wine, white rum and plenty of fresh fruit and soda. The Winter Red Sangria is based on Merlot, and then generous amounts of fresh fruit, warm baking spices and grapefruit sparkling water are added in. Both versions are super easy to assemble and have a celebratory vibe! 

Serve a magical main course  

Why not forgo the chicken wings this time around for fare with a little more style and substance? On our lineup of much-loved main course recipes: Pulled Pork With Red Wine BBQ sauce, Blue Cheese Burgers, Chinese Five-Spice Ribs and Red Wine Chili.  Whatever recipe you choose to serve, a fresh salad and fresh crusty bread or rolls on the side is all you need to go with it.  

On the wine-matching front, these ribs, burgers, pulled pork and chili recipes would all pair perfectly with big, bold reds. A local Baco Noir or Cabernet Franc would be ideal. A Syrah too: Its dark berry and smoky, coffee and spicy notes would complement all of those boldly flavoured dishes. If in doubt, a versatile red blend would also team well. 

Wow, them with dessert 

For a sweet course to celebrate your game win or boost spirits after a loss, pick a dessert your guests will remember. Our Red Wine Chocolate Bacon Brownies is just the ticket. A classic brownie recipe, this one is enhanced with red wine and then topped with a decadent chocolate and bacon frosting. That’s sweet, savoury and salty: Talk about wow factor. 

Icewine would also be a winning combination with this one-of-a-kind brownie. 

For non-meat eaters, a casual buffet setup full of sweet choices – think bowls of chocolate bar chunks, wine gummies, caramel popcorn and cookies – caters to every palate in the room. We've also provided wine-matching tips for this high-low dessert in our Junk Food and Wine Pairings article. (And we use the term junk affectionately here.) 

Now you have all the makings for a great game-day experience, because we all know what happens off the field, ice or court is just as exciting as what’s going on in the game. 

To get the most from every bottle, it’s important to store wine properly. These cellaring tips are a great place to start.

Looking at creating your very own wine cellar? To get the most from each and every bottle, it’s important to store your wine properly and that’s true whether you plan on popping some of those corks in six months or many years from now.  

Here are some simple tips for those new to cellaring, plus a few insights on how proper storage can affect the actual structure and taste of that wine you’re looking forward to sipping at a later date: 

Temperature and Humidity 

Consistent temperature and humidity are two of the most important aspects of wine storage. If you do not have an existing wine cellar or wine fridge, try to find a space that is cool, dark and dry, such as a corner of the basement or even a closet. Try to avoid storing your wine in locations with frequent temperature changes (such as in the kitchen where heat from the stove or other appliances) or in damp environments. 

If your wine storage space is too hot, you can end up cooking your wine – you’ll actually taste a stewed flavour in your glass if that happens. On the other hand, if conditions are too cold, the wine will expand (there is water in that grape juice, after all) and you’re in danger of an exploding cork when you try to open the bottle. Makes sense that wine is not shipped in the coldest winter months, right? 

Aim for 12-13°C (approximately 55°F) with your wine storage area, and that works for all types of wine – red, white, rosé and sparkling. 

On the humidity topic, aim for a middle ground, about 50 to 80 percent humidity. If conditions are too dry, corks can dry out resulting in premature oxidation of your wine; if too damp, the danger is that mold will start forming on that wine cork. 

Light, or Lack Thereof 

There’s a reason those gorgeous old wine cellars are so dim and romantic looking – and dark! The ultraviolet rays in sunlight can break down the tannins in wine and diminish its structure and flavour. White wines, as a result, are more susceptible to sun damage than reds. This is also the reason that many wineries bottle their vintages in dark-coloured glass, and why it’s also important that your wine cellar or storage space should be kept in the dark.  

Positioning: Keep it Calm and Cool 

Positioning: Keep it Calm and Cool Storing your wine on its side – in horizontal positioning – will help keep its cork moist, which is essential to proper aging of a wine since that cork controls the wine’s humidity and prevents oxidation. Keep your storage still and quiet too, since vibration can agitate sediment and move it around within the bottle and negatively affect a wine’s structure. With this in mind, stay far away from your washer and dryer, exercise area or stereo system and speakers when designating the space for your growing wine collection. Excessive movement can essentially eliminate the lustre of a wine, too, leaving it tasting flat and blah.  

Avoid Harsh Odors 

Just as you should be careful about temperature, humidity and light when setting up your wine cellar, so too should you keep in mind that wine is scent-sensitive. It’s therefore not a great idea to establish your storage area right next to a nasty-smelling garage.