Natalie MacLean is one of Canada’s most respected wine writers. Her columns are insightful and interesting and she doesn’t get into the kinda of snobby wine critiques that some writers have been known for.

Natalie has created a widget for wine aficionados, writers and foodies to include on their website, or carry around on their iPhone or Blackberry. (Drinks after Dark has installed the widget here.)

You can use the matcher by choosing your favourite food or your wine of choice, and see what will pop up for either. You’ll also find dishes to go with wine, cocktails, liqueurs, beer, spirits, cider, coffee, tea—and yes, even water. The Drinks Matcher is meant to be a springboard to help you discover the matches you prefer. The perfect pairing, of course, is between you and the wine you like.

“The variety of food-and-drink combinations has exploded in the last five years,” says Natalie MacLean. “Chicken isn’t just chicken anymore: Now we eat it stuffed with pancetta and fresh herbs, rubbed with curry spices or sautéed in an orange balsamic sauce. We’re looking for more interesting flavors, both on the plate and in the glass—and we want them to work together.”

Here are Natalie’s top 10 fun food and wine matches:

1. Popcorn with Chilean Chardonnay
2. Nachos with California Zinfandel
3. Potato chips with French Champagne
4. Pizza with Italian Chianti
5. Fish and chips with German Riesling
6. Hamburgers with Australian Shiraz
7. Smoked salmon with Canadian or Oregon Pinot Noir
8. Quiche with New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc
9. Canned brown beans with tawny Port
10. TV dinner steak with French or Washington Cabernet Sauvignon

Wine needs to breathe, it just opens up and tastes better, but if you’re anything like me, I wither don’t think far enough ahead to decant, or I just want wine when I open it.

Thankfully, the Vinturi is my new best friend. I’ve got a Vinturi red wine aerator, and when the opportunity came to try out the white wine aerator, I was, yet again, skeptical but interested. ‘Surely white wine doesn’t change dramatically enough to need to be aerated!?’.

I should really just stop being so skeptical and listen when I’m told something.

It’s a longstanding myth that white wine does not need aeration. The truth is that white wine displays the same improvements with aeration as red wine. Vinturi for White Wine has different internal dimensions and flow rates. The result is perfect aeration specifically for white wine.

So what does the Vinturi for White Wine actually do?

BETTER BOUQUET
Sample the nose. You’ll appreciate the subtle aromatic differences and the full aroma of the wine. Vinturi allows wine to display its intended aromas.

ENHANCED FLAVORS
Go ahead, take a sip. Vinturi’s wine tastes better. It is more flavorful and has better mouthfeel. It tastes like a richer, more expensive wine. It tastes like it was intended to and is more enjoyable.

SMOOTHER FINISH
Vinturi’s aeration enhances and extends the finish. Any bitterness or bad aftertaste is reduced or eliminated.

I tried this tonight with an Oregon Riesling. It’s beautiful and makes a great stocking stuffer for your favourite wino at $39.95. Buy online at Vinturi or Bed, Bath & Beyond, BevMo, Brookstone, Crate & Barrel, Nordstrom, Sur la Table, Wine Styles and CostPlus World Market.

Entirely, in your glass.

Next Wednesday, at the illustrious Pan Pacific Hotel in Vancouver, Globe in your Glass,where attendees get to rub elbows with the winemakers, as
they taste selections from the following wineries from around the world:

From Canada:
Inniskillin Wines, Jackson-Triggs Okanagan Estate, Nk’Mip Cellars,
Osoyoos Larose, See Ya Later Ranch and Sumac Ridge Estate Winery

From Australia:
Banrock Station, Barossa Valley Estate and Hardys Wines

From New Zealand: Kim
Crawford Wines and Monkey Bay

From The United
States: Clos du Bois, Hogue Cellars, Ravenswood, Robert Mondavi Winery and
Woodbridge by Robert Mondavi

Chef Roger Planiden will offer samples of  some yummy food pairings to compliment the wide range of wine flavours in the room. Chef Planiden is from thr Great Estates of the Okanagan and will be tempting our tastebuds.

Tickets are $25 a piece, online only (not sold at the door) and all proceeds support the efforts of Canuck Place Children’s Hospice. For tix, head to CCLTD and chick the link for purchase.

>Pssst: if you’re on Twitter, use the hashtag #globeinglass and DM or @ myself of Leeann for details on a secret tweet up.

I’ve recently started a new project - one that is consuming a large part of my mind and time at the moment. Because of this, Drinks after Dark is going on (continuing?) a brief hiatus while I get myself sorted out!

stay tuned!!

Mmmm. I want to get all of my furniture from these guys. Not only is this stuff gorgeous, but I bet is smells amazing. May as well carry my love for good bourbon throughout the entire house!

The furniture is made from reclaimed bourbon barrels from Bardstown, Kentucky. Usually, the used barrels are only used once to age bourbon, and then they’re either sold to Scotland for scotch or they’re turned into planters, or firewood (sob! how wrong!!).

Uhuru is instead taking this gorgeous charred white oak and has created the Küpe line. Heck, they make gorgeous furniture, period. I want all my stuff to be from here!

(Image source: Uhuru Designs. Hat tip to Liquor Snob for the heads up)

In  the “You want to learn how to drink Scotch” post, I talked about some of my early experiences with Scotch. In the single malt department, Aberlour was the first I tried, but didn’t drink it often.

The first Scotch (and a single malt no less) was Laphroaig.  Laphroaig is a Scotch from the Ilse of Islay and is known for its distinctive “burn” which comes from iodine. Iodine?

Yes, Iodine. The reason is that the casks are left out on the docks and the North Sea storms are allowed to wash over them. The end result is that sea water seeps into the barrels and leave the Scotch with a very distinctive taste.

When Colleen asked me to try Laphroaigh Quater Cask, I was expecting the same harsh burn and the”regular” version. I couldn’t have been more wrong.

The Quarter Cask, is smooth with amazing smoky and peaty flavours. Very subtle and with nary a trace of the Laphroaigh burn. That said, this is a water Scotch.

Without a splash of water, it has a funky band aid taste. I know, strange. The water just brings the flavours out.

Contrast this with Ardmore. Ardmore is another single malt that is as different as night and day when compared to Laphroaigh.

I found Ardmore to be almost too smooth for my taste, not enough of the Scotch bite that I like.  That said the non-Scotch drinkers (aka unwashed heathens) found that it was nice and could enjoy a finger or two with ice.

Both of these Scotches are in the middle cost price range, personally I’ll be picking up a bottle of the Quarter Cask to enjoy as a special treat now and then.

There’s just no way around it – late nights and a few too many cocktails can wreck havoc on a girl’s complexion.

Arctic Brightening Serum

Skyn ICELAND, a company devoted to finding solutions for stressed skin, has something to help.

Arctic Brightening Serum is kind of like a time machine for your skin. It helps reverse stress-related damage so that you don’t look as haggard as you might feel.

This arrived on just the right day for me. Those cold war shots on that Sunday evening? This landed on my door step on Monday morning. The box called out to me:

“Out partying all night. Too much wine, no water. How do I keep my indiscretions from showing up on my face?”

I can attest to the fact that it did indeed start to help my poor skin, and I’ve added a new product to my regular regimen.