Hi! I am Carolyn - the Wine Lover in the Wine Lover's Kitchen! I absolutely love having friends and family around my table with great food and wine to enjoy.
I take heart from Julia Child's quote "Good Cooks Are Not Born - They Learn By Doing".
I have spent many happy hours in the kitchen so I can offer recipes with tried and true techniques and tips on how to make it a perfect dish.
I read recipes for fun and hoard collect cookbooks! Besides being an avid cook I am an enthusiastic wine taster!
I read recipes for fun and hoard collect cookbooks! Besides being an avid cook I am an enthusiastic wine taster!
I am Wine and Spirits Education Trust III certified ( WSET 3) and a regular participant in industry Masterclasses and tastings, including
- Espai Priorat 2019, Priorat, Spain
- The Wines of Niederösterreich (Lower Austria), Kamptal, Kremtal, Wagram, Traisental, Wachau, Austria
- The Great Wines Of Italy -New York, James Suckling
- the annual Tre Bicchieri- Toronto, Gambero Rosso International
- Benvenuto Brunello, Toronto with Michael Godel
- Tenuta San Guido wines, Toronto with Priscilla Incisa della Rochetta
- The Wines of Chile, Toronto
- Wines of New Zealand, Toronto
- The Wines of Alsace
- Taste Ontario, Toronto
- Discover California, Toronto.
As an approved media taster for the Ontario Liquor Control Board (LCBO) my wine reviews and recommendations appear on nataliemaclean.com and thewineloverskitchen.com, as well as in the LCBO Vintages magazine.
Good wine doesn't have to be expensive! The LCBO tastings were suspended during Covid, but I use my personal experience, knowledge of wine regions, producers and critics to recommend 'Best Buys' in each of the LCBO's bi-weekly Vintages releases.
Ontario wine lovers can click on a recommended wine and get right to it on the LCBO site to read more and check availability. Wine lovers outside Ontario, you can use the wine's name to check for availability in your area.
I research wines under $40 to make sure they are consistently highly rated by many respected critics - not just one outlier.
And you might be surprised how many of those wines are in the $20 range! So stop wandering around the wine store wondering what to buy!
And you can stop buying wine because the label is pretty!! (You would be surprised how often I hear that one!)
If you see yourself on this page then sign up now for my bi-weekly newsletter to get timely wine recommendations and recipe ideas!
I would love your feedback in the comments of the recipes you have tried!
And this is your chance to become a wine critic too! If you tried a recommended wine leave a comment telling everyone what you thought of it!
Since I started The Wine Lover's Kitchen I have joined Natalie Maclean's community of wine reviewers. Natalie is Canada's 'Most Quoted Wine Writer and Editor of Canada's largest wine review sites. My reviews are available to Natalie's followers on her site https://www.nataliemaclean.com/.
I love the world of blogging and am proud to be a member of Food Bloggers of Canada.
I can't wait to share my favourite recipes, menus and wine pairings with you! Please enjoy responsibly!
This is me enjoying lunch in the gardens of the Palace of Versailles- no wonder I have a Cheshire Cat grin on my face!