No Recipe Required with Lesley Taylor – Details, episodes & analysis

This is a companion episode to go along with my most recent Substack Newsletter on How To Choose A Wine. If you're a subscriber, that would have been in your inbox on Tuesday morning. It's free to subscribe and I write content about food, wine, cooking, baking, and home economics.

In the newsletter, I recommended four wines - all Cabernet Sauvignon - from four different regions. So I thought it would be a good follow-up to taste the wines and give you my reviews.

Here are the wines in the order I reviewed them:

Submission Cabernet Sauvignon, California, $19.95 (on sale for $17.95 at the LCBO until the end of April) 14.5% / 7g/L

Peter Lehmann The Barossan Cabernet Sauvignon 2022, South Australia, $20.95 14.5% 4g/L

Zuccardi Q Cabernet Sauvignon 2021, Mendoza, Argentina, $20.95 14% 3g/L

Santa Carolina Reserva de Familia Cabernet Sauvignon, Maipo Valley, Chile, $19.95.

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In this episode, Cousin Jano and I talk about our recent trip down to the Niagara region for a wine tour. We visited six wineries over two days, and on the second day we actually walked from one winery to the next, covering a total of about 11 kilometers! We actually don't talk in much detail about the specific wines we drank, we focused more on the experience we had at each of the wineries. If you want to know what I bought while I was there, read my newsletter dated March 12. Here are the wines that Cousin Jano purchased: Hidden Bench, 2020 Rachis & Derma Skin Fermented Chardonnay, $30 Icellars 2017 Chardonnay, $40 Lailey 2022 Sparkling Rosé, $28 Stonebridge 2019 Chardonnay, $48 Two Sisters 2021 Riesling, $40 Two Sisters 2020 Unoaked Chardonnay, $40 Stratus 2006 White, $59 Stratus 2022 Riesling Ice Wine, $69 (375mL) As always, you can follow me in the following places: Website Substack Instagram Facebook E-mail aW8sLMqVU1ceCNFelsvf

Please don't turn your nose up at Riesling! The wine I've chosen this month is a dry Riesling from Alsace (France.) Pierre Sparr Grande Réserve Riesling 2020, $18.95

If you can't find this exact wine, look for a Riesling from Alsace (France) that has 5-7g of sugar per Litre. This one has 6g/L. Many popular red wines are in the 4-7g/L range, in fact, the Ripasso we tasted last month had 12g/L!

This wine is pale yellow in colour and has nice viscosity. Aromas of peach, honey, honeysuckle. Mouth feel is medium bodied, citrus, minerals, med-high acidity, and dry yet juicy.

Let me know what you think! In a couple of weeks I'll be talking with my cousin, Alexander, who is a product consultant at the LCBO and who LOVES Riesling. After that, you and I will surely know more about Riesling than we ever did before.

Here are the wines we tasted on this episode:

No Recipe Required Wine Tasting Club Selection: Louis Bouillot Perle d'Aurore Brut Rosé Crémant de Bourgogne, $27.95

Cousin Jano's other favourite sparkling wines:

• Veuve Ambal Crémant de Bourgogne Grande Cuvée Brut, France (Burgundy) $23.65
• De Chanceny Crémant de Loire Rosé Brut, France (Loire) $23.10 (on sale from $26.60 until August 13th)
• Château de Montgueret Crémant de Loire Brut, France (Loire) $26.05
• Hinterland (Ontario, Prince Edward County) Whitecap (2021), Méthod Charmat, $23.25
• Lighthall Vineyards (Ontario, Prince Edward County) 2022 Progression, $24.95

There are 2 reviews in this episode: first, I give my review of a new book by wine writer Natalie MacLean called "Wine Witch On Fire: Rising from the ashes of Divorce, Defamation, and Drinking too much." I was a beta reader for this memoir, and I've heard Natalie speak about it in person at her book launch as well as on her own podcast, The Unreserved Wine Talk Podcast with Natalie MacLean. In this episode I read a passage from her book that I found to be impactful for me, as well as giving my thoughts on the book as a whole (spoiler alert: I really liked and and recommend that you read it.)

Secondly, I give my tasting notes on this month's Wine Club selection, Monte Zovo Sa' Solin Ripasso Superiore DOC ($23.95 at LCBO.)

I'd love to hear your thoughts on this wine, as well as on Natalie's book once you get a chance to read it. You can reach me on Instagram @noreciperequired.ca, or join the Facebook group, No Recipe Required Challenge.

Welcome to Season 4 of the No Recipe Required Podcast! We're taking a 90 degree turn, but not too far off what the podcast is about since we'll be talking about wine for the next several months. I've started a free Wine Tasting Club (free to join, you just have to buy the wine yourself) so that we can try new things and compare notes. If you want to be a guest on the podcast to talk about this month's wine, please reach out to me.

Join the FB Group to discuss this month's wine: https://www.facebook.com/groups/956452831576049

Link to the LCBO site for this month's wine: https://www.lcbo.com/en/stoneleigh-latitude-sauvignon-blanc-324228

Follow me on Instagram, my DMs are open: https://www.instagram.com/noreciperequired.ca/

And you can also reach me by e-mail at cook@noreciperequired.ca

In this episode, Arlene and I start by talking about how she came to be cast in the Degrassi series of kids' shows back in the '80s/'90s and then how her love and talent for Graphic Design helped her create a side gig baking artful cakes and pies. She also shares her secrets and tips for perfect pie decorating and baking, so be sure to have a pen/paper handy to take notes.

You can (and should!) follow Arlene on Instagram @Arlodesigns, or check our her web site. She also suggested we follow another pie artist, Jessica Leigh Clark-Bojin (@thepieous on IG) and one more artists - whose name she blanked on during our chat - Julie Jones (@julie_jonesuk on IG.)

If anyone tries their hand at making an artful pie, be sure to tag me and Arlene on IG.

In this episode, Jano and I start off talking about childhood cereals, and then move into memories about beverages - both non-alcoholic and alcoholic. Hope you enjoy this gastronomical trip down memory lane.

My cousin and I went on a trip down memory lane a while ago, talking about the comfort foods of our childhood. We were both born in the mid-'60s and grew up in the '70s. Some of the things we talk about are recipes made with canned soup (always Campbell's), things with cheese (lots and lots of cheese) and why certain foods evoke such strong memories.

This is part 1 of our conversation, which focuses on those main course dishes of our childhood like Swedish meatballs, Mac & Cheese, Cheese Fondue, Turkey Tetrazini, Creamed onions, canned peas, and a few other things.

Hope you enjoy this trip down our comfort food memory lane.

My guest this week is an old friend (we met back in 2001!) who started as a driver for a wine agency, and then went on to become a sommelier. James Oatway works for Halpern Wine Enterprises in Toronto. He posts on Instagram under his new account, @rockandgrapes, as well as @Somm_Thing_To_Talk_About, which is the title of his upcoming podcast about wine - and he tells me a story about the origins of the logo for the podcast involving a broken bottle of wine. He's a busy guy, as he also has a music industry podcast called Tales from the Turntable.

In this episode, James shares a ton of insider information on the wine industry, how wines are priced for sale (a lot of our talk is very Ontario-specific, since that's where we both live and work,) how to choose a wine in a restaurant, the most expensive wine he's ever tasted, how (and why!) to start a wine tasting club, and so much more. He also gave me a suggestion of a wine we could taste together (details below) and he walks me though how to taste that wine and what to look for.

Majella The Musician, Cabernet/Shiraz, 2019, Coonawara, South Australia, $19.95 at LCBO/Vintages. 14.5% alcohol.