No Recipe Required with Lesley Taylor

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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This is a cross-over episode with content from my most recent Substack newsletter. If you're not already subscribed and following me there, here is the link.

The two Syrah/Shiraz wines I'm talking about in this episode are:

François Villard L'appel des Sereines Syrah 2020, Saint-Michel-sur-Rhône, France ($22.95 at the LCBO,) 13% ABV, 3g sugar/L.

Thompson Estate Four Chambers Shiraz 2021, Margaret River, Western Australia ($21.25 at the LCBO, on sale, regularly $24.95) 14.2% ABV, 3g sugar/L.

You can also follow me on Instagram, Facebook, and my new website. My e-mail address is "cook at noreciperequired dot ca."

Just a quick update on what's new in the No Recipe Required world!

Here's the link to subscribe to my weekly newsletter on Substack (contrary to what I said in the episode, there is no "dot CA" in my account name there): https://substack.com/@noreciperequired

Thanks for listening and supporting me for the last 3 years!

No notes... just listen to the randomness of this episode. And if you're reading this and can tell me how many times I used the word "random" in my intro and outro, maybe I'll have a prize for you!

Since 2024 has just started and this is the first episode of the year, I'm calling this a new season, so welcome to Season 5, Episode 1 of the No Recipe Required Podcast!

This episode with my dear friend and co-host, Leo Troy, really is quite random, hence the title "The Random Episode." I talk a bit about the wine I was drinking, how sourdough bread is made, New Year's resolutions, and eating more veggies.

If you want to learn more about vegetarian and vegan eating, check out my 4-part series from February of 2022 (S2, Ep. 10-13) where I do a real deep dive with two long-time vegans, a dietician, and a nutritionist about all things plant-based.

Part 2 of my random chat with Leo will come out soon, so stay tuned for that. In that episode, he turns the table and interviews me!

In this episode I give you some new content and tips on cooking a turkey, as well as how to simplify your holiday meal prep by doing things in advance.

Tourtière can be very divisive, and I give my thoughts on what makes for a traditional tourtière spice blend.

I finish off with some wine selections that might be worth a bit of a splurge from what you normally spend on a bottle of wine. After all, it's Christmas, so why not treat yourself!

Wine Links:

Michel Gassier - ⁠Nostre Païs⁠ $21.75

Michel Gassier - ⁠Fleur de Syrah⁠ $22.95

Xavier Vignon - ⁠Côtes du Rhône⁠ $17.95

Xavier Vignon - ⁠Lirac ⁠(Grenache/Syrah) $20.75

Xavier Vignon - ⁠Châteuneuf-du-Pape⁠ $72.95

Grant Burghe - ⁠The Holy Trinity⁠ $41.95

Past episodes mentioned in this episode:

Splurge Worthy Wines (part 1) - ⁠Bonus Ep. 3⁠

Splurge Worthy Wines (part 2) - ⁠Bonus Ep. 4⁠

Splurge Worthy Wines (part 3) - ⁠Bonus Ep. 5⁠

⁠Family Holiday Recipes⁠

S4.E3. ⁠Sparklers with Cousin Jano

Here are the wines I talked about in this episode:

⁠

https://www.lcbo.com/en/gerard-bertrand-pollinat-syrah-29506 ⁠

Gerard Bertrand

Pollinat’ Syrah $15.95

Sud de France

⁠

https://www.lcbo.com/en/quinta-da-rede-reserva-2017-431742⁠

Quinta da Rede

Reserva 2017 $20.95

Douro, Portugal

⁠

https://www.lcbo.com/en/colchester-ridge-crew-meritage-2016-426833⁠

Colchester

Ridge CREW Meritage 2020 $23.95

VQA Harrow, ON

To order Tourtières for pick-up in Toronto, go to ⁠noreciperequired.ca⁠. I will also be having a pop-up event on Saturday, November 4 and Sunday, November 5 from noon to 3PM at Mess Hall, 1125 Gerrard St. E. at Leslie.

In this episode I chat with my cousin, Alexander, who is a product consultant at the LCBO in Toronto. He LOVES Riesling, so he was the perfect person to have on to talk about all things Riesling. In the previous episode, I gave you my thoughts on the Pierre Sparr Riesling from Alsace that was this month's Wine Club selection. While Alexander and I talk about Riesling as it's made in Canada, France (Alsace) and Germany, we are tasting the 2017 Riesling from Stanners Vineyard in Prince Edward County. I bought this at my local farmers' market a few weeks ago, and since I'd just baked a Peach Pie yesterday, I figured this was a good time to open this bottle and share it with Alexander.

Here are the wines we talked about in this episode: