Nicole is a wine enthusiast and she so graciously volunteered her time with me to explore some burning questions! She is from Saskatoon, a mother of two, and a nurse. It was on a trip to Portugal with her husband that she really started to explore the world of wine and we get to talking about what that looks like today. She, admittedly, is bit stuck in drinking what she knows and what her friends always drink. In this episode we explore some other wines she may enjoy and SO MUCH MORE.

We cover:

1. How to choose quality wines in the store, i.e. branding vs. information

2. How to choose red wines based on her palate (see below)

3. The year or vintage, and what difference that makes

4. Blends vs. single grape variety wines

5. How to choose white wines based on her palate (see below)

6. Cork vs screw cap

7. Restaurant etiquette when choosing wine

8. How to expand your palate and taste wine

9. Why buying lots of wine on a wine tour is NOT a good idea

10. How to learn more about wine - the one resource I shared is “Wine Folly - The Essential Guide to Wine” by Madeline Puckette and Justin Hammack

11. Is it gauche to open a wine and drink it over multiple days?

12. Sulphites and do they give you headaches?

Some wines I talk about in the episode, both as recommendations for Nicole’s palate and in our conversation:

1. Cotes du Rhône - find in France section

2. Bordeaux - find in France section

3. Super Tuscans - Cabernet Sauvignon made in the Tuscany region. Tend to be huge, big bold reds, maybe a tad pricier

4. Vinho verde - find in Portugal section

5. Txakoli (the one I stumbled over the pronunciation lol) - find in Spanish section

6. Chablis - find in the France section (Clean, crisp, Chardonnay)

Originally from New Zealand, Adam Lovell is currently based in Portugal where his mission is to share the delicious diversity of Portuguese and Spanish wine through his company Bomb Vinho. His passion has led him to share curated wine boxes, educational video content, other writing and blogs, and now, an upcoming book! We sit down and talk about how Adam ended up in Spain, and then Portugal and why he started Bomb Vinho. We cover how he got into the wine industry and how he’s avoided all classic wine pretension to do something truly unique. You will be absorbed by his exuberance, enthralled by the stories of the Portuguese wine community, and finish knowing you’re going to go straight to pre-ordering his new book “Trippin’ & Sippin’: A Quest for Bomb Vinho”. Find him WEB: bombvinho.com INSTA: @bomb_vinho TIKTOK: BombVinho.

Chef Christie Peters is the chef-owner of both Primal & POP Wine Bar in Saskatoon, SK. With a passion for acquiring culinary expertise internationally and bringing it back to the prairies, she has trained under several chefs and worked in many famous kitchens, most pertinent, a three-month internship at the world-famous Danish restaurant, Noma, under Chef René Redzepi (RIP). Her restaurants are often on Canada’s TOP 100 list, and have gained much success.

We sit down and chat about her journey, how she learned about wine along the way to becoming a restauranteur, how her time in Copenhagen opened up the world of natural wine, and how that lead to her latest establishment POP Wine Bar.

Discover her & her restaurants: @pop_winebar @primal_pasta @crustinthekitchen OR find her on OnlyFans😉

Gina Brass is the co-owner of Noble Wine, an import agency in Saskatchewan with a focus on importing honest, handmade wine, made with heart, integrity and instinct. Gina also hosts pop-up events through her side project Nicola Pop-Up. Gina continues to nurture her curiosity of wine through connecting with winemakers, self education, tasting, and conversation.

Join us as we chat about how Gina manifested her first job at a natural wine bar in Toronto in her early 20’s to now co-owning a natural wine agency in Saskatchewan. In this episode you will lean a little bit about what natural wine is, and why Gina chose to pursue a career in it.

You can find her here:

Instagram: @noble__wine OR @gina.brass

Web: noblewine.ca

Join me in this cathartic episode where you will learn quite a bit more about me, my entrepreneurship journey, and how the podcast came to be. I get quite vulnerable in this one and even read you quotes about Creativity. If you want to listen to my ranting thoughts about how we are all creative beings and how I aim to focus on this for 2024, this is for you!

More wine content early Jan 2024!

Xoxo Samantha

Elysianwineclub.com

Instagram: @elysianwineclub

Join me, and my first ever guest, Laura Milnes, in the next Podcast episode titled, “What does it mean to be Canadian? SHOW don’t tell.”

Laura Milnes is a self-employed wine professional based in Toronto, where she specializes in Canadian wine, offering intimate and unique experiences that showcase the bounty of amazing wines being produced across the country. She operates her private tasting business under her brand, Crushable, which also functions as a direct to consumer wine club.

Laura and I sat down for just over an hour, with bottle of wine I must add, and chatted about her journey in the wine industry. We talk about how she got into the wine industry, the challenges, her journey to entrepreneurship, and of course, all about Canadian Wine. You will love her passion, her intellect, and her no bullshit approach. Thanks for listening!

Find Laura here: https://www.crushable.club

Instagram @crushablewineclub

This is the PODCAST for THE ELYSIAN WINE CLUB SHOPPING GUIDE. Click here to download your FREE copy NOW and continue listening as I guide you through! https://elysianwineclub.myflodesk.com/p1xhy0nxol

The Elysian Wine Club Shopping Guide is the Modern Drinker’s best friend!

Imagine walking into the wine shop full of confidence of knowing what you like, knowing how to articulate it, and then how to find more wines that YOU like. This guide is here to get you on that journey. I go over wine pricing, the structure and body of wine, and why it’s important, wine terminology, and then how to find some really unique wines that suit your taste. Did I mention I even explain how to pronounce them. Whether it’s a bottle for a date night, a dinner party, or just a bath, I’ve got you.

Join me in this episode where we explore the HISTORY OF WINE through a cultural lens.

We explore the beginnings of wine, and how the ancient civilizations held wine as an integral part of their social and spiritual make-up. Not only that, we explore each of their Gods of wine, and find remarkable similarities when it comes to wine and spirituality. We dive through the Medieval Times to see how the Catholic Church helped to preserve and document viticulture and winemaking. Moving into Modern History, with technological advancements, the concept of regional classification systems, and globalization, wine continues it’s legacy as one of the most important liquids of the world.

This one is geeky, culturally focused, and meant to arm you with fun tidbits of knowledge to pull out at your next dinner party.

Thanks for joining me!

In this episode I dive deep into the practicality and the science behind aerators, what tannins and sulphites are and how they interact with our bodies, and I touch on what points systems are (you know those little stickers in your wine) and if they matter or not. Spoiler alert, all of these things are commonly misunderstood, and I tell you why.

Join me in this short little episode where I talk about the many sides of wine. I go into how wine is many things; it is scientific, spiritual, historical, social and more and how this relates to learning about wine. I talk about how to think about wine with CURIOSITY instead of with dread and confusion and how it makes learning about wine EASIER. Xoxo Samantha