DRINKS

BAILEY’S BIRTHDAY CAKE IRISH CREAM, IRELAND

Probably all “just a splash” in my coffee drinkers are familiar with the great taste and rich addition a little Bailey’s Irish Cream adds to those weekend mornings by the fireside or on the sidelines at the rink. New this year is Birthday Cake Baileys, a lot of similarity to the classic flavour, but tasting very much like a classic white birthday cake or Timbit. Sprinkles and icing included. Sure “today” might not be your birthday, but maybe you need a little present anyways.

CSPC 108178 $35-38

We discovered Chai Spice at Taste of Calgary, and we're very happy to be acquainted! Even more perfect now the weather’s cooling down, these blends of black tea with different aromatic spices (think cinnamon, ginger, cloves, cardamom, and peppercorns) in their beautiful packs are warming and very tasty. Choose one of four flavours or caffeine-free turmeric chai, or opt for the bundle with all five packs and a stainlesssteel strainer too, and add milk and sugar to taste. Chai latte anyone? 125 g, from $8 chaispice.ca

Dom Perignon Brut Vintage 2013

Dom Perignon is only made as a vintage champagne, and only made in the most exceptional of years. After a cool and wet winter and spring, 2013 was the hottest and driest on record in the region, creating a beautifully balanced wine with a creamy texture and flavours of orange blossom, yellow plum, and apricots, with a little mint – and it’s in our market now. This year, the bottle comes with a gift! Look for a boxed pack of two Dom Perignon glasses near to the bottles, available in 297 liquor stores across Alberta! CSPC 280461 around $360

GUILT FREE “LOCAL” WINE

Now that British Columbia and Alberta have resolved their trade dispute regarding direct to consumer (DTC) or ordering from a BC winery’s website and shipping to Alberta, you can reach out to your favourite next-door winery - guilt free. Sign up for those Naramata, Similkameen - or any other BC wine appellation wine clubs to get your hands on those special releases, hard to find back vintages, or rare bottles. Of course, you can also just get your paws on a pinot you loved, or a favourite rosé. With limited production recently, it might be your best way to get BC wine. Virtually every BC winery will ship directly, but we’d recommend focusing your online and out of province shopping to the wineries that we don’t see on our retail shelves. Many wineries will have a handful of wines in Alberta, but most will have a far more expansive selection at the farm gate.

Wine Crystal Abstract Art

Do you remember last November’s stunning cover with the abstract art photograph? It was the first time we hadn’t shown food or drink on our cover, and we felt it was a bit risky but we loved it – and it turned out that everyone else did too as we had great feedback! Dr. Robert Berdan is in Calgary and his photograph was of wine crystals by polarized light microscopy magnified 100 times. Check out hundreds of his outstanding wine crystal images at canadiannaturephotographer.com

The Gift Of Scotch Whisky

For the whisky lovers in your life, a membership to the Scotch Malt Whisky Society (SMWS) is a unique and welcome gift! Now 40 years old, SMWS is not a Scotch-of-the-Month club, but a worldwide camaraderie of whisky lovers who know their drams taste better when shared. Enjoy special bottles, tastings, Unfiltered online magazine, access to Members' Rooms, and more. See smws.ca

Read Alberta Subscription Program

We’re guessing that you enjoy magazines as you’re reading this, but did you know you can get two subscriptions for the price of one with Read Alberta’s subscription promotion? Just choose any two from the 25 Alberta magazines participating and they’ll arrange to have them delivered to you or whoever you’re gifting them to (or one to each of you!) and cover 50 percent of the total cost. Of course, we hope you’ll choose Culinaire as one of them! albertamagazines.com

VINE & DINE

We’re also guessing, as you’re reading Culinaire, that you enjoy food and drink – and maybe both together. Maybe learning about them too! Our Vine & Dine pairing dinners are delicious, sociable, and a little educational too, and hosted in restaurants all over Calgary and surrounding areas, many times a month, every month, with different chefs, different cuisines, and at different prices – there’s something for every appetite at vineanddine.ca