© Michelle Valberg

Natalie MacLean is an accredited sommelier and has won numerous awards, among them four James Beard Journalism Awards, including the MFK Fisher Distinguished Writing Award; five IACP Bert Greene Awards; four Association of Food Journalists Awards; and four North America Travel Journalists Association Awards; and she has been named the World’s Best Drink Writer. Her work has appeared in Best Food Writing, and she has written for Bon Appetit, Food & Wine, Wine Enthusiast, the San Francisco Chronicle, the Chicago Tribune, the Minneapolis Star Tribune, and the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Natalie publishes her free newsletter, Nat Decants, at www.nataliemaclean.com. A Rhodes Scholarship finalist and Scottish highland dancer, Natalie lives with her husband and son outside of Ottawa.