Join Natalie MacLean for the launch of her third book, a #1 Amazon Bestseller based on pre-orders and named one of the "Most Anticipated Books of the Season." Plus, there'll be two wine tastings and a pairing lunch in Niagara on Saturday, May 13th.
- Savour four outstanding wines as Natalie guides you in a private wine tasting
- Enjoy her hilarious and heartfelt stories about working in the world of wine
- Learn about the professional challenges when drinking is your day job
- Discover how to become a savvier wine buyer with my insider tips
- Ask Natalie anything about wine, writing a book or rediscovering joy in your personal and professional life
Get your tickets for one of these in-person book launch events and tastings:
https://www.mywinecountry.com/on/lunch-with-natalie-maclean.html Celebrate spring and/or Mother's Day in style, or make it a weekend get-away.
NOTE: These tasting events are expected to sell out so save your spot today!
Wine Witch on Fire
Rising from the Ashes of Divorce, Depression, Defamation, and Drinking Too Much A powerful memoir of how one woman resurrects her life and career in the glamorous but sexist wine industry.
Natalie MacLean, a bestselling wine writer, is shocked when her husband of twenty years, a high-powered CEO, demands a divorce. Her year gets worse when an online mob of rivals comes for her career.
Wavering between despair and determination, she must fight for her son, rebuild her career, and salvage her self-worth using her superpowers: heart, humour, and an uncanny ability to pair wine and food.
Natalie questions her insider role in the slick marketing that encourages women to drink too much while she battles the wine world’s veiled misogyny. Facing the worst vintage of her life, she reconnects with the vineyards that once brought her joy, the friends who sustain her, and her own belief in second chances.
This true coming-of-middle-age story is about transforming your life and finding love along the way.
Advance Praise for Wine Witch on Fire Zesty, vibrant, meditative, edgy, structured, intense—these words Natalie MacLean might use to describe wines all apply to her Wine Witch on Fire. With clear-eyed honesty and needle-sharp probing, her memoir covers a time of personal and of professional crisis, much of which rose from the astonishing sexism of other wine writers. Dire, yes, but the book is funny and a page turner. Anyone at a crux will be buoyed by this writer’s grit and grace.
- Frances Mayes, author of the #1 New York Times bestseller Under the Tuscan Sun and A Place in the World Misogyny, sexism, social media trolling. Natalie MacLean has been through hell and back. But her words are heartfelt and her journey inspiring.
- Barbara Fairchild, former editor-in-chief of Bon Appétit magazine Courageous—that’s the first word that comes to mind while reading Natalie MacLean’s new memoir Wine Witch on Fire. MacLean is an accomplished wine writer, but this deeply personal book takes us behind the scenes, revealing one woman’s journey and extraordinary determination.
- Karen MacNeil, best-selling author of The Wine Bible Rousing, funny, and insider-y, Natalie MacLean's soul-baring memoir paints an evocative and compelling picture of what it’s like to be a woman in wine.
- Nell McShane Wulfhart, best-selling author of Off Menu and New York Times columnist This deeply personal memoir tells the inspiring story of a talented woman navigating the treacherous currents of the wine industry, finding her voice and regaining her power through a true connection to time and place, human terroir.
- Chef Michael Smith, best-selling author of ten cookbooks, Food Network host, Order of Canada Filled with grit and vulnerability, MacLean examines the hardest parts of being a woman in a man’s world with honesty and poise. A read filled with healing and hope.
- Victoria James, best-selling author of Wine Girl: The Obstacles, Humiliations, and Triumphs of America's Youngest Sommelier There’s a lot of underbelly in this memoir. Someone will inevitably say it’s about score-settling, but that’s less an opinion than a gaslighting. Natalie bent over backwards to be fair. This book is a significant gesture to push the wine industry toward greater inclusion of people who’ve been marginalized. While this memoir will be torn and shredded by many persons of ill will and with minds less acute than hers, I hope she stays resolute. I wish her strength and contentment. Natalie, you done good.
- Terry Theise, bestselling author of Reading Between the Wines and What Makes A Wine Worth Drinking Natalie has crafted her experience into what could pass for an unputdownable thriller. It’s all the more jarring because it’s based on fact. I loved the tension and fast-paced writing. Any man who has a daughter, sister, or mother should read this book. Women with a little witch and fire within them will enjoy it too.
- Steven Laine, bestselling author of Dragonvine With a voice full of humour and keen honesty, wine writer Natalie Maclean pairs the personal with the political in her new book, Wine Witch on Fire. In the process, she exposes the sexism of an industry while coming to understand her own hard-won strengths. A delightful read with or without a glass of wine.
- Suzanne Evans, author of The Taste of Longing, winner of the Taste Canada Gold Award In Wine Witch on Fire, Natalie MacLean opens her heart with authenticity to the pain of love lost, the joy of discovering new love, and the endless questions of balancing parenting with being a working professional. Her love of language is a joyous counterpart to her love of viticulture. I learned so much from this fine memoir and I have a strong sense its appeal to the artist in all of us is limitless.
- Ken Goldstein, best-selling author of Endless Encores and From Nothing MacLean is well known for her vast wine knowledge and for sharing that knowledge but with this work she shares a plethora of personal life crises with humour and compassion teaching that anyone who experiences similar troubles and mid-life crises can also transform their lives. Middle-aged men can learn a lot about how to support their female partner by encouraging her self-worth. It’s a must read for everyone over thirty years old.
- John J. Mahoney, Ph.D., C.W.E., author of Every Bottle Has a Story, Wine for Intellectuals and Wine: The Source of Civilization Natalie Maclean has written a harrowing, heartfelt and often hilarious account of the backlash she endured breaching the largely male-dominated world of wine writing. This highly personal odyssey is an eyes-wide-open take on betrayal, the insidious lure of addiction, and the sheer mettle required to rise above those seeking to cast a poisonous spell.
- Rosa Harris, best-selling author of Boomerville Wine wizard wordsmith, enchanting interviewer, battle-tested survivor, fierce mother, witty, wise—Natalie MacLean is the whole package. Sip a great wine while you savor her memoir.
- Gus Clemens, nationally syndicated wine columnist, Gannett/USA Today Natalie MacLean offers readers a look into the magical world of wine, addressing head-on its problematic treatment of women throughout the industry. I came away from this book feeling less alone, as if I'd shared a great bottle with a friend and talked through the life problems we all experience at some point.
- Rachel Signer, best-selling author of You Had Me at Pét-Nat Get Your FREE Wine & Food Pairing Guide here:
https://www.nataliemaclean.com/guide Listen to the Unreserved Wine Talk Podcast here:
https://www.nataliemaclean.com/podcast The New York Times selected Unreserved Wine Talk as one of the 7 Best Drinks Podcasts.