The Ultimate Vancouver Wine Guide: Best Beach Wine

A dozen-plus of the city’s top sommeliers to share their picks with us for some very specific scenarios…including a few bargain bottles to bring to the beach.

The Situation

You and your pals are heading to the beach and are bringing a few contraband bottles because you are civilized people—but there’s always a chance they’ll be seized by some overzealous bylaw officer. What two bottles for $50 do you get?

Sommeliers Say…

Monte del Fra Bardolino ($18) and Paltrinieri Lambrusco di Sorbara ($22). Start with the cheerful Bardolino, preferably with the Freybe cold cuts you got from Safeway. Once that’s done and the afternoon sun is starting to cook, switch to the lambrusco: a dry, fruity, rosé-like sparkling wine that begs to be consumed straight from the bottle.—Matthew Landry, Stable House Bistro

Two bottles of the same Tiberio Cerasuolo d’Abruzzo ($23). In order to avoid getting busted, you can decant wines directly into an Ocean Spray bottle, because it’s the same colour as cranberry juice.—Kelcie Jones, Chambar

Not that I would ever do such a thing, but, hypothetically speaking, if I were ever to go against the laws of British Columbia, I would most certainly have to steer my sights toward aromatic wines with zippy acidity: Laurenz und Sophie Singing Grüner Veltliner ($24) and Schloss Reinhartshausen Rheingau Riesling ($23). Why these two? Because they taste great even out of plastic cups and go swimmingly with most picnic fare.— Mireille Sauvé, Wine Umbrella

We’ll be adding to our Ultimate Vancouver Wine Guide over the next few months… follow along with somms’ top picks here!