Wine Collab of the Week: The Best Sparkling Wine for Dog Lovers

Bella Wines teamed up with Vancouver restaurant Dachi to create Bubble Dogs.

We are fortunate in Vancouver to be tethered so close to wine country, and that’s something not lost on local restaurateurs. While it’s already a privilege to be able to enjoy our West Coast cuisine with British Columbian bottlings, things are taken to another level when restaurant and winery proprietors join forces on a unique label, tailor-made for that menu you’re perusing. Case in point: Dachi and Bella Wines’ 2021 collaboration, Bubble Dogs. 

Bubble Dogs, a collaboration between Dachi and Bella Wines. Photo by Kurtis Kolt.
Bubble Dogs, a collaboration between Dachi and Bella Wines. Photo by Kurtis Kolt.

The Collab: Dachi x Bella Wines

Bubble Dogs is the moniker of this 2021 ancestrale-method Pinot Noir sparkler from Naramata’s Bella Wines made especially for Dachi, Miki Ellis and Stephen Whiteside’s ode to natural wine and seasonal snacks in Hastings Sunrise. Common pop-ups and various other events with local indie businesses on Dachi’s open-air patio speak to their penchant for collabs, which makes this tag-team effort with Wendy Rose and Jay Drysdale’s industry-cherished sparkling house a natural fit. A slew of samples and test-bottlings were shipped and tasted between country and city, which eventually resulted in this festive fizz Whiteside describes as “a classic pinot noir on the nose with strawberries and dark cherries that’s crisp and bone-dry.” 

Why It’s Awesome

Oh, man – is there such thing as too much awesome? It’s an exclusive wine from one of the country’s most-acclaimed wineries. It has oh-so-creamy bubbles and it fits the bill whether you want a dark rosé or a light red; it’s basically both! The wine only comes in 1.5 litre magnums, so cracking the thing open is automatically grin-inducing. The label’s adorable, too – featuring Ellis and Whiteside’s pups Arthur and Stella, enjoying plenty of cheer with Bella’s winery dog, Buddha.

Pictured is Stella, Dachi's co-proprietor Stephen Whiteside’s dog. Photo by Kurtis Kolt.
Pictured is Stella, Dachi’s co-proprietor Stephen Whiteside’s dog. Photo by Kurtis Kolt.

How to Pair It

Get a bottle ($114) going the moment you grab your table, then go from there! “Opening large-format bubbles just sets the tone for your evening,” says Ellis, “and you know you and your friends are going to have a couple bottles anyways; it’s just such a fun way to start out!” Once you’ve had your first couple sips, that’s when you can get the Dachi crew to start bringing you their favourite dishes (seriously, just leave all the decisions to them, they’ll take great care of you). Think tomato and nectarine panzanella with sourdough croutons, sherry vinaigrette, and basil, or albacore tuna ceviche with red onion, radish, and leche de tigre; that sorta fare. Then think how you’ll be glad you brought that re-usable tote, as they offer Bubble Dogs as a retail purchase ($99) so you can nab a bottle for home as well.