The long week is here, and the Canada Day celebrations are kicking off. July 1st is always a weekend filled with fun and good times, and what better way to celebrate than with a good drink in hand. Whether you are out on the bar patio, camping, up at the cottage or just hanging out in your back yard here are some delicious wine, beer, non-alc and cocktail options to celebrate Canada Day to the fullest. All are made in-house, right here in Canada, or from abroad in the multicultural spirit of the country. Enough said; let’s dive in!
Bubbles Made for Celebrating
Sparkling wines and drinks always bring a celebratory nature to the party. Great for a toast or for sipping all night long. Bubbles are a great complement to the warm days to come this weekend.
A wine that is incredibly Canadian and made for celebrations, the Magnotta Sparkling Ice Wine blends together two wine styles that Ontario’s wine regions do so well. Icewine and Sparkling. This bottle comes wrapped in a wooden box with the Canadian flag painted across the top. Filled with notes of apricot, peach, white flowers and spice notes with a sweet palate but filled with character. Truly a unique bottle made for this moment.
Another local wine from Ontario, the Nyarai Cellars Folklore Sparkling, blends Vidal Blanc, Muscat Ottonel, and Chardonnay. By winemaker Steve Byfield, this wine is perfect for hot summer days. It is refreshing, easy drinking and vibrant in the glass. Filled with notes of orchard fruits and floral aromas, followed by a bright palate marked by great minerality.
With summer here, drinks on ice and a go-to. Following that sentiment, the JP Chenet Ice White Sparkling is the perfect sparkling wine that is meant to be served over ice. It is filled with notes of yellow melon, floral tones, hints of toast and minerality. This wine is a crowd-pleaser. All on its own, this is an excellent bottle of sparkling to get the party started. Add ice, and it is a complete aperitif ready to be drunk.
If wine differs from the vibe you are going for, and if you are in for a sans-ABV celebration, Sober Carpenter is the Canadian beer company that covers you on both fronts. Making 100% alcohol-free beer that does not skip out on flavour, they have many flavours. The Sober Carpenter Blonde Ale is a golden ale that is crisp and refreshing! Now coming in 4 Pack cases, this is an ideal non-alc beer for these summer moments.
Still Wines Ideal for Warm Summer Days
Red, White, or Rosé are great summer wines to cheer with. This Canada Day weekend is about favour and pairing with the party’s mood. Still, wines are a delight to have present throughout the day and can bright harmony to whatever you are cooking up.
A gem from the Okanagan and one of the newest wineries on the block, the 1 Mill Road Rosé is an amazingly delicious Pinot Noir Rose from the eastern slopes of Kelowna. Filled with aromas of rose petals, orange peel, wild raspberries, and sea spray, with a refreshing finish and savoury notes that dance across the palate. Great all on its own with a good chill on the bottle or paired with some light snacks.
The Portuguese wine region of Vinho Verde makes some of the most summer-forward wines. The Aveleda Vinho Verde is a white wine marked by its fresh aromas and flavours of lemon, white melon, gooseberry, grapefruit, green plum, green apple and lime blossoms. A delight on the palate, this wine finishes with a bit of a fizz. Making it a perfect wine to pair with summer salads. The Aveleda Vinho Verde is a classic and a staple on wine store shelves this time of year.
Closson Chase’s The Brock Chardonnay is an ideal embodiment of what the Ontario wine region of Prince Edward County can do in the glass. This VQA production is a beautiful, reliable, elegant wine showing peach, lemon, pear, apple and crushed rock mineral notes. This genuinely satisfying wine on the palate reps the region to its core. A great complement to fish dishes and summer pasta.
From the region of Cigales in Castilla y León, Spain, a bolder rosé for the red wine lovers out there, the Bodegas Sinforiano Sinfo Rosado blends together red and white grapes to create an amazingly structured wine that packs a punch. In the glass, this wine shows red apple and red floral notes, with strawberry and cherry aromas. Followed by a palate that is made for pairing with bolder summer meals.
A Canadian wine that shows what Pinot Noir can do in the Okanagan, the Kitsch Wines Pinot Noir is a wine that weaves together a tapestry of fruit and earthen notes. This Pinot Noir shows so much grace in the glass from the winery’s East Okanagan property. It is an ideal complement to grilled chicken or other light meats, not to mention this is a wine that you could just get lost in for hours. All done with your feet, kickup up on a deck chair.
It might be summer, but the Peter Lehmann, The Barossan Shiraz, is for you if you are a bold red wine drinker. A 100% Shiraz production from the Barossa wine region of Australia. Peter Lehmann, the man with his name on the bottle, is a Barossan himself, and this wine is a love letter to that in the glass. It is filled with notes of ripe dark berries, plum, cherry, black pepper and toasty oak spices. Followed by a palate that is big and bold to match this nose. This is your summer BBQ wine, without question.
Cocktails Galore and Ready to be Poured
Some amazing bartenders have mixed up some stellar drinks across Canada over the years. Drinks that have put into perspective the cocktail culture of Canada but have also celebrated country landmarks. If cocktails are your jam, your bar cart must be stocked and ready for this fabulous mixed drinking for Canada Day.
Crafted right here in Canada, the newest edition to the Clever Mocktail line of non-alc canned cocktails is the Clever Mocktails Margarita. Made with artisanally infused botanical extract to bring to life vibrant flavours, the canned mocktails by Clever Mocktails pack a punch of flavours in every sip. The newest edition, the Margarita, has all the flavours and aromas of this classic cocktail in a pack, making it as simple as cracking the top and taking a sip.
From the Botanical rich country of South Africa, Ceder’s is a line of non-alc distilled spirits made using 18 classic Gin and rare South African botanicals. There are 4 expressions in the lineup Classic, Wild, Crisp and Rose. While you can enjoy each over ice with some tonic water, a cocktail is best to get the full effect of Ceder’s. The Ceder’s Wild in the Call of The Wild Cocktail is a mix of 1.0z Ceder’s Wild, 1oz pear Juice, 0.5oz lemon juice, 0.5 camomile syrup and 2 dashes of walnut bitters, all shaken and served in a steamed cocktail glass.
From Ireland, The Busker Triple Cask Triple Smooth Whiskey is a blended whiskey made with a high percentage of single malt. Matured in Bourbon barrels, Marsala and Sherry Casks, this whiskey has tropical and sweet toasted notes. And while you can have this whiskey neat, it is an excellent ingredient for a Canadian classic, the Toronto Cocktail. Made with 2oz of The Busker Triple Cask Triple Smooth Whiskey, 0.25oz of Fernet-Branca, 0.25oz of simple syrup and 2 dashes of Angostura bitters, all shaken over ice and served in a chilled coupe glass with an orange twist garnish.
From Quebec, the Seventh Heaven Classic London Dry Gin combines the highest quality ingredients with the art of local craft distillation to create an aromatic gin that tastes genuinely heavenly. This is an excellent gin with aromas of juniper, elderberries, and citrus notes. Serving it up in G&T format is a delight, but you can add it to the Vancouver Cocktail. Made with 1.75oz of Seventh Heaven Classic London Dry Gin, 0.75oz Amaro, 0.50 Dry Vermouth, 0.50 Red Sweet Vermouth and a dash of Angostura bitters. Shake over ice, and serve in a coupe glass with a lemon twist.
Rum is a spirit of summer to the core. The El Dorado 5-Year-Old Rum epitomizes Demerara’s unique quality and authentic taste. It has complex flavours of baked coconut, brown sugar, citrus and toasted tropical notes. You can have This summer sipper over ice, but we highly recommend trying the El Dorado 5 Year in the Canadian Punch Cocktail. Add 3oz El Dorado 5-Year-Old Rum, 1oz lemon juice, 1.5oz simple syrup, and 4oz water in a large punch glass with ice. Stir to combine and serve with a grapefruit wheel.