It's the last long weekend of summer -- time to elevate, escalate and exalt your wine game.
Such an upgrade doesn't need to be expensive.
Let the glorious weather and three days off work be the stars of the show and elegantly supplement it with quaffable and affordable wines.
- A long weekend is time to celebrate, so pop the bubbly for the patio, picnic, boat and-or happy hour.
An awesome bottle for all this is Modello Masi Prosecco Brut, which is currently on sale for $20 (from $25) at BC Liquor Stores through tomorrow.
The Modello is from Italy, the birthplace of fresh, light, effervescent and yummy Prosecco.
- Mission Hill 2024 Reserve Rose ($24)
I've featured this exceptional pink in the column previously this summer.
But, I just have to toss it on the list again because I've deemed it my favourite rose of the season.
Part of the 'Crafted in BC' program, West Kelowna-based Mission Hill sourced the grapes from cool-climate Sonoma, California to make a delicate and delicious rose with a strawberry-watermelon-and-lime profile.
You can drink this on its own all day long, or serve it with your lunch of salad Nicoise or dinner of barbecued salmon.
- Saintly 2024 Limited Release The Good Rose (on sale for $17, from $20, through tomorrow)
Made at the Arterra facility in Oliver that also bottles Jackson-Triggs and Inniskillin wines, this rose is also part of the 'Crafted in BC' program using imported grapes.
Drool over aromas and flavours of strawberry, pink grapefruit and lime.
- Vincent Lemaitre Haut Bel-Air Blanc 2023 ($20) from France
For some European flair on your long weekend, pick up a bottle of this white Bordeaux blend of 90% Sauvignon Blanc and 10% Semillon from select private liquor stores.
Look forward to a burst of grapefruit, gooseberry, honey and wet-stone minerality aromas and flavours.
You need look no farther than some goat cheese smeared on a cracker as a food pairing for this.
- Albert Brenot 2023 Chablis ($41.50)
Also from France, but from the Burgundy region, this unoaked Chardonnay delivers a green apple-lemon-and-pleasing minerality profile.
Pair it with the grilled shrimp skewers you pull off the barbecue.
- Campagnola Pinot Grigio Delle Venezie ($19)
From the Italian wine region famous for fresh, yet complex, Pinot Grigios, northwest of Venice.
Expect aromas and flavours of pear, lemon, white flowers and almonds.
A superb stand-alone sipper or pair with pesto pizza or pasta in a cream sauce.
- Burrowing Owl 2021 Malbec ($40) from Oliver
It's not a long weekend without a barbecue.
So, when the steaks come off the grill, pour this smooth and bold red.
It's ideal with a blueberry-plum-and-dark chocolate profile.
- Black Sage 2021 Whisky Barrel Aged Red ($33) from Oliver
Yes, this heady blend of Shiraz, Zinfandel, Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon was aged in Canadian whisky barrels to impart some luscious caramel, vanilla and spice notes.
Cheeseburger anyone?
Steve MacNaull is a NowMedia Group reporter, Okanagan wine lover and Canadian Wine Scholar. Reach him at [email protected]. His wine column appears every Friday afternoon in this space.
