Whether you’re sipping on it at the start of a holiday party or at the end of your Christmas dinner (aperitif-style), a glass of wine or a freshly stirred cocktail is best enjoyed surrounded by the ones you love during the holidays. It’s one of the many reasons why gifting a bottle of Pinot Noir or premium spirit makes for a great present to place under the tree.
Wines and spirits also make for a more affordable gift than most, which your wallet will thank you for. Here are some of our favourite picks for the wine connoisseurs and cocktail fiends on your list.
1. Golden Age Meadery
Mead – with sweet notes and rich flavours – is the perfect wine to warm you up during the season’s many celebrations.
Family owned and operated, Golden Age Meadery specializes in the usage of all natural local ingredients in their mead creations. Their Hearth and Fire honey wine contains blackberry and wildflower honey extracted from a local apiary in the Fraser Valley, mixed with a bounty of herbs, berries, and fruits grown on Salt Spring Island, for a sweet and spicy concoction.
With warm notes of honey, clove, cinnamon, and orange peel, Hearth and Fire pairs perfectly with chocolate desserts, apple pie, and cheese plates. This mead, which won double gold at the 2023 All Canadian Wine Competition, can be found on the menu of Michelin Star awarded Vancouver restaurant St. Lawrence as a dessert wine pairing, as well as within the cocktail bar at Bartholomew in Yaletown. Priced at just under $50 a bottle, this mead is a golden gift choice for your next holiday gathering.
Golden Age Meadery wines are available online at goldenagemead.com and in liquor stores across Greater Vancouver and Vancouver Island
2. White Claw Premium Vodka
One of the most recognized hard seltzer brands in North America has released the world's first triple wave filtered vodka. White Claw’s Premium Vodka is made using a unique filtration process that utilizes high pressure that filters out vodka three times over, with a force that is equal to the power of a 30ft wave. This filtration method enhances the vodka to bring out a superior spirit with a smoother finish.
Containing notes of citrus, White Claw Premium Vodka is best served over ice with fruit-flavoured soda water, or in your favourite mixed cocktail, such as the holiday favourite espresso martini.
What to get your claws on this triple wave filtered spirit to give to your cocktail loving friends? White Claw Premium Vodka is available in BC Liquor Stores across Greater Vancouver. For more info, go to www.bcliquorstores.com/product/405832
3. Tierra Rica
Hailing from the Mediterranean climate of Chile, Tierra Rica’s elegant and expressive organic wines are produced using sustainable practices, which makes them the perfect gift choice for the eco-conscious ones on your list.
The intense and lively aromas of Tierra Rica’s Sauvignon Blanc contain citric and tropical fruits, such as grapefruits, with a soft herbal touch. This organic white wine pairs well with seafood salads, smoked salmon, oysters, prawns, scallops, baked white fish, pastas with cream or mushroom sauce, chicken sandwiches, and soft-ripened cheese.
Tierra Rica’s Cabernet Sauvignon has tons of character, and is made up of blackberry, plum, floral notes of violet, and touches of vanilla and toffee. The ruby red wine’s soft tannins provide a velvety feeling and a pleasant texture for an agreeable aftertaste. This Cabernet Sauvignon can be paired with roasted meats, grilled steak, lamb, legumes, fresh pasta, and sharp cheddar cheese.
Tierra Rica wines are available in BC Liquor Stores across Greater Vancouver. For more info, go to www.bcliquorstores.com/product/279938 and www.bcliquorstores.com/product/279933
4. Our Story Wines
Like a good story, wine is meant to be shared (and gifted). It’s from that very concept that Canadian wine brand Our Story rose from, crafting wines designed to spark conversation, mark celebration, and inspire moments of connection.
Made in the Okanagan Valley, Our Story’s Sauvignon Blanc is a bright and lively white wine with notes of citrus and apple, and can easily be paired with seafood, cream pastas, mushroom-based pastas, chicken, and soft cheese.
Our Story’s Cabernet Merlot brings together the top grape varieties, which includes Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah, and Dornfelder, to make this unique full-bodied red ruby wine blend. Medium bodied with silky tannins, this wine is smooth with rich notes of dark chocolate and raspberry. The Cabernet Merlot pairs well with pizza, red pastas, roast beef, grilled steak, lamb shank, and cheddar cheeses.
Our Story wines are available in BC Liquor Stores across Greater Vancouver. For more info, go to www.bcliquorstores.com/product/268348 and www.bcliquorstores.com/product/268340
