The best party wines are crowd-pleasers that will thrill even your wine snob friends but won’t leave you weeping at the till. This list covers you for dinners, backyard hangs and fancy garden parties: whatever summer throws your way, with food pairings to match. So stock up for your parties and save the receipts. The LCBO accepts unopened bottles, so you can return leftovers.
2021 Brotte Creation Grosset Cairanne Cru des Côtes-du-Rhône, France
This southern Rhône blend of Grenache, Syrah and Mourvèdre drinks like a wine worth twice the price and will leave people asking, “Ooh, what is this?” Quietly complex and concentrated yet elegant and resonant, it unfurls slowly in the glass. First comes a swirl of raspberry, red meat and purple flowers pressed into a book. Then, whispers of cinnamon, dried herbs and blackcurrant drift in and out. Such eloquence. Coy, even. Serve this understated, detailed red with wild mushroom tart, a cheese and charcuterie platter or duck confit. (14.5% alc., 3g/L sugar)
2023 Bacalhôa JP Azeitão Moscatel Graúdo Fernão Pires White, Península de Setúbal, Portugal
This 2023 vintage is showing beautifully right now — expressive, pure, perfectly balanced and dry. Its round, ripe style offers broad appeal, while the glassy mouthfeel and chiselled complexity deliver exactly what seasoned wine lovers want. At the core, you’ll find a juicy white peach centre laced with lemon zest, sliced orange, crushed stone and beeswax. And the long finish gives off “I cost more than I do” energy. Incredible value and fabulous with fish — roasted, baked or grilled — especially dressed up with a lemon cream sauce. (13% alc., 2g/L sugar)
2022 Beronia Tempranillo Elaboración Especial DOC Rioja, Spain
From black cherries, roasted almonds and vanilla bean aromas to the generous sweep of smooth vinosity, this modern Rioja pulls you in right away. Then, the dark fruit shifts — sweet blackberries give way to savoury peppercorn, tobacco and licorice, unfolding in waves before settling into a slow vanilla-hazelnut persistence with just enough grip to hold the fruit in place. Serve with pan-seared and salted beef tenderloin. Deglaze the pan with a splash of this wine, stir in a knob of butter and spoon the sauce over the meat. (14% alc., 3g/L sugar)
2023 Domäne Wachau Grüner Veltliner Federspiel, Wachau, Austria
Grüner Veltliner — Austria’s most widely planted grape variety — is brilliant this time of year, and this bottle shows exactly why. The fragrance is immediate and flinty but not forward. On the palate, it’s bright, cool and steely with surprising weight and substance beneath the sleek surface. Streamlined and mineral while glinting with lemon and pear, this tastes serious yet accessible, linear yet ample, too. It finishes with a peppery radish snap that begs for another sip. Excellent with seared scallops or trout — or just salted nuts. (12.5% alc., 2g/L sugar)
2021 Silk & Spice Spice Road Intense Red Blend, Portugal
If you liked Apothic, that big, bold red from California, you’ll love this. It tastes similar, for less. Ripe, smooth and full of fruit, this blend of Touriga Nacional, Alicante Bouschet and Shiraz teems with aromas of plum jam and dark chocolate. Then comes a cashmere crush of fruit that saturates the palate: muddled cherries, blackberries and blackcurrants with a drizzle of milk chocolate. Sweet-fruited but well-balanced, this is a big, round red with a dusting of chalky cocoa powder. Perfect with grilled pork ribs slathered in a sticky sauce. (13.5% alc., 13g/L sugar)
Fonseca White Port, Douro, Portugal
Capping this list is a white Port, which adds a stylish touch to any gathering. Serve it on the rocks with a splash of tonic water and a bowl of almonds or olives for a chic aperitif. Or pour it chilled and neat after a meal alongside a wedge of Manchego. Each golden glassful tastes sleek yet full-bodied with bold, vibrant flavours of toffee and mango, baked pear and praline, dried apricot and orange. The bright lemon tang and mouth-watering acidity keep the sweet centre in check. (20% alc., 102g/L sugar)
