Back in October on a trip to downtown Calgary I had the joy of traveling and staying at a cheap hotel with no room service! I checked in past 8 p.m. and was hungry so I rushed up the street to McDonald’s and picked up a poutine, a quarter pound burger and some chicken nuggets.
On my way back to the hotel I came across a small independent liquor store and opted for a bottle of red wine from Niagara (Ontario), Naked Grape
Unoaked Merlot, which to my surprise paired well with my McDonald’s meal.
I was quite pleased with my $10.95 wine purchase, a soft smooth merlot with aromas and flavours of cherries, fun label and 12.5% alcohol. Naked grape products are available at BC Liquor Stores, Ontario’s Wine Rack and participating liquor stores in Alberta.
I couldn’t help taking a picture because I found it so hilarious to be having wine with McDonald’s. Then I thought “this might not be usual in North America, but there must be McDonald’s around the world that sell wine”. I googled but could not find any McDonald’s serving wine. But if you are more of a beer lover, here’s a link to an article with the list of 15 countries where McDonald’s serves beer: Everywhere Around the World Where McDonald’s Serves Beer
What about purchasing wine at independent (and small) liquor stores? Any tips? It’s not unusual for anyone in the province of Quebec to do this since all grocery stores and small corner convenience stores (dépanneurs) sell beer and wine in la belle province. The wine at these stores has traditionally had a bad reputation of being cheap and bad wine, but sometimes you can end up making some interesting and delicious discoveries.
So my two lessons:
(1) Successfully pairing McDonald’s with wine is possible.
(2) It’s possible to find good wine at independent (and small) liquor stores.
Who knew!
Do you have any similar stories? Tell me about some of your wine pairings with McDonald’s. Tell me about some great wine purchases at independent (and small) liquor stores.