Have you ever wondered which wines go well with our Pacific Northwest Cuisine? Maybe you want to buy a bottle to enjoy at home, to take to a friend’s dinner, or maybe order at a restaurant. I checked out the top restaurants from the Vancouver Restaurant Awards 2017 (Yes, I know the 2018 awards are right around the corner). For the Pacific Northwest Cuisine, the Gold, Silver, and Bronze medals go to Royal Dinette, Farmer’s Apprentice, and Burdock & Co.
I went to each of their websites and reviewed all their sparkling, rosé, red, and white table wines (ignoring dessert/fortified wines) and tried to do a comparison of the wines each offered, the grape varieties, and from which regions of the world. If you want to view the restaurants’ wine lists, I put links to their wine list pages at the bottom of this article.
My comparison is meant to show what wines these restaurants are offering their customers to pair with Pacific Northwest cuisine and is not meant to be a judgement of their wine selections.
The Results
The Countries of Origin
First, we should review the countries and the distribution of sparkling, white, rosé, and red wines offered by these three restaurants.
| Number of Wines | |||
| Countries/Regions | Royal Dinette | Farmer’s Apprentice | Burdock & Co |
| BC Sparkling, White & Rosé | 5 | 2 | 3 |
| BC Red | 2 | 1 | 1 |
| France Sparkling, White & Rosé | 13 | 6 | 3 |
| France Red | 9 | 4 | 3 |
| Italy Sparkling, White & Rosé | 6 | 1 | 4 |
| Italy Red | 5 | 7 | 3 |
| California Sparkling, White & Rosé | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| South Africa Sparkling, White & Rosé | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| South Africa Red | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Austria Red | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Austria Sparkling, White & Rosé | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| Greece Red | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Australia Red | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Slovenia | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Spain Sparkling, White & Rosé | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| TOTALS | 46 | 25 | 19 |
I am happy to see that all three restaurants have BC wines on their lists. They all carry more sparkling, white and rosé wines, than red BC wines. All three also have a selection of French and Italian wines, with the most bottles coming from France. Again sparkling, white and rosé wines have a larger proportion of the wine list compared to French red wines. Italy is very close in almost being a 50/50 split for Royal Dinette and Burdock & Co between the sparkling/white/rosé and red wines. Farmer’s Apprentice shows primarily Italian red wines.
After BC, Italy, and France being on all three wine lists, there are two other countries that show up two of the restaurant lists. South Africa has a red wine on two of the wine lists, and Austria has red wines on two of the wine lists.
California sparkling/white/rosé, South Africa sparkling/white/rosé, Greece red, Australia red, and Spain sparkling/white/rosé only show up once for one restaurant.
So it seems at least by country, the restaurants have more wines from BC, France, and Italy to pair with their menus, followed by South Africa and Austria.
The Grape Varieties
I only listed BC, France, and Italy in table below as these countries had the most wines in the three restaurants, and hopefully should be able to show some trends in grape choice by country/region. In the table, where it lists the number of restaurants serving a particular grape variety, e.g. BC Chardonnay has 2 restaurants, this indicates that 2 restaurants have BC Chardonnay on their list, but does not indicate the number of different wineries. For example, for BC Chardonnay, one of the two restaurants may offer Chardonnay from three different wineries.
| White grape varieties | Number of restaurants | Red grape varieties | Number of restaurants |
| BC Chardonnay | 2 | Gamay Noir | 1 |
| BC Sauvignon Blanc | 1 | Syrah | 1 |
| BC Semillon | 1 | Marechal Foch | 1 |
| BC Albarino | 1 | Cabernet Foch | 1 |
| BC Riesling | 1 | Pinot Noir | 1 |
| BC Muscat | 1 | Merlot | 1 |
| White grape varieties | Number of restaurants | Red grape varieties | Number of restaurants |
| France Chardonnay | 3 | Pinot Noir | 3 |
| France Pinot Blanc | 1 | Gamay Noir | 1 |
| France Chenin Blanc | 2 | Grolleau | 1 |
| France Riesling | 3 | Carignan | 1 |
| France Gewurztraminer | 1 | Cinsault | 1 |
| France Muscat | 1 | Cabernet Franc | 2 |
| France Macabeo | 1 | Merlot | 1 |
| France Muscadet | 1 | Syrah | 3 |
| France Clairette | 1 | Grenache | 2 |
| Mourvedre | 1 | ||
| Malbec | 1 | ||
| White grape varieties | Number of restaurants | Red grape varieties | Number of restaurants |
| Italy Pinot Grigio | 2 | Sangiovese | 1 |
| Italy Glera | 1 | Montepulciano | 1 |
| Italy Friulano | 1 | Cabernet Sauvignon | 2 |
| Italy Müller-Thurgau | 1 | Sagrantino | 1 |
| Italy Garganega | 1 | Nerello Mascalese | 2 |
| Italy Trebbiano | 1 | Pinot Noir | 1 |
| Italy Insolia | 1 | Syrah | 1 |
| Italy Malvasia | 2 | Nebbiolo | 1 |
| Italy Moscadella | 2 | Teroldego | 1 |
| Italy Cataratto | 1 | Aglianico | 1 |
| Corvina | 1 | ||
| Corvinone | 1 | ||
| Cabernet Franc | 1 | ||
| Nero d’Avola | 2 | ||
| Frappato | 2 |
The most popular white grape, regardless of country, appears to be Chardonnay, followed by Riesling. Chenin Blanc, Pinot Grigio, Malvasia, and Moscadella follow in third place, and then the other white grape varieties.
On the red grape side, there is a wider range of grapes and not as defined most popular red grape, but it appears that Pinot Noir and Syrah are tied for first place. Merlot comes in next as it is picked by two different restaurants, then all the other grape varieties. Within the French red grape varieties after Pinot Noir and Syrah, Grenache and Cabernet Franc are popular. Within the Italian red grape varieties Nerello Mascalese, Nero d’Avola, and Frappato are popular.
To Summarize
If you are thinking of Pacific Northwest dining, your most popular white wine choices would be a Chardonnay from BC or France, followed by Riesling. For red wines, your most popular choices would be a Pinot Noir or Syrah from France.
If you would like to delve deep into the wine lists for the three restaurants, please check the links below. Enjoy!
- Royal Dinette
- Farmer’s Apprentice
- Burdock & Co.