Over the last year or two, I have really, truly, begun to appreciate wine. Don’t get me wrong – I’m nowhere close to being a wine connoisseur, and am generally too cheap to invest more than $10-12 on a bottle of wine (which in Canada, is a cheap bottle of wine, by the way). However, on special occasions, I drink nice wines, and particularly love exploring wines described using adjectives like “funky”, “farmhouse”, “earthy”, “salty”, “minerally”, “metallic”… you get the picture.

I had a delightful evening the other day with a friend at Après Wine Bar, a fairly new addition to the West Queen West neighbourhood (minutes from my place!) that specializes in natural wines, and which I had been looking forward to paying a visit. Verdict? Lovely space, chill vibe, excellent service, and most importantly, amazing wines. We did a tasting of four wines for $40 (great value!), which the somm curated to our tastes (me: “your weirdest wines please”. My friend was a little more measured). We didn’t try the food, but I’m told it’s very good.

So – if you’re in the West End and looking to “treat yo’self” with a nice glass of wine (or four), you’ve certainly got plenty of options, but Après Wine Bar is a stellar choice. Looks like you can make reservations through their website, if you’re not the type to do walk-ins. Cheers!