Why our cellar list is short, BC, and half cider

Our cellar list is about twenty bottles, all from BC, and on any given night half of what pours is dry cider pressed from Sorrel Bench apples. That is not a limitation we apologize for; it is what fire food asks for.

Smoke wants acid

Char, drippings, and burnt honey are rich, low, warm flavours. They want something bright cutting across: high-acid whites, cool-climate reds with more nerve than weight, and cider, which is the most local acid there is. A heavy shelf of big reds would fight everything Ren cooks.

Why the bench cider earns the tap

The orchard's seconds, the fruit too scarred for the packing crates, press into a cider that is bone dry, a little wild, and better with lake char than anything we have poured against it. It costs less than the wine, and we will keep telling you that even though it hurts the average cheque.

The list turns over with the seasons like the board does. If a bottle sits three months unpoured it goes to staff dinner and the slot goes to something braver.