Rigamarole Red

When searching for a cheap and cheerful bottle of wine, a good blend is a great way to go. And if keeping your carbon footprint to a minimum is also something your strive for, BC wines are likely what you're looking for, and this blend is both inexpensive and hails from our fine province.

General wisdom suggests avoiding wines with labels that feature anything cute or gimmicky, especially cartoon animals, but perhaps this advice should be taken with a grain of salt. Rigamarole's labels feature nothing but cartoon animals. In fact, they have a variety of fun labels for both their red, white, or rose, even though the product inside the bottle is all the same. So you get to indulge your Western world sensibilities and choose the saucy animal that most appeals to you, regardless of the fact that the wine within does not vary.

Coming in at a cool $13.99 (or $11.99 if you're lucky and it's on sale at the BC Liquor Store), this wine is an excellent choice to grab on your way to a friend's dinner party, birthday party, or general evening of camaraderie because it's eye-catching and mouth-pleasing.

I will fully disclose that I haven't had the white or rose in recent history (or possibly ever), but it's always smart to try a few offerings from one winery or wine producer because they are likely to apply the same care to the other products they produce. Find something you like and stick with it for a bit. If anything, it will help you down the line when you walk into a wine store and seem to have forgotten every bottle you've ever enjoyed. Or you could just bookmark my blog.