Grey Gardens, Toronto wine bars
Grey Gardens
(Image credit: www.greygardens.ca/)

Toronto resident Tony Aspler picks his favourite spots...

Toronto wine bars and restaurants

Distillery District

In the 1860s, Gooderham & Worts was the largest distillery in the world. Today, this 13-acre site is a pedestrian precinct housing restaurants, art galleries, shops and artisans’ ateliers. Its Victorian-era industrial architecture has been lovingly preserved. www.thedistillerydistrict.com

Distillery, Toronto

Distillery.
(Image credit: Distillery Instagram)

Bata Shoe Museum

Housed in a stunning building that represents the opening of a shoe box, this is the only museum in North America dedicated solely to the history of footwear. The collection boasts over 13,500 items from all over the world – from prehistory to the present day. www.batashoemuseum.ca

Archive, Toronto

Archive, Toronto.
(Image credit:  archive909.com)

Archive

Right up with the latest wine trends with category listings under ‘Vin Jaune’, ‘Rancio’ and ‘Amari’, as well as more familiar fare. Large Sherry selection; small, but appetising, menu and an inviting patio in summertime. Try the ‘Blind Tasting’ flight. www.archive909.com

Grey Gardens

An eclectic collection of offbeat wines and ciders are offered in this eye-popping, uber-modern wine bar/restaurant contrasted with what owner Jen Agg calls ‘almost decaying decadence’ (aged brass accents, old marble, the faded mural). Heavily into Old World wines and contemporary North American cuisine with an Asian influence. (Pictured top) www.greygardens.ca

Barberians Steak House, Toronto wine bars

Barberians Steak House.
(Image credit:  Barberians.com)

Barberian’s Steak House

Ask to see the two-storey cellar that contains over 15,000 bottles with around 2,500 selections of the world’s finest wines.Just as impressive is the Magnum Mezzanine, a private dining space that overlooks the cellar, featuring three walls of large-format bottles. www.barberians.com

Toronto wine bars

(Image credit: Maggie Nelson/Decanter)

Alo Restaurant

Book three months in advance for this hot, French-inspired restaurant that offers a multi-course tasting menu exquisitely served with matching wines by waiting staff who seem to have been choreographed. From the amuse bouche to the desserts, you’ll be in gastronomic heaven for three hours. www.alorestaurant.com

Alo restaurant, Toronto wine bars

Alo restaurant.
(Image credit:  alorestaurant.com)

LCBO’s Scrivener Square store

Until 1930 the building, with its 44-foot ceiling, was Toronto’s main railway station. The building’s elegant clocktower was modelled after the Campanile di San Marco in Venice. It carries the best range of wines in the city. Up to 55,000 lines on display. www.lcbo.com

TIFF Bell Light Box

This five-storey, blocklong complex just north of the financial district on Yonge Street and King is the headquarters for the Toronto International Film Festival. Visitors have their choice of five cinemas, two galleries, three learning studios, a reference library, plus a film archive open to the public, as well as a bistro, restaurant, lounge, gift shop and rooftop terrace. Movies, classic and new, are shown throughout the year. www.tiff.net/visit/

Kensington Market

This outdoor and in-store market is among the best street markets in North America. Vintage clothing stores, funky restaurants, street musicians, herbal stores, cheeses, vegetables, fish and meat – it’s all here, plus great people-watching. www.kensington-market.ca

Opus Restaurant

A perennial award winner, the wine list at Opus is the size of a small town’s phone directory. The Amaro brothers have amassed 52,000 bottles, with all the usual suspects represented, as well as a respectful nod to their Portuguese heritage. www.opusrestaurant.com

Tony Aspler is the DWWA Regional Chair for Canada. Edited for Decanter.com by Ellie Douglas.

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Tony Aspler
Tony Aspler
Decanter Magazine, Wine Writer & Canada Expert

Tony Aspler has been writing about wine since 1975, and has been wine columnist for The Toronto Star for 22 years. He is the author of 16 wine books, including The Wine Atlas of Canada, and three wine murder mystery novels: Blood Is Thicker than Beaujolais, The Beast of Barbaresco and Death on the Douro. In 2001, Aspler co-founded the charity Grapes for Humanity to raise money through the wine community for victims of landmines and children with disabilities. In 2007 Aspler was awarded the Order of Canada and in 2012 he was elected to the New York Media Wine Writers Hall of Fame.