With more than 300 bars and clubs around the city and a dazzling nightlife, Montreal is an exciting place with plenty to keep you busy. For those times when you want to add a little more refinement and elegance to your outing, visiting a wine bar and savouring their cheese is an excellent choice. [Image credit: iStock.com/Anna Pustynnikova]
While L’Express’ cheese selections are limited to a warm goat cheese salad or quiche with cheese, the 11,000-bottle rich wine cellar is sure to impress. In the style of a true French bistro, the chef prepares classic dishes with the utmost precision and is a true wine-lover. The staff prides itself on providing unique, high-quality wines at affordable prices. A wide range of people from local celebrities to the business crowd enjoy the atmosphere here, so it may be best to call ahead.
Winner of the Wine Spectator Award of Excellence in 2014, Les Cavistes’ owner and sommelier has carefully created an extensive list of private imports and wines by the glass for his patrons to enjoy. In fact, wine is so important here that they offer a wine workshop and boutique where you can purchase a bottle of whatever wine strikes your fancy. A perfect companion for your wine, a shareable meat and cheese board - featuring three house-cured meats and two Quebec cheeses - is absolute decadence.
Step into a beautifully decorated, split-level wine bar reminiscent of the luxury train cars industrialist George Pullman made famous in the 1800s. Choose from several trios designed for connoisseurs, sweet ciders made like ice wine - only using apples instead - and wines known as "vins de voile" or sail wines. A variety of Quebec cheeses are available for nibbling along with your wine; if you're looking for something more substantial, you might want to try the port wine-steeped grilled cheese.
Sit at the bar, at a table or in a private room with your friends and enjoy an extensive wine list and delicious Quebec-sourced cheeses. Equal parts lounge and restaurant, Suite 701 offers a wine and cheese cocktail hour as well as special menus designed to share when you want to gather with your friends to enjoy an evening out. On weekends, you can extend the night out and enjoy a live DJ and the incredible selection of cocktails.
A classic Montreal-style wine bar, Buvette is a great meeting place to have a bite to eat and enjoy some of the best wines the city has to offer. Geared to the younger, hip crowds, Buvette does not take reservations, so this is one place you’ll want to visit early if you want to get a table. While the menu is not extensive, the Quebec cheeses are perfectly chosen to pair with the venue's wines.
Decorated in glass and steel, Furco is an upscale bar where the happy hour crowd is young and professional. Definitely a place to see and be seen, Furco offers an upbeat atmosphere and busyness that will amp up your mood for the night. This might not be the place for a quiet tete-a-tete, but the wine list will not leave you wanting - and the cheese platter with smoked and cured cheeses is so decadent that you can't pass on Furco.