Originally published on Torontoist on May 8, 2012.
Time, October 26, 1970.
Call it a populist romantic meal, 1970-style. Instead of buying a fancy vintage to accompany a luxurious feast of chateaubriand or surf and turf, you line up at the nearest liquor store, fill out the form (unless you’re lucky enough to be near the first self-serve LCBO outlet), bring home an affordable red wine with a classy chateau on the label, and choose your preferred method of preparing frankfurters topped with French’s finest mustard. (Based on the look of this hot dog, the vintner suggests boiling or steaming.) Et voila—pleasurable, cheap fine dining for the proletariat!
Etobicoke-based Parkdale Wines, maker of Chateau Cartier, was acquired by Labatt in 1965. Given beer’s association with backyard weenie roasts, perhaps it’s not so surprising somebody in marketing paired one of the company’s wines with a hot dog. In some ways, if you can follow the long series of buyouts and mergers that followed, the company could be considered one of the ancestors of current vino giant Vincor.
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