That’s Right: Taco Bell Now Has Its Own Wine, Available Only in Canada

This is a first: Taco Bell is adding a custom red wine produced in Ontario to its menu on September 16 — and it will only be available in Canada.

Taco Bell’s Jalapeño Noir was created to pair with its Toasted Cheesy Chalupa: a tortilla shell covered in toasted six-month-aged cheddar and filled with beef, lettuce, tomatoes, more cheese, and, of course, “reduced fat” sour cream. In a press release released yesterday, the fast food chain explains that the chalupa’s “rich taste and crunchy texture” complement the wine’s wild strawberry, cherry and beetroot notes.

“Wine and cheese are simply meant to be together, so launching a new wine to go with the craveable, cheddary Toasted Cheesy Chalupa made perfect sense,” Kat Garcia, Director of Brand Marketing at Taco Bell Canada, is quoted saying in the same press release.

The news was announced on Monday via Taco Bell Canada’s social media accounts, and began trending thereafter, garnering responses that conveyed everything from elation to abject horror. A number of Americans expressed genuine dismay over the fact that they’d been left out of the wine-and-dine Taco Bell experience.

But Montrealers won’t be able to get their hands on a bottle of Jalapeño Noir at their scarce number of Taco Bell outposts (Brossard, Pierrefonds and Saint-Laurent) either. The wine will only be available (for $25 a bottle) at select Toronto and Hamilton locations, or online at tacobell.ca for Ontario residents over 19 years old. Jalapeño Noir is, after all, an Ontario upshot, having been produced at Queenston Mile Vineyard in Niagara-on-the-Lake.

The last time the fast food chain caused this must of a stir, it had announced plans to axe its Mexican Pizza from the menu.

• Taco Bell is now selling its own custom wine in Canada [CTV]