paradise grapevine

Toronto bar giving away free wine to people who have been laid off

A popular Toronto bar is looking to soften the blow of being laid off by giving away bottles of wine to 50 people who've lost employment because of the pandemic. 

Paradise Grapevine, located at 841 Bloor St. West, posted about the initiative on Instagram Tuesday afternoon.

"We've found that nothing complements a good old spell of unemployment like a crispy glass of naturally fermented, all Ontario, milk of the mother, 2019 Riesling," they wrote. 

"Problem is, more often than not, getting laid off means spending precious dollars on Riesling ain't so easy. So, we're (not) giving away 50 bottles of Riesling to anyone who is currently unemployed and doesn't have the disposable dinero to be buying wine right now."

The bar is giving away 50 bottles of 2019 Paradise Riesling on a first-come, first-served basis, and customers simply have to use the code GOTLAID at checkout when purchasing a bottle of it.

The first 50 people to do this will see the total go down to $2, which is the price of a bag of chips (they legally have to sell food with booze).

The offer is only valid for pickup and, so as not to create a line or crowd at their shop, they'll be staggering pickup times based on last name ( A-J = Friday, K-S = Saturday, T-Z = Sunday). ⁣⁣

"This is an honor system meant for peeps having it tough right now, so please don't abuse the system if you're still doing fine... or the Karma Gods may just cork every bottle of wine in your cellar! ⁣" they added.

Paradise Grapevine is launching their curbside pickup program this Friday, and they'll be offering the service every Wednesday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. 

Lead photo by

Paradise Grapevine


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