Plenty of autumn-release British Columbian wines continue to make the trip from country to city, filling up local wine-store shelves. I’ve waded through many of them and, well, slogged through others, but a particular quartet of labels has stayed top of mind.

Shall we start with some bubbles?

Bench 1775 Brut Rosé N.V.

(Okanagan Valley, B.C.; $21.90, online)

Not knowing too much about this wine before popping the cork, my initial instinct once giving it the ol’ swirl, sniff, and sip was that it was made in the traditional method. The Champagne-style way of making sparkling wine where the secondary fermentation occurs in the bottle—giving the wine close contact with the lees, or spent yeast—is what gives fine sparklings those lovely fresh-baked-bread aromatics and an elegant, creamy mouthfeel. Although those traits are hallmarks of that winemaking style, they can also be expressed, generally to a lesser degree, when the wine goes through that second fermentation using the Charmat, or tank, method. When that second ferment occurs in the bottle, the juice is in much more close contact with those lees, most often spending more time there than it would in a large Charmat tank. This wine exhibits an abundance of lees character (and that’s what duped me), so we’re pretty much getting the best attributes of a Champagne-style wine but made in a different method. The best part is that it’s only setting us back 22 bucks.

Actually, I digress.

The best part is that this blend of Chardonnay and Pinot Noir offers rose petals, nougat, and sourdough character on the nose, then a bounty of fresh Honeycrisp apple, grilled peaches, and muddled lemon on the palate. It’s woven together quite well and will be an easy pairing for creamy pastas, grilled fish, spring rolls, and much more.

Blasted Church Sauvignon Blanc 2017

(Okanagan Valley, B.C.; $24, online)

This is the first of a dynamic duo of wines I’ve recently enjoyed from Blasted Church in Okanagan Falls. While many have known the winery for quirky labels over the years, the output has generally been consistent in the quality department, offering easily enjoyable takes on Okanagan terroir at rather reasonable prices. The latest releases—with Evan Saunders at the helm of winemaking and John Bayley overseeing the vineyard—have been some of my favourite Blasted Church bottlings of all time.

Regular readers may recall my personal struggles with Sauvignon Blanc. When there are too many apparent pyrazines that we associate with the variety—the compound that gives that bitter green bell pepper, ultraherbal quality—I tend to go running for the hills. I’m quite happy to stay put here, though, enjoying the lemon blossom, pink-grapefruit wedges, and the tiniest hints of rosemary and flintiness that give this juicy, crisp, fresh outing great character.

Blasted Church Cabernet Franc 2016

(Okanagan Valley, B.C.; $31, online)

Hey, Cabernet Franc can also be known to exhibit those pyrazines a little too much from time to time, but this medium-bodied red borrows just a little bit of basil and oregano from ’em and moves on toward a quite quaffable red- and black-berry-fruit-driven plushy character, perfect for grilled meats and chilly evenings.

Laughing Stock Vineyards Portfolio 2016

(Okanagan Valley, B.C.; $49.99, online)

When it comes to those local takes on Bordeaux red blends—your combos of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, and maybe a little Malbec and/or Petit Verdot—there are a host of British Columbian wineries to choose from. Some wineries offer quality editions consistently going for more than a hundred bucks, while others throw whatever fruit they can find into tanks with a few oak staves, age it for a short while, sell it off fairly cheap, and never look back.

For a few years now, I’ve considered Laughing Stock Vineyards’ Portfolio to be the best of the bunch when it comes to the all-important quality-to-price ratio. There are too many wineries selling lesser wines at prices (way) above and beyond what cofounders Cynthia and David Enns have been putting into bottles for 14 years now. A mix of 100 of their best barrels of all five red Bordeaux varieties coming from Osoyoos and Naramata vineyard plots is a perennial testament to balance, quality, and complexity. The combo in this edition is 51 percent Merlot, 24 percent Cabernet Sauvignon, 20 percent Cabernet Franc, four percent Malbec, and one percent Petit Verdot, twice-sorted in the winery. It delivers a cornucopia of currants, blackberries, mocha, eucalyptus, fine tannins, and a very lengthy finish. It’s already polished and ready to go, but it can easily age a good six to eight years.

All of this week’s wines are available winery-direct but can also be found in private wine stores around town for a few bucks more than the prices listed above.