Niagara Wine Touring

By Margaret Swaine
We were a group of well-dressed people running into the vineyards in heels and hats at Vineland Estate in Niagara this August, only doing what many do these days. Rushing to get to a wedding. At a winery. Except in this case it was more like a travelling nuptial theatre. The bride was a lawyer with a talent for organizing great parties.
The ceremony took place in the vineyard under an arch of flowers and vines with Vineland's sparkling wine to wet our whistles. The reception was in the winery's historic 1857 stone-walled Carriage House. Then we had a bus tour of the region's neighboring wineries of Harbour Estates, Angel's Gate, Thirty Bench and others. Dinner was al fresco on the umbrella-protected deck at Creekside, after a tour of their wine cellars where a jazz duo serenaded the assembled party. Later most celebrated on into the night at the couple's suite nearby at Cave Spring Winery's Inn on the Twenty in the small hamlet of Jordan. After enjoying so much good wine at each location, we only needed to stumble to our own sumptuous rooms there.
Morning saw us stroll across the street to breakfast at the Inn's restaurant, adjacent to their winery. My husband and I lingered in the town, tempted by the sculptures of Ninavik Native Arts into further bolstering the local economy. On the way home we stopped at picturesque Peninsula Ridge winery for a delightful lunch in a lovingly restored Queen Anne Victorian home. The winery was busy setting up for a wedding to take place on their property.

Napa North
Ontario's wineries are popular for weddings likely because their beautiful scenery, fine wine and food seduce people. All is open for discovery when you take a wine-touring trip. In twenty-five years, Ontario has gone from being nowhere in the wine world to a mini Napa North. The province now has about 90 wineries, the majority of which are in the Niagara Peninsula. Almost all offer at least a tasting room that includes reserve wine for sale you can only get at the cellar door. But as you can see, that's just the beginning.
Last fall at the impressive Peller Estates Winery in Niagara during harvest celebrations, I found a wine lovers' Disney World. There were horse drawn carriages trotting around the vineyards, a Steve Bauer cyclist group in bright yellow shirts resting on the steps leading into the winery, diners on the sunlit patio and pretty young girls standing between the vines offering free samples of fresh crushed grape juice from different varietals to compare with the finished wine. Inside, educational seminars on the ABC's of cabernet were taking place, along with winery tours and a harvest celebration tasting menu at the elegant Peller Estates Winery Restaurant. The boutique was packed with shoppers examining the decanters, fine crystal, posters, corkscrew collection, wine CD's, icewine chocolates, placemats and of course the wine.
Some of the guests had bought a Shaw's Vineyard Pleasures package. After their tour and dinner at the winery, they would drive, or do the short walk, to Niagara-on-the-Lake's Shaw Festival to enjoy a world-class theatre performance. Others who had joined the Peller by Request club were getting a complimentary premium wine tasting after their tour or were taking advantage of their discount on accessories in the boutique.

The Niagara Wine Route
The Niagara Wine Route starts about an hour's drive from Toronto. There just off the main QEW highway, travelers can begin their tour, which meanders along 40 kilometers of rural roads from Grimsby to Niagara-on-the-Lake. The route, starting on Regional Road 81, traverses gently rolling landscape through small towns, vineyards and orchards. Half the Niagara Peninsula is still devoted to agriculture and many of the farms are proudly preserved century properties, with roots tracing back to the days of the Empire Loyalists. The Niagara Escarpment on one side and glittering Lake Ontario on the other handsomely bracket the route. The top ridges of the craggy cliffs of the Escarpment were once the shoreline of Lake Iroquois, an ancient lake that receded with the glaciers leaving behind the Five Great Lakes as we know them today, and fossil rich land great for grape growing. The route is not a straight drive, rather in order to visit wineries, there are many sideroads to take up and down the escarpment.
You can leave the QEW at the first sign of a winery or continue until you see a particular one you wish to visit. Many of the wineries have signs on the QEW that tell you which exit to take to find them. I'm not a fan of highway driving so I tend to exit at Fifty Road and start the route from the beginning, stopping at roadside stands to pick up fresh fruit and other local goodies as I go.
The road passes by the towns of Grimsby, Beamsville and Vineland and so might you unless you have time to kill. It's the wineries dotted around them that you want to visit, all which have tasting rooms. Angel's Gate, a spanking new winery and Thirty Bench quite country-rustic in comparison, share the same road (Mountainview) and make lovely wines. Modern looking Malivoire, between Beamsville and Vineland on Regional Road 81, uses a hillside drop for a pump-free wine process. The end result from winemaker Ann Sperling is some of the best chardonnay and pinot noir in the province.

Jordan Village
The next town however on this meandering route to Niagara is worth a visit. Jordan Village, home of Cave Spring Cellars Winery, is a restored tiny hamlet with Georgian and Victorian homes lining Main Street. Antique shops, galleries, a garden shop, restaurant and inn are all bunched together on two streets. Cave Spring's adjacent restaurant On the Twenty serves good Canadian fresh market cuisine. From the restaurant you see the steep and beautiful Twenty Mile Valley. Across the street, The Inn on the Twenty where us wedding guests stayed, is a charming property build in 1996 that has some of the best accommodation in the area (www.innonthetwenty.com).
Once past the town of St. Catharines you can head south towards the US border and visit a few wineries on the way to the famous Horseshoe Falls in Niagara Falls. The other direction takes you to picturesque Niagara-on-the-Lake and a host of wineries encircling the town. Three million tourists flock to this Regency town annually, so don't expect a quiet time. Home of The Shaw Festival, theatre dominates the town from April 4 to November 24. Shaw, North America's second largest repertory company, is the only one in the world specializing in plays written by George Bernard Shaw and his contemporaries (www.shawfest.com). Ten of the nearby wineries offer dining and theatre packages along with a winery tour.
For winery visitors however, theatre is just one activity among many they can enjoy. In summer there are barbeques, jazz and blues in the vineyard, chamber concerts and picnics. Fall is harvest celebrations, wine makers dinners and dozens of events surrounding the Niagara Grape and Wine Festival. Winter brings icewine celebrations and holiday shopping at winery boutiques. Spring is for new release tastings, biking and walking through the vineyard and blossom festivals. Every time I've done the trip I've found new wineries, restaurants and activities. There is one thing though that I'm not going to do again - pick grapes for icewine in the dead cold of winter. That, like sleeping in Quebec City's Icehotel, is more fun in concept than reality.

Some Recommended Wineries

Peninsula Ridge Estate. 5600 King Street, Beamsville. Tel. 905-563-0900. www.peninsularidge.com One of the rising stars of Ontario wineries, their French winemaker Jean Pierre Colas, first made his name at Domaine Laroche in Chablis. His Chardonnay Reserve, Sauvignon Blanc and Bordeaux style blended red are some of the area's best. On site, set in an historic 1885 Victorian manor, is The Restaurant at Peninsula Ridge. They serve Canadian delicacies such as seared Quebec Foie Gras, pan-seared Arctic Char and Ile Verte lamb.

Cave Spring Cellars. 3838 Main Street, Jordan. Tel. 905-562-3581. www.cavespringcellars.com Cave Spring specializes in Riesling, Chardonnay, Gamay, and Cabernet/Merlot blends from Beamsville Bench vineyards, among the oldest vinifera plantings in Niagara. Their On the Twenty Restaurant serves Niagara cuisine year round - signature dishes include house smoked Lake Erie venison and double espresso chocolate torte.

Vineland Estates Winery. 3620 Moyer Rd., Vineland. Tel. 905-562-7088. www.vineland.com Vineland, up on the escarpment, has a sweeping view of vineyards and Lake Ontario, the most scenic of all the wineries. Its historic setting includes a wine store with a wide selection of wine accessories and artistically made decorative items (vases, candle holders, place mats), a carriage house and an elegant restaurant. Canadiana cuisine with a Mediterranean influence is served, using fresh local ingredients.

Henry of Pelham Family Estate Winery. 1469 Pelham Rd., St. Catharines. Tel. 905-684-8423. www.henryofpelham.com Makers of excellent VQA wines, their retail store is set in an 1842 inn, once a gateway point through the Niagara escarpment. Next to the Short Hills Provincial Park, they have picnic and patio facilities as well as innovative activities during touring season such as Shakespeare in the Vineyard and hiking on the Bruce Trail. Their Couch House Café serves light meals such as soups, duck pâté on a French stick, mesclun salad and special Quebec and Ontario artisan cheeses to eat in or take out as a picnic.

Hillebrand Estates Winery. 1249 Niagara Stone Rd,. Niagara-on-the-Lake. Tel. 905-468-7123. www.hillebrand.com Hillebrand boasts the largest product list of VQA wines in Canada. Of note is their ultra premium Showcase series of single vineyard unfiltered wines. These are stunning wines of depth and complexity with long aging potential. In addition to regular complimentary tours offered every hour, they have music concerts throughout the summer, bicycle vineyard tours and fine dining in a casual setting. The Vineyard Café serves regional dishes such as vanilla scented lobster, Century Game Farm bison and Oka cheese polenta.

Inniskillin Wines. Line 3 Niagara Parkway, Niagara-on-the-Lake. Tel. 905-468-3554. www.inniskillin.com and www.icewine.com Inniskillin is the winery that started the renaissance of wine in Ontario. The visitor centre is housed in an old restored 1920's barn and includes a retail boutique and tasting bar featuring their excellent Pinot Noirs, single vineyard Chardonnays, icewines and other premium products. Its twenty station self-guided tour is very educational and well presented.

Jackson-Triggs Niagara Estate Winery. 2145 Niagara Stone Rd., Niagara-on-the-Lake. Tel. 905-468-4637. www.jacksontriggswinery.com This state of the art winery designed by Kuwabara Payne McKenna Blumberg Architects has an ultra modern high tech look. One reason to visit is just to see its stunning two-storey Great Hall, which separates the wine production area from the hospitality section. Also take in the wine and food sensory experiences in the Tasting Gallery, concerts and theatre in the vineyard and other activities.

Peller Estates Winery. 290 John Street, Niagara-on-the-Lake. Tel. 905-468-4678. www.peller.com Peller Estates, a large winery with an excellent well-stocked boutique, also has one of the best winery restaurants. A weekly tasting menu consists of six courses matched with wine to compliment each tasting portion dish. A seasonal three-course $29.95 lunch is a relatively new addition.

General Information
The Official Guide to the Wineries of Ontario provides contact information on about 50 of the Ontario wineries, a map, as well as information on accommodation, dining and area attractions. For a free copy contact the Wine Council of Ontario. Call 1-800-263-2988, write to: The Wine Council of Ontario, 110 Hannover Drive, Suite B205 St. Catharines, Ontario L2W 1A4. Or visit www.winesofontario.org for a downloadable copy.
The area has many beautiful bed and breakfast places. The Niagara Bed and Breakfast Association represents some 180 operators. Call 905-468-0123 or visit www.bba.notl.on.ca for details on each property from historic Old Town manor houses to the river view countryside farms.
For small inns call 1-800-340-4667 or visit www.countryinns.org
Vintage Inns has the fancy properties in the area, namely Queen's Landing, The Prince of Wales, Oban Inn and Pillar and Post. Call 1-800-361-6645 or see www.vintageinns.com
The new Legends on the Niagara Golf Complex has two 18-hole championship courses designed by renowned golf course architects Thomas McBroom and Douglas Carrick. For details on this and other local courses see www.niagaraparksgolftrail.com
For a bird's eye view of the vineyards and falls call Niagara Helicopters at 905-357-5672 or view www.niagara-helicopters.com
Steve Bauer's Bike Tours can be contacted at 905-562-0788 or www.stevebauer.com

Margaret Swaine has been covering the wine scene around the world for over 25 years. She writes for many national magazines and newspapers including Toronto Life, Chatelaine, Food and Drink, the National Post and the Globe and Mail.