Destination: Wine Tasting, Niagara-on-the-Lake
– There’s More to Niagara than the Falls –
When Devin and I went on our road trip to Niagara Falls we had one thing in mind, check out the waterfall. But I was pleasantly surprised to arrive and find out there’s more to do in Niagara than just watch the water fall.
While eating dinner at a restaurant that uses local produce and wine we discovered that Niagara has a viable wine growing region thirty minutes to the North in the area called Niagara on the Lake. Since we had three days to explore Niagara, and the falls only needs a day, day in a half, we decided to go check it out.
Our first stop was at Ravine Vineyard, their bottle of Sand and Gravel Red Coat at dinner was what inspired this impromptu trip after all. Unfortunately for me, the bottle we had the night prior was an older vintage which they were sold out of, and the year we were tasting didn’t match the quality from the night before, so I left empty handed.
At bit further down the same road we came across Chateau des Charmes. This winery grows grapes on four different properties and sells the bottles under four different names, each ranging in price, quality and flavor. We tried our first ever ice wine here, which is made when the grapes freeze so it is an extremely late harvest sweet wine, neither Devin nor I were big fans.
The next winery we visited, Colaneri Winery, was my favorite. It had recently opened and was styled like a Tuscan Villa complete with a coal burning brick oven for pizza. They made their wine in an Italian style, which is naturally delicious, so we stocked up with a few bottles to bring home. And good thing we did, the rest of the wineries were a bust.
Jackson Triggs and Trius rounded out the wineries we visited. The grounds at Trius were stunning, the best out of all the wineries, but the wine wasn’t. And Jackson Triggs was one of the larger wineries in the region but it just felt really cold and industrial and the wines weren’t really anything to write about.
You can check out all these wineries and a few we skipped by following this trail:
After you build up an appetite with all that wine tasting stop in the town of Niagara on the Lake, that’s what we did. Imagine your “old-town” area but even better, it was cute and quaint with small shoppes and plenty of dining options – I really loved it! And with the lake right there we had to check it out, making Ontario the second of the Great Lakes that I dipped my toes into.
I was so happy to discover that there’s more to Niagara than just the falls. The falls are amazing don’t get me wrong, but if you have the time be sure to venture out to Niagara on the Lake it won’t disappoint!
That’s my story…
Peace & Love,
xoxo, Andrea