Travel

Who knew the Niagara region of Canada was so well-known for their wine? Certainly not me. That said, now that I know, I’ve been spoiled for life. I’m pretty sure even a trip to Napa Valley here in the states wouldn’t match up to the wonderful time we had in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario, Canada.

If you have a long weekend to explore, you can find my itinerary on a previous post here. Put your relaxation pants on because Niagara-on-the-Lake is full of charming houses, gorgeous wineries and green space for days.

We used this map a lot while there, but please note it is most definitely not to scale. But, it gives you a good reference of how many wineries are in the region.

Below are a few of my favorite Niagara-on-the-Lake wineries. As I mentioned previously, there are 88 total wineries, so it’s pretty much impossible to hit all of them on one trip. But if you do, I want to hear about it. In fact, I’ll give you a gold star and feature you here on this blog, you alcoholic, you.

Small Talk Vineyards

We stopped at Small Talk Vineyards on our way into Niagara-on-the-Lake because the hubster knows my affinity for hard cider. Small Talk is a colorful setup with lots of fun quotes adorning their walls and bright porch. Each wine or cider has a good pun regarding “small talk” that made this copywriter’s heart happy. They are particularly known for their cider and it did not disappoint.

Try: Shiny Apple Cider and Shiny Pinot Cider

Tip: If you’re coming to Niagara-on-the-Lake from the west, this is a great place to hit up on your way in.

Stratus 

This was the first winery we hit on our personal bike tour and it ended up being my favorite. We had a wonderful tasting guru named Dave who pointed us in the right direction for wines. Stratus Winery is an organic winery that takes pride in that fact — and rightfully so. It’s a tough feat to grow organically when surrounding vineyards that don’t. I personally fell in love with the Gamay red wine. It was just the right amount of medium-body and the perfect amount of peppery undertones for me. Did that just sound like a snotty sommelier? Good.

Try: The 2014 Stratus Gamay

Tip: On certain days you can do wine tastings out on the deck in the back.

Caroline Cellars

It’s my namesake people, so of course it would make the list. Caroline Cellars is basically a huge, rustic barn with a large restaurant, The Farmhouse Cafe. We made our way into the tasting area, after passing some swag that, duh, I bought. I really appreciated the particular font chosen and the kerning used. You can take a girl on vacation away from marketing, but you can’t take marketing out of the girl. The tastings at Caroline Cellars are actually free, which was a welcome surprise. Caroline Cellars is known more for their reds than their whites and we really like their Farmer’s Red and Cabernet Franc. It was a bit crowded about 10 minutes after we arrived because a busload of people came too. But that’s not unusual for any winery in Niagara-on-the-Lake really with busloads coming and going on their scheduled tours.

Try: The 2013 Cabernet Franc and their seasonal Farmer’s Red.

Tip: Grab some Caroline swag. Everyone could use more Caroline in their life.

Inniskillin

Just a beautiful bike ride down the Niagara Parkway, on the outskirts of town, you’ll find Inniskillin. We arrived about an hour before they were closing, grabbed a quick glass and sat underneath one of the few tables that still had an umbrella open. It seemed that arriving even an hour before closing meant they kinda sorta wanted to let you know that they were really closing at 6pm, since employees walked around and closed table umbrellas even as we were still sitting at a table. I know the hubster rolled his eyes at me, but I am my father’s child and that really annoyed me and put a bad taste in my mouth about Inniskillin. All that aside, the employees on the inside were helpful and friendly. They are well-known for their ice wine, so we decided to do a tasting and while they were good — it just wasn’t my jam. So, so sweet!

Try: Belly up to their ice-wine tasting bar.

Tip: Don’t arrive an hour before they close.

Two Sisters

With probably the prettiest entrance of all the wineries we explored, Two Sisters exemplified the stereotypical winery appearance. Because of this, it’s one of the most popular properties. They are well-known for their sprawling porch out back, where you can eat at their popular restaurant, Kitchen76. We came between lunch and dinner and shared a flatbread margherita pizza that was delicious. If that was just their small menu, I can imagine the full shebang is quite exceptional.

Try: 2014 Sauvignon Blanc. (We bought 2 bottles.)

Tip: Even if there is a wait, it’s totally worth it to have a glass of wine and a meal outside on their porch.

Ravine Vineyard Estate Winery

This one is the hubster’s favorite winery and I can’t blame him. It was gorgeous, but still warm enough that you left with a homey-feeling. We hit up Ravine on our way back from Niagara Falls. It’s a touch too far (for us) by bike from the center of town, where we were staying at the Olde Angel Inn. They have hearth fire pizza on their patio in the back, with killer views of the vineyards.

Try: 2016 Ros̩ and The local Lowrey Bros Hard Cider (they had peach while we were there Рdelicious!)

Tip: Go there for lunch and sit on their patio out back — share a wood oven pizza too.

Reif Estate Winery

On our bike ride back into town from Inniskillin, we popped into Reif at the recommendation of Dave from Stratus Winery. Reif has a beautiful porch in the front and a really pretty interior wine tasting section. Our wine tasting guru was helpful and friendly, without being overly pushy.

Try: 2015 Sauvignon Blanc and 2016 Gamay Cabernet

Tip: If you’re riding on your bike, you can leave your purchases here and swing by to grab them on your way out of town.

Overall, like I mentioned before, you really can’t make a bad choice for any of the wineries in the area. There’s so many to choose from that you’re sure to find one that tickles your wine fancy.

Have you ever been to Niagara-on-the-Lake? Which were your favorite wineries?

Real talk: Growing up in metro Detroit, we used to cross the border at 19 and go (legally) drink in Windsor, Ontario, Canada. I didn’t do this until I was 20 though because I was a cautious rebel. This was way back when you only needed a drivers license to cross the border, too. Oh, those were the sequined halter top days, weren’t they?

Well, I’m happy to tell you that both Canada and I have only grown prettier with age!

Why Canada?

Canada has always held a special place in my heart and not just because they are our friendly neighbors to the north. Canada basically seeped into my everyday life when I lived in Michigan. We used to take school trips to Stratford, Ontario and watch wonderful theater performances during the Stratford Festival. Have Canadian change? Doesn’t matter, we’ll treat it as an American quarter or dime. When American news or sports weren’t showing what we wanted, we’d just switch over to CBC. Labatt Blue beer? You’ll find it in the domestic beer section. (No joke!)  If *NSYNC concerts sold out in Detroit, we’d just head to Toronto and watch JT pelvic thrust at the Rogers Centre. Even when working in downtown Detroit at General Motors, I had office views of Canada across the Detroit River, and often would pick up Canadian wireless carriers and get charged roaming fees. Crazy, eh? See what I did there?

As I mentioned in our 2017 Travel Plans, the original intent was to go “Up North” Michigan and explore some wineries, something every bonafide Michigander has done expect for me. But that’s forgiven now because I live in Florida, right? Anyway, the hubster took the reigns with planning this long weekend and I’m so glad he did because he was the one who decided on Niagara-on-the-Lake instead of going up north.

Crossing the Border by Car

Crossing the border is a cinch. I flew into Detroit the night before, met up with my Michigan-living hubster and we then drove through the Sarnia border crossing in the morning. It took us about 4 hours to get to Niagara-on-the-Lake. Have your passport ready, don’t bring over any weapons, smile pretty for the border patrol and you’ll most likely get a, “Welcome to Canada.” as you’re waved through.

Tip: Have your passports ready when you pull up to the booth. Don’t be that guy.

Abacot Hall

We stayed at Abacot Hall bed and breakfast and absolutely fell in love with it and the owners, Ed and Irene. We reserved the Queen Elizabeth’s room with the loveliest canopy bed and traditional decoration that made me feel right at home. Other B&B’s I’ve stayed in had shared bathrooms, but our room had an en suite. Score!

Abacot Hall also has a balcony upstairs on the back that I used one morning as the ER doc hubster caught up on precious sleep. I caught up on emails while sipping on coffee and listening to the birds chirp. Birds don’t really chirp this time of year in Florida. They’re hiding from the sun. Ed and Irene served breakfast each morning, which was a cool time getting to know the other guests. Most visiting were actually from the Midwest while we were there. I never felt pressured to stay and chat longer or that anyone was hovering, which is often the steroetype of a B&B. Irene asked us which wineries we were going to, gave us coupons for them and then sent us off on our merry way. The day we left, they gave us traditional NOTL ice wine as a gift since they heard it was our wedding anniversary. I mean, c’mon, how sweet! Both literally and figuratively as I explain below.

Tip: Choose the Seafood Omelet or Eggs Benedict at breakfast. Don’t turn down the bread either, it’s homemade.

The Olde Angel Inn

We spent our last night at the famous Olde Angel Inn, right in the center of town. The hubster saw that it was historically British and knew I’d love it. There is a pub downstairs that served classic English fare, which is 100% legit, and this is coming from someone who knows. Hello, we got married in England. Plus, their server, Andrea, hand to the heart, made our evening both times we went. Friendly and accommodating, you know, classically Canadian. They also had the best cover band I’ve ever seen, James Blonde (formerly X Prime). On our first evening, went to the Olde Angel Inn for a quick night cap and promised we’d only stay for one drink because I needed to run 4 miles the next day (I’m training for a half marathon again). Famous last words. After James Blonde started playing, we knew that wasn’t going to happen. The funny thing is, the hubster and I tend to not like loud bands, but they were so good we actually found our introvert-selves getting up and dancing. It was great. A really fond memory of mine.

Can we also talk about the Governor’s Room the hubster reserved? I fully appreciated every single Union Jack in the our suite.

Tip: Order the Shepards Pie and peach cider from Mill Street Brewery/Brickworks Ciderhouse. Try out the cheese store next door and the ice cream place across the street. Why are most of my tips about food…?

Food and Drinks

We were told to try The Irish Harp Pub, so we popped in there the first night for dinner and had the best chicken curry I’ve had in a long time. We liked it so much we went back for dinner the second night, too. Creatures of habit, I tell ya’. They had plenty of authentic Irish beer and cider to choose from and our dinner on Saturday night featured a celtic band playing in the pub.

Try Balzac’s Coffee right next door to The Irish Harp Pub for some good, strong coffee.

Across the street from both Balzac’s Coffee and The Irish Harb Pub is the famous Prince of Wales Hotel. Much to my chagrin, I did not get a break from the heat by leaving Florida, as it was incredibly hot in Canada the weekend we were there. We popped into the Prince of Wales lounge for a reprieve from the sun and to enjoy a cold beverage. It did not disappoint. It was a cool, old lounge-type of atmosphere with big comfy leather chairs. Our server, Eric, friendly again as all get out, spent some time talking to us and pointed us in the right direction to get local cider on our way of town the next day.

Tip: When paying with your American credit card, you should almost always choose to pay in local currency if given the choice. Why? You’re charged around 3% of the purchase price to convert to your home currency. Obviously, you should always use a credit card that has no international fees, but this fee is in addition to that.

Zoom Leisure Bike Rental and Tours

We rented bikes for 3 days from Zoom Leisure. We both got cruisers, but they have plenty of options. Hubster joked with a straight face that he got us a tandem bike. NOT FUNNY. I have to say, I’m a huge fan of cruisers, especially when they are literally used for cruising between wineries.

Tip: Get there right when they open. We barely beat the crowd by getting there around 10am on the weekend. Lots of friends come here in groups since it’s such a fun time, but you’ll need to wait a bit when they start rolling in. We needed to drop off our bikes around 6:30am on our last day, so we could go on a run (remember that run I didn’t get in the first morning). They let us leave the bikes out back as long as they were locked. Canadian trust and friendliness wins again. Oh yeah, and every winery we went to had a bike rack!

The Wineries

I mean, where does one begin when talking about the wineries in NOTL? I had no idea Niagara-on-the-Lake was known for their many, many wineries. Truth be told, I really hadn’t even heard of Niagara-on-the-Lake before. There are a whopping 88 wineries that span the town.

Like I mentioned above, they are known for their ice wine, which is basically a process that involves harvesting grapes in the winter, making the wine extra sweet because the grape juice is essentially frozen when the grapes are crushed. I initially thought it meant the wine was cold so upon arrival, after we had been in the car for 4 hours, I asked to have a glass at the first winery we stopped at. The waiter must have sensed my newbie-ness and asked if I had ever tried ice wine before; he then explained it’s incredibly sweet and I may not want to try a whole glass straight out the gate. Bless his heart – he was so right. It certainly wasn’t bad, but there’s a time and place for that sort of sweetness.

There are so many different types of wineries in NOTL: organic, family owned, corporate, known for their whites, known for their reds, on hundreds of acres far from town or on small plots close by. With so many options, you’re sure to fall in love with one that is probably different than my favorites. Honestly, there are so many that it deserves it’s own post, which is coming up next week.

Tip: Listen to what people suggest, but don’t feel obligated to follow it to a tee. Every person has their own opinion about wine, but like most things in life, it’s subjective. If you’re on a bike and a winery looks nice, just go in and give it a whirl!

Green Space

NOTL is full of parks and miles upon miles of vineyards, so it’s definitely a space to go on a nice walk, run or bike ride. Our favorite was the Niagara Parkway Recreational Trail, and Queen’s Royal Park where we sat on the edge by the rocks and looked out onto both Toronto, Ontario in Canada and Youngstown, New York in the US. So cool, right? Hubster and I didn’t realize it at first and noted that Fort Niagara, across the way in the US, had very colonial looking buildings. *light bulb moment* Oh hey, that’s the US! We knew we would be able to see the US at from certain vantage points, but didn’t realize we’d be able to see so much. I checked off another country on my run list (up to 10 so far) and even dipped my feet in the cold Niagara River. That warm Florida water year-round has spoiled me.

Tip: Plan out a morning stroll to see how the small town slowly comes alive. NOTL is so full of character that you feel you could be Belle strolling through the village in Beauty and the Beast. (Minus the part with everyone singing that you’re a nutjob.) If you’re not a morning person, the sunsets in the evening over Niagara River and Lake Ontario are lovely as well. Take a bottle of wine you got at winery that day and sit in Queen’s Royal Park to take in the sky changing colors.

Niagara Falls

You absolutely cannot visit this region of Canada without visiting Niagara Falls. Both the hubster and I had been there separately with our families as kids, so we didn’t spend more than an hour taking in the magnificent power of it all, but you could certainly make an afternoon of it. We both talked about how so many memories you have of your childhood don’t live up to the way you remembered when you visit the same places as an adult. Things seem smaller, or less spectacular than the memory itself. Not Niagara Falls. It’s just as immense and powerful as I remembered.

Tip: It’s barely even a 20-minute drive to get there from NOTL, but get there early. The busloads starts arriving around 10am. The Canadian side has the better view of the falls in my opinion, but you could hop over to the US (bring your passport) if you want that vantage point as well.

Overall, Niagara-on-the-Lake, is a small town full of character, the arts (it has a huge theater scene that I didn’t even dive into), wineries and friendly people. In what may seem to go against the “small town” mentality, it’s full of culture and diversity. Maybe, that’s what made is so special for me. Friendliness and open minds, imagine that?

So, when are you planning your trip to Niagara-on-the-Lake? The hubster and I loved it so much, we may make it a summer tradition. Heck, this Midwesterner-turned-Floridian may even go back in the winter, that’s how much I loved it!