Wine tasting in Ontario, Canada... |
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I could not believe how many wineries there were, just over the border from us, in Ontario, Canada. I picked the above 5 wineries to enjoy, we could do them in a picturesque circle and still only go 86 miles round trip from the RV park and back. For my wine tasting trips, that is a walk in the park ;) There are about 18 wineries in this small area, it was hard to choose. Here are a couple of websites that you can check out if you would like to learn more about wine in this very up and coming wine region! Wineries of Ontario and the specific viticultural area we tasted in, Niagara-on-the-Lake.
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| Here we are, heading into Canada, for our fun filled day. | With the word Niagara in the name of the town, you would think we would be close to Niagara Falls and we are. The piece of land that we are going to try out the grapes is between Lake Ontario and the Canadian side of Niagara Falls along the Niagara River. |
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| First stop, Inniskillin Wines. There is a winery here in Niagara-on-the-Lake and another over in British Columbia, Okanogan to be exact. | It's a huge facility, owned by Constellation Brands, the largest producer of wine in the world. But a beautiful property none-the less... |
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| Don was our host during the majority of the tasting, we tried a couple still wines including a Pinot Noir. We had to go to another station to try out the Ice Wines (which is why I was there...) | Next stop, Lailey Vineyard, a much smaller winery, but still over 10,000 cases produced a year. |
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| Very different architecture but very interesting. The darker area on the bottom right is the tasting room, smaller than I expected. | This car was in the parking lot at Lailey... I want a license plate like that! |
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| 3rd on the route is Jackson-Triggs, also owned by Constellation Brands. Even though they are owned by the same company, they are "on their own". | Another huge complex (J-T), both Inniskillin and Jackson-Triggs are set up for Bus loads and I mean BUS loads, we saw several as we toured both of these wineries. |
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| Lunch was at this Deli, just down the street from J-T. We enjoyed a cup of French Onion soup and sandwiches. They were both very good. | Right after lunch we headed over to Hillebrand. |
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| Another large property, it included a full restaurant. | This is the inside of the tasting room at Hillebrand. We started down here, but ended up upstairs in the "fancy" higher end wine area. We had a great time chatting with our wine pourer (sorry, I don't remember her name). |
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| This was our favorite stop, Coyote's Run. | Much smaller, more personable, had a great time chatting with out host and he was very knowledgeable. He had even been to Oregon and other states to try different wines. You don't "see" much of that. |
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| Last stop, Chateau des Champs, known for their Pinot Noir | Built to look like a French Chateau, it was HUGE. All the big ones also look for the corporate events, etc to come and enjoy the property. |
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| another view of the Chateau with Jim heading towards the front door. | Yeah, almost back home into the wonderful USA. :) |
| There was some nice wines to be found, if you have a chance, I would recommend this area. Driving along the Niagara Parkway (Canadian side of the river) was beautiful, trails, picnic spots, wineries, what more could you want? | |
