The Best Wineries in Niagara-On-The-Lake
I never thought that international travel would stop like this & we would live through these crazy times. I don’t want to repeat what you’ve heard so many times already, but this pandemic has had a disastrous effect on lives, businesses, and the travel & hospitality industry. As I write this, a lot of countries are slowly opening up for tourism again with a lot of restrictions in place so it makes travel difficult.
Once things start to open up, people tend to explore their own country & local towns. I think this is a great idea because it allows you to see the beauty of your own country as well as support your local economy and small businesses that need it most.
We’ve been to now 23 wineries in the Niagara & Bench region of Ontario and I’ve chosen these based on quality & taste of wine, experience, location (great for pictures), uniqueness of each winery & customer service. These are in no particular order because I really love each place for different reasons. I really prefer the less commercialized non-traditional wineries. The wineries that are off the beaten path & less touristy have a better ambiance and better wine that you can’t find at the LCBO.
So if you want to know the best wineries you need to visit in Niagara-on-the-lake, then keep reading.
1) Southbrook Vineyards
This is an organic winery located off Niagara Stone road. They are an organic winery & farm. The farm is called Linc Farm where they sell different meats & eggs from their animals, they have a retail store as well with other products including yarn made from the wool from their sheep!
The wine here is by far the most unique and unlike any other wine I’ve tasted in all the wineries I’ve been to. Make sure you try to taste both of their orange wines (not made from oranges). They are my favourite!
It’s best to book online your tasting ahead of time or call the winery direct. They get very busy on the weekends in the summer so make sure you book in advance.
2) Colaneri Estate Winery
This is an Italian winery located in St. David’s area of Niagara-on-the-lake. If you want to feel like you’re in Tuscany, Italy then you have to come here.
It’s so picturesque and perfect for photoshoots because it looks like a beautiful Tuscan villa. The tasting experience here is amazing!
They sit you down at a table where your waiter spends time explaining all the wines to you, the history of the wine & the winery. It’s a very personal experience, their wines are so unique because they make their wines in the appassimento style. Don’t worry if you don’t know what that is, because you will learn when you come here!
Be sure to try the Cab Franc Icewine which is my favourite Icewine by far.
Because of the pandemic tastings are being offered Thursday - Sunday, the max amount of people per tasting is 4 and you need to make reservations in advance.
They also have a great wine club you can sign up for if you live in Ontario.
3) Frogpond Farm Organic Winery
This is Ontario’s First Certified Organic winery located in Niagara-on-the-lake. It is a small family-run winery with a farm as well. They have animals and grow their own fruits and veggies and everything works harmoniously in a very natural way to produce the wines using only sustainable practices.
You will notice the taste is different and their ice wine is very delicious and not as sweet as most ice wines.
Because of the pandemic tastings are being offered Thursday - Sunday & reservations are recommended but they will accept walk-ins.
And yes, they have a frog pond!
4) The Hare Wine Co.
The Hare winery is located off Niagara Stone road. Driving up you will see the gorgeous brick winery with a large beautiful arch entrance. As you walk past the black gates you will see a gorgeous courtyard with another arch ahead of you with another set of black gates and the vineyards on the other side.
It is so picturesque and another great place for photoshoots where you feel like you’re in a European or South American countryside winery.
You can have your tasting inside or enjoy wine by the glass and a charcuterie board on their patio with one of the most beautiful views overlooking the vineyards.
They are open all week for tastings and you don’t have to have a reservation. Weekends in the summer are very busy so I would recommend to book your tasting in advance.
If you can make sure to try the Noble wine series! They are my favourite and are made in the Italian appassimento style.
Currently, they don’t have a wine club (Aug 2020) but by the time you read this or visit that might change because John, the owner told us they are working on setting it up.
5) DeSimone Vineyards
This is a small Italian family-run winery located off Niagara Stone road. They have a cozy casual patio setup surround by vineyards. You can book your tasting in advance or just walk in and they are open all week for tastings.
You will likely see the owner Vincenzo there as well. Be sure to ask him how the wines are made. He told us even though they aren’t organic he refuses to use roundup on his grapes.
You can order a delicious charcuterie board with your wines as well which I recommend.
6) Reif Estate Winery
This is a German-owned winery in the heart of Niagara-on-the-lake. The property is very picturesque and great for a photoshoot by their water fountain out front.
The best time to do a tasting here is during the week because weekends including Fridays, get very busy. Reservations are highly recommended but they do accept walk-ins as well.
Their Icewine is incredible! Make sure to try that and if you’re interested they do also have a wine club.
7) NOMAD at Hinterbrook Winery
This is a new winery we discovered in the summer of 2020 and it has become our favourite. They have an incredible outdoor patio and indoor tasting area that’s perfect for photos.
The prices of wines are very reasonable so if you want to buy 3 or more bottles of wine, the only thing you want to think about is which ones. I also really love their sparkling and Ice Wines.
The price of the tastings is only $7.50 for 5 flights, per person. They are also the only winery where you don’t pay any monthly amount for their wine club. You just need to sign up with your email address and you receive a $6 discount when you buy 6 bottles of wine and $12 when you buy 12 bottles.
Niagara-on-the-lake is known for it’s Icewines. If you’ve never tried it, it’s a dessert wine that’s very sweet but the sweetness is all-natural that comes from the grapes. You’ll notice the Icewine bottles are smaller and more expensive. That’s because the grapes are harvested in the winter at temperatures of -8˚C so that only the highly concentrated juice is pressed from the frozen berries. These climate conditions result in a deliciously sweet wine with a high concentration of sugars, acids and extracts from the grapes that have intense flavours and aromas. This is why there is very little juice from the grapes so it takes 2-3 times more grapes to make a bottle of Icewine vs a regular bottle of wine.
Although Icewine was first produced in Germany in 1794 Canada is now the largest and best producer of Icewine.
I hope you will make a point to visit this beautiful historic Canadian town and check out these wineries. If you do or you’ve been to any of these places before, I would love to know your experience! Let me know in the comments below. It’s really important for me to get your feedback when I recommend something to you.
Make sure to come say hi on Instagram as well to check out my photos at these vineyards.
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