Ontario's OTHER Wine Country
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| Mastronardi's Estate Winery Front Door |
During the previous two years, living in Australia, I had an amazing time visiting the Yarra Valley in Victoria, the Hunter Valley in New South Wales, and even had the chance to do a 9 day Tasmania tour that included a whole lot of visits to the many wine regions of Tasmania.
After having visited many, many, many wineries abroad I realised how many I was missing in my very own backyward. When people speak of Ontario wineries, the Niagra viticultural area is always brought up. While the Niagara region is indeed a beautiful and popular area in terms of wine, there is yet another amazing viticultural area in Ontario-- Lake Erie North Shore.
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| First Wine Stop: Aleksanders Estate Winery |
Aleksander was small, and quaint. In fact, their wines aren't even found in the LCBO despite all of their wines being 100% VQA Lake Erie North Shore (meaning 100% of their grapes were sourced from this very special viticultural area). We were explained that tastings cost $1 per tasting... and so it began. I tried their Bianca, Chambourcin, Late Harvest Riesling, and their Baco Noir. Definitely enjoyed their Chambourcin. Having only previously tried Pelee Island Winery's Chambourcin Rose it was nice to taste a "pure" chambourcin. This was the bottle I decided to take home with me from Aleksander.
WINERY INFO:
| Address: | Phone: |
| 1542 County Road #34 Ruthven, Ontario N0P 2G0 | 519-326-2024 Website: http://www.aleksanderestate.com/ MASTRONARDI'S ESTATE WINERY |
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| Second Wine Stop: Mastronardi's Estate Winery |
WINERY INFO:
| Address: | Phone: |
| 1193 Concession Road 3, East Kingsville, Ontario N9Y 2E5 | TOLL FREE: 1-800-320-5040 Website: http://www.mastronardiwines.com/ |
BLACK BEAR FARM & WINERY
Our next stop was at a winery whose sign I have seen on numerous drives through Kingsville. The bright yellow sign with a black bear logo is very hard to miss. I'm not usually a sweet wine guy, so was sceptical at first. All the wines from Black Bear are made from an assortment of fruits and berries. They have everything from blueberry, raspberries, black currants, strawberry, elderberry, peaches and even gooseberries. Perhaps, I was a bit naive but just because the wines are made from sweet fruits, it doesn't necessarily mean sweet wines. While there were definitely some that could be considered "dessert" wines, there were others including the Bear's Special Blend that could compliment many great meals. Definitely worth a visit. Black Bear was supposed to be the last stop on our wine excursion. However, Jerome, the owner who was also working the tasting bar suggested we try a new winery that opened up down the road just two weeks prior called Cooper's Hawk Vineyards. And off we went...
WINERY INFO:
COOPER'S HAWK VINEYARDS
It took us a bit to find it, but once we saw the rows of thin, young vines we knew we were there. We pulled into the large parking lot, and were unsure of where to go. The very large building, or the small one out back (the signs were still yet to go up). As we started wandering a woman started shouting out from the small building out back, apologising for the lack of signage. She also explained that the larger building will become their processing building but was still under construction. The winery currently has just four wines: a chardonnay, riesling, rosé, and a cabernet merlot. How can they have wines if their processing centre isn't finished yet? Well, the daughter who was working the tasting bar explained with gratitude how much other wineries in the area have helped them out. One in particular stood out and that was Viewpointe Estate Winery who helped to press all their grapes and make the wines themselves.
One aspect of the winery which impressed me were the large solar panels out front. I had to ask, was that just for show or was there a point of them being there. Well, turns out this winery is taking on a strong environmental angle. The solar panels will not only produce enough electricity to power the winery's operations but also feed the excess into the grid. Some other environmental initiatives they are working on include a pond, enhanced wildlife habitat, and a wetland area. Really beautiful, piece of property and by the sounds of it only going to get better with age. Just like any good wine ;)
WINERY INFO:
Our next stop was at a winery whose sign I have seen on numerous drives through Kingsville. The bright yellow sign with a black bear logo is very hard to miss. I'm not usually a sweet wine guy, so was sceptical at first. All the wines from Black Bear are made from an assortment of fruits and berries. They have everything from blueberry, raspberries, black currants, strawberry, elderberry, peaches and even gooseberries. Perhaps, I was a bit naive but just because the wines are made from sweet fruits, it doesn't necessarily mean sweet wines. While there were definitely some that could be considered "dessert" wines, there were others including the Bear's Special Blend that could compliment many great meals. Definitely worth a visit. Black Bear was supposed to be the last stop on our wine excursion. However, Jerome, the owner who was also working the tasting bar suggested we try a new winery that opened up down the road just two weeks prior called Cooper's Hawk Vineyards. And off we went...WINERY INFO:
| Address: | Phone: |
| 1137 County Road 20 West Kingsville, Ontario N9Y 2E5 | 519-733-6289 Website: http://www.blackbearfarms.ca/ |
COOPER'S HAWK VINEYARDS
It took us a bit to find it, but once we saw the rows of thin, young vines we knew we were there. We pulled into the large parking lot, and were unsure of where to go. The very large building, or the small one out back (the signs were still yet to go up). As we started wandering a woman started shouting out from the small building out back, apologising for the lack of signage. She also explained that the larger building will become their processing building but was still under construction. The winery currently has just four wines: a chardonnay, riesling, rosé, and a cabernet merlot. How can they have wines if their processing centre isn't finished yet? Well, the daughter who was working the tasting bar explained with gratitude how much other wineries in the area have helped them out. One in particular stood out and that was Viewpointe Estate Winery who helped to press all their grapes and make the wines themselves. |
| The Coveted Four: Cooper's Hawk Estate Vineyards |
WINERY INFO:
| Address: | Phone: |
| 1425 Iler Road RR1 Harrow, Ontario N0R 1G0 | 519-738-4295 Website: http://www.coopershawkvineyards.com/ |
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