Ontario vineyards near Niagara River

There are multiple vineyards and winemakers in Ashtabula Ct, NE Ohio. I used to buy juice for winemaking up there. Most are not the French varietals, but American clones - chardonel, etc. In addition, Niagara on the Lake in Canada is a great town, and you should stop there - many wineries in area. You need your passport for that.

There are literally dozens of small vineyards around Niagara on the Lake. That would be on the shores of Lake Ontario. Three of the largest, with well known, mainstream market, wineries are Inniskillin, Jackson Triggs, and Peller Estates.

Are you going into Canada? Niagara on the Lake is a very charming town with nice wineries for a nice day trip. Highly recommend
Been twice and have had two other friends go and enjoy it.

My wife and I often got to the Shaw Festival and enjoy the excellent 5 (or 7) course meal at Peller Estates.

Great food! Great wine!

Happy travels.

Hi Toby,
I was born in Leamington, so my first recco would be the Point Pelee winery. The scenery and novelty of the location would be added value.
Cave Spring is where we take friends in the actual Golden Horseshoe, mind you that whole area is just beautiful.
We are serious wine enthusiasts so I am obliged to say the following: don't get your hopes up too much. About a decade ago, we attended a family reunion in NOTL. To kill time beforehand, my wife and I toured one of the up-and-coming wineries. Our B&B owner was a former Parisian chef and we just trusted his suggestion to visit the latter.

The wine there was soooo very bad that at one point, we wondered whether we were being punked and looked for the cameras. Understand, we are anything but wine snobs and are easy to please but that wine (shudders at memory) was egregious enough that the second the guide left our area, we both tossed the remnant of our glass into a planter, doing so without hesitation, eye contact or consulting each other.
The ice wines of that area have justly earned a good rep.
I am done. The end.

As to Gregglamarsh's comment, the wines are NOT French grapes. They are American hybrids, and this usually includes a bit of the "foxiness" of Concord. Vidal Blanc is one I liked. Chardonel is another. The flavors are different than California or France or even Finger Lakes NY.

I'm struggling to understand Gregglamarsh's point. Surely he isn't saying that one bad tasting of a single wine at a single winery a decade ago means that all of the Niagara wines are the same. In which case the judges in all those national and international wine competitions over the last few years must have no idea what they are doing.

The Concord grape and foxy-americas hybrids -- found in lake & ashtabula county ohio as well Ontario, Pennsylvania and New York -- well, that's not French wine style or grape, nor California wine-- and it's an acquired taste (and I have yet to acquire it, though after 1/2 a bottle who can tell anymore?) Anyway, the stuff at Niagara-on-the-lake that we had at Peller Estates was not that stuff. Sure, they had that expensive dessert ice wine and some cuvees rose champagnes that were unique but most of it as I recall were chardonnays and cabs and so on. We liked it! (But then we're from Ohio and any above Concord grape is a real treat for us!)

https://www.peller.com

Love Lake Ontario! Love the whole Niagara region!

Happy travels

There is so much out of date and inaccurate information on several of the posts above. Everyone is entitled to their own view on wine that their palate prefers. So many beautiful wineries with outstanding wines- Riesling, Chardonnay, Gamay, Cabernet Franc. All Vitus Vinifera varieties , those “ French varieties”, nothing foxy. Look for wines with the VQA symbol. Some great wineries to visit include 13th Street, Malivoire, Tawse, Cave Springs, Stratus. For more info look at winecountryontario.ca
September and October are a great time to visit.

Thanks daisycan -- a list of places to check out for our next trip! Thanks for setting the record straight too!

Happy travels

Thanks for the replies. We are headed to a funeral in Massachusetts so it has to be the first week of November. Hoping no snow ❄️.

Greg: Pelee Pt and Island are right under the DC >> Minneapolis flight path so I’ve seen them many times.

Was in the Okanagan Valley earlier this month, great wines. Brought home 10 bottles, no duty charged.

If you are driving to NOTL, cross the Peace Bridge in Buffalo and hug the lake Ontario shoreline: it's a pleasant drive, some nice houses, and you'll pass the Falls. Google.ca maps has the correct spelling.

If you want to impress the missus, take her for lunch at the beautiful Twin Sisters Winery, though their wines are ridiculously expensive. The Olde Angel Inn for pub grub.

I can walk to some of the vineyards here. Most of the wines I buy are from Chile or Argentina (a couple from France, when they are on sale).

Toby, je propose for your next time in BC, the 'Church & State' brand pinot noir. Better than Trius red, better than any Canuck wine we've ever tasted. Better than some Burgundy.
Oh and please say hi to Paul Rodgers for me, next time in the Okanagan.

I am done. the tipples

If you are driving from Detroit go through Canada it’s the most direct route. Also don’t take the Peace Bridge into or out of Buffalo if you want to go to Niagara on the Lake for wineries. That’s a longer route and the scenery is more north. Cross Canada and go toward the Lewiston Queenston Bridge instead. Exit before the bridge and go along the parkway that follows the Niagara River Gorge toward Niagara on the Lake and the wineries are all between the bridge and the town.

Try to find some of the smaller wineries. The "Bench" region has an advantage over Niagara-on-the-Lake (ONTARIO) because you get a more personal experience than at the commonly visited NoL wineries such as Inniskillin and Peller Estates.
This website might be of use:
https://www.niagarabenchlands.ca/wineroute

If you like maple at all, I’d also recommend stopping in at White Meadows Farm between Pelham and St Catherine’s, or one of their stores listed here: https://whitemeadowsfarms.com/

A friend was driving us through Ontario wine country a few weeks ago and we really enjoyed our stop at the maple farm. We sampled various their maple syrups if course, but also maple mustard, maple onion jam, maple vinegar, and more. I was glad I had driven to Ontario so I could disregard carry-on liquid rules and buy with abandon. Enjoy your trip.