Traveling and Tasting my way through Niagara
by Christina Cagle

At the end of June I embarked upon a road trip with a couple of girlfriends to Ontario Canada. The main goal was to drive from Austin to Ontario for a little break from the Texas heat and to sight see in and around Niagara Falls. I knew that there were wineries and vineyards all around that area but I did not know that tasting and walking the grounds of the wineries would become a major part of our trip. What a wonderful way to spend the day. Traipsing from one winery to another tasting the variety of vintages and experiencing wines I’ve never heard of. For example, I had never heard of nor tasted an Ice wine before. For those of you that are in the same boat that I was here’s a little explanation of what Ice wine is. Grapes are left on the vine well into the winter months and the freezing and thawing of the grapes dehydrates the fruit and concentrates the sugars, acids and extracts in the berries. This produces an intensely rich, sweet and flavorful wine. The typical grapes used for ice wine production are Riesling Seyval Blanc, Vidal Blanc and interestingly enough, the red Cabernet Franc which will produce a light pink color like a rose. Let me share with you a couple of the wineries we visited and the wines we tasted.

The first winery we visited was Riverview Cellars Estate Winery which is the first winery from the Falls on the Niagara Parkway. My friends, Tam and Andrea, were both excited to taste their 2006 Gewürztraminer (yeah, try pronouncing that one) since they are both fans of that type of wine. It’s another one that I had never heard of and honestly did not fancy as much as they did. I was however very please with their 2004 Cabernet Merlot but I’ve always been more of a red wine kind of girl anyway. I’m not going to even pretend to be an expert at wine tasting so what I can say about this blend is that it was very smooth and it left a nice fruity aftertaste but not a sweet fruity just subtle fruity. The Riverview is where I did taste my first Icewine which as I’ve mentioned was very sweet and had such a beautiful and rich color. They call it liquid gold for a good reason.

Next up is the Inniskillin winery also on Niagara Parkway and WOW what a beautiful place and such friendly and knowledgeable staff and pourers. We tried a couple from their Reserve Series, the 2006 Pinot Noir, 2006 Chardonnay and of course their 2005 Vidal Icewine. I have to say I loved everything I tasted here. The Pinot Noir was light and flowery with that tannins aftertaste and the Chardonnay was crisp with a hint of vanilla.

The last wine I want to mention is the Peller Estates Signature Series Ice Cuvée Rosé VQA. This is another blend…I’ve decided I’m a big fan of blends. It’s sparkling wine, Icewine and Cabernet Franc all mixed together to create a party in your mouth. Honestly just looking at it makes you happy. It’s a beautiful light pink, bubbly glass of giggles. It is so refreshing but there’s definitely a lot of substance there. It’s sweet but also just dry enough that you want to keep on drinking. Or at least I did.

I can’t end this little jaunt down vacation lane without mentioning Taps, the great little brewery we came across in all our wine tasting adventures. In what can only be described as a rusty old warehouse in an industrial strip along Niagara on the Lake, we found our way into tasting a local beer. Can I just stop here and say how awesome it is to get a buzz on free samples?! Anyway, basically we walked into an open air room that had a tap for tasting their small selection of lagers and ales. The one I like the best was their Vanilla Wheat Ale. Very smooth and very delicious! If you are ever doing the wine tasting thing in this area, stop by Taps. It’s a very humble brewery but the beer speaks for itself and the folks working there are knowledgeable and friendly.

I think that I came away from this trip with a heightened interest in learning more about wine and the hopes of doing some more local and global tasting. It’s wonderful how tasting the local flavors can mean you end up treating yourself to a new experience with wine, food and the people that make up the culture around you.

CHEERS!