Hello Everyone, and especially those who provided feedback as to where my wife and I should celebrate our anniversary amongst the wineries of the Niagara region this past weekend.
Firstly, we went to Chateau Des Charmes, where we did a full tour and sampled many wonderful wines from this spectacular facility, of note was the St. Davids Vineyard bottling of Gamay Noir. We followed this large 'old world' operation with a tasting at Stratus Vineyards, the more 'new world' style winery with it's philosophy of 'assemblage', essentially the kitchen sink approach to blending varieties into single bottled offerings - Personnally, we really enjoyed the 2000 'White', whilst the red that we really enjoyed was not the blended bottle simply called 'Red', it was the 2001 Cab Franc, very nice indeed. The Chardonnay Musque was excellent as well (our server was a young lady named Anya, who was extremely knowledgeable and friendly as were the rest of the staff we encountered).
We decided to try a smaller, more private operation next, Lailey Vineyards (not available through the LCBO). We enjoyed a private tour with winemaker Derek Barnett, who was extremely knowledgeable and proud of his operation, we loved their wines and the excellent value Vidal was my wife's favourite. I truly enjoyed the premium Cabernet Franc again, surprisingly a variety I had not truly enjoyed prior to our trip. We followed this visit to one of the largest operations in Niagara, Jackson-Triggs where the tour, though through was not nearly as enjoyable as the previous wineries we had visited. Our guide was a very sweet young lady on exchange from Japan, and although her background was impeccable, the group had a difficult time understanding her and the frustration was apparent amongst those there.
Finally, our most enjoyable stop was at Angels Gate Winery, where we enjoyed a private tour with 'Sue' (unfortunately, didn't get her last name, but she was absolutely fantastic). Her historical knowledge of the area was great, and we loved the wines and their approach to the operation itself. Their barrel ownership program, where you essentially have a personalized barrel in their cellar (nameplate and all) and receive many shareholder-type benefits was a very unique approach to addressing capital costs in a winery - As she aptly put it, the old saying in the business is "How do you make a million dollars in the wine business? Invest a Billion!" She was a real treat. The wines were perfect, tasting (and purchasing) their Reisling, Gewurstraminer, the Rose and the Single Vineyard Merlot, which was particularly enjoyable for me.
To summarize, you can't visit them all and thankfully the region is only a short drive away for us. We'll be going back for sure, and I wanted to thank once again those that offered suggestions and best wishes.
Sincere Regards,
- Ian