Our final day in Niagara Falls, would see myself and Sam head across to Niagara-On-The-Lake, situated a short drive away form Niagara Falls, this picturesque little town is just stunning and the perfect gateway if you’re looking for something quaint. So what brought us to Niagara-On-The-Lake. Well I mentioned in my previous blog, that whilst in Niagara Falls, Sam had booked us on a tour of some of the wineries of Ontario, and this was by bike. After a night out in Niagara Falls the previous night, and been in a fragile state, the last thing on my mind was a bike ride, and too honest at first, I could not have thought of anything worse. Well let’s just say I was totally wrong, and It was going thoroughly enjoyable afternoon. Arriving in Niagara-On-The-Lake I was taking back at how beautiful this pretty little town was, I’ll talk a little about Niagara-On-The-Lake at the end, as we had the opportunity to explore the town, and I’ll share with my experience, but for now let’s talk wine and wineries. One thing Niagara-On-The-Lake is famous for its wineries, the region along the shores of Lake Ontario is home to over fifty wineries. Canadians will visit these wineries and will travel for hours, for guided tours, and will spend hundreds of dollars at these wineries. Sam’s mam Rhonda and her husband Joe are regular visitors to some of these wineries and will spend a lot of money stocking up on wine. I recall that they have wine festival in the fall, where, everyone will jump on a minibus and travel round these wineries, be wined and dined and then spend a fortune on these wines. If I am ever in Canada during one of these festivals, I will almost certainly join Rhonda and Joe. Sam had booked our excursion through a company called Grape Escape Tours. We met at the meeting point where we were greeted by a beautiful black newfoundland dog. We met our tour guide Gwen, who would take us along the shores of Lake Ontario and the Ontario countryside. We were also joined by three other couples, two from Canada and an American Couple. The size of the group was perfect, as it was just a nice size, and we had plenty of time where we had pleasant conversations. This was my first time riding a bike in a long time, and been hungover I was a little apprehensive, but once we were on it, and set of, I was like a duck to water, and once that countryside fresh air hit me, the hangover was no more. Our ride took us along the idyllic Ontarian countryside and along the Niagara River, Gwen would talk to use along route about the area we were riding through. The weather was gorgeous, which made the ride along the river and through the countryside all that more pleasurable. I only wish I could have taking some pictures, however, riding a bike, I would have ended up in the river. Our first point of call was Inniskillin Wines. We were giving guided tour of Inniskillin by a lady called Lynn, full of personality, she talked to use about the history of Inniskillin, how the collect the grapes from the vineyards and how they make wine, I won’t bore you with how wine is made, google it! But it was interesting listening to her. We then got to sample four wines; this was the moment I had been waiting for. I still remember the over the top demonstration we got from Lynn on how you taste wine correctly I never knew there was specific way to taste wine, I though you would just drink it. I still do a dire impression of her when I’m with my Canadian friends. I can only put Lynn’s personality down to her passion and expertise, as she was a fabulous tour guide and she knew her stuff. We got to sample a Chardonnay (My favourite), merlot and two ice wines, which I wasn’t a great fan off. We then headed off along the Niagara River to our next stop, which was Reif Estate, again situated in perfect open countryside, this place again was just as great as Inniskillin. We did not get a full tour like we did at our previous winery, but we did get to sample some more wines, and we had some down time we had the chance to sit at the bar and relax. As you all know I love Prosecco and I buy and drink too much off it, and Refi Estate had the perfect bottle for me. We purchased a sparkling Riesling called The Stars, from Reif and I loved it, me and Sam saved this for Thanksgiving Day. Rhonda would kindly purchase some supplies for my next visit to Canada which was in Christmas 2018. A great winery and professional staff, and one which I would recommend as would Rhonda and Joe. I still have the Reif wine carry Rhonda give me two year back which I use when I buy my Prosecco back home. For our final two wineries we visited Caroline’s Cellar and Pondview Winery. Caroline’s was another great winery, were we got to sample some fine wines. What I did like about Caroline’s was that were giving a list of wines and we could select four different wines from this list to try. That meant I could sample white wines. We would select a wine to try then our server would tell us everything about that wine, which was pretty impressive as this list must have had about thirty different wines on this list. The staff were again knowledgeable and knew exactly what they were taking about and giving that Canadians will spend hundreds of dollars on wine, its vital staff have that knowledge. Putting the knowledge aside they are extremely pleasant, and you can see the love these staff have for their jobs. From Caroline’s we jumped back on our bikes and we headed towards our final winery which Pondview. Now I don’t remember much about this winery, which kind of tells me there must not have been anything spectacular about it, as I can recall a lot of my travels. The one thing I do remember though was you could be a wine slush. After a full day riding around the countryside, this wine slush was just so refreshing. That was a wine tour in a nutshell. Great afternoon out, Gwen our tour guide was great and was extremely knowledgeable of the local area whilst we were riding from one winery to another. As were all the staff at the wineries we visited. We also had some drive around the wineries following us, so that if we made any purchases, they could be driven back for us to pick up after the tour had ended. Check the link out for the company that runs Grape Escape. I would highly recommend doing one of there tours, we met some great people, sampled some vine wines and we had a bloody good day, especially after my first thoughts at the start of the day. We would finish the day having a walk around Niagara On the Lake, exploring this beautiful little town, and I was so pleased we had this opportunity, I would have been disappointed if I had off missed the opportunity. This had to be one of the most picturesque towns I have seen with a historical felling to it. What made the evening more enjoyable, it a warm fall evening, with nice little breeze. There were some stunningly designed houses, and the main street, was just full of restaurants from fine dinning to your common British Pub and it was this British Pub where ate and had a pint. The decor inside was exactly that of a standard British Pub. What I also loved about Niagara On the Lake was the Christmas shop. Yes it was September, but this Christmas shop is open all year round and is famous, and they had some exquisite Christmas decorations which did unfortunately come with a price. Also in Niagara On the Lake, is a shop that sells all things Scottish, Irn Bru, Haggis you name it. Sam made a Bee Line for this shop, as she spent time living in Scotland and therefore could stock up on her Scottish favourites. Visiting Niagara On the Lake you can take a few minutes’ walk through the town up to Lake Ontario. With breath-taking views over Lake Ontario, and we were fortunate enough to have a clear falls evening, you can see the CN Tower on the horizon. The day ended sat by Lake Ontario, with a nice light airy breeze, listening to the calm ripples of Lake Ontario, and I could have sat there all evening. Niagara-on-The- Lake is one my top five places to visit while in Canada.
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James CMy name is James, I'm from Newcastle UK, and wanting to share my travel experiences with everyone Archives
February 2020
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