Niagara has been one of our favorite spots since long before we moved to Toronto. Once every couple of years, we would make the pilgrimage, driving the seven and half hours from Montreal to visit some wineries and take in a few plays at the Shaw Festival. Over the years, we’ve watched new wineries sprout up and others grow from small start-ups to industry leaders.
Since the move, we have made the (less arduous) drive monthly instead of annually. However, last weekend was our first experience with the Icewine Festival.
We had hoped to get out to it last year, but David’s work had him out of town it simply wasn’t possible.
This year we decided not just to go but to make a weekend of it.
Discover
We drove down to the peninsula on Saturday morning. The cold had settled in and the forecast called for -15 with the wind-chill. Somehow this seemed appropriate and the snow lingering between the trees in the orchards and the vines in the field set the mood wonderfully.
For those who don’t know, Niagara is the spit of land nestled between lakes Erie and Ontario, just south of Toronto. Historically, its southern location and longer growing season made it an ideal spot for fruit farms harvesting peaches, apples, and cherries. But grapes did well here too. And over the last twenty years, a serious wine industry has taken root. Some producers stock the LCBO and export around the world. Many are smaller and sell only in their shops along the wine route.
Drive east along the peninsula and you come to Lake Ontario and have to make a choice, go right and head to Niagara Falls and Buffalo, or left and go up to Niagara-on-the-Lake. Our choice is usually left.
Niagara-on-the-Lake is a charming little town filled with quaint shops and some wonderful restaurants. It is also home to the Shaw Festival. And in the summer time, you’ll likely find the town packed to the rafters with tourists and day-trippers. In the winter, it’s a little quieter.
We arrived on the peninsula around eleven in the morning and made our first stop at Red Stone winery. One of the features of the Niagara Icewine Festival was the Discovery Pass—a coupon program, where for $40 you get to try icewine and food pairings at eight different wineries. Red Stone was a participant, a newcomer to the scene, and quickly becoming one of our favorites.
They were pairing their 2010 Cabernet Franc icewine with a venison, dark chocolate chili. As it was explained to us: traditionally icewine has been served with dessert, but the sweetness of the wine actually works well with spicy food as the sweet and spicy balances each other out. And this pairing made us believers. This was one of the best bites of our whole tour. The chili was remarkably rich. The venison was slow braised and perfectly tender. There was a good but not overpowering heat to it, and the drier than typical Cab Franc icewine worked amazingly with it.
We continued along hitting more wineries and taking in the beautiful country scenery. At Vineland, they did not serve an icewine in the pairing but a new Cabernet Franc they just released. This might be viewed as cheating, but the generous Cuban with ham, pork belly, and artisanal pickles made the stop well worth it. And despite it not being an icewine, the Cab Franc was very good and the pairing really worked.
Another highlight was Flat Rock, were we had pork belly again. This time it was roasted with parsnip puree and paired with a 2013 Late Harvest Gewurztraminer. Then there was out of this world porketta at Reif. Not only was it a delicious morsel, but it was an experience as a whole pig was roasting in the back cellar room. And one of our other favorite pairs was the East Coast seafood chowder served with a Vidal icewine at Konzelmann. The chowder was generous with the seafood and had a great hit of black pepper, which proved again the magic of the spicy-sweet combo.
In town
It was late in the afternoon when we pulled into Niagara-on-the-Lake and checked in at our hotel. We stayed for the first time at 124 Queen, a boutique hotel right in town. Using space above the shops on Queen Street and located in scattered properties around the town center, it proved to be a luxurious and comfortable place to make our home base.
We had dinner that night at Treadwell Cuisine restaurant. This is hands down one of the finest restaurants in the region and perhaps the entire province. Treadwell hits our farm-to-table sweet spot and we’ve enjoyed every meal we’ve had in this cozy little restaurant tucked just off busy Queen Street.
Some incredible roasted meats were on the menu that night and Jen enjoyed the Asian-style braised short ribs that were reminiscent of old-school Canadian/Chinese spare ribs. And David was extremely pleased with the night’s special, a take on cassoulet with a whole lamb shank and white beans.
After dinner, we attended the Icewine Cocktail Competition. Held in the Icewine Village as part of the Niagara-on-the-Lake Icewine Festival (which is different although easily confused with the Niagara Festival). Wineries and local restaurant used the sweet wine to make unique cocktails and tasting was available to all. Our favorite? Inniskillin’s Perfect Pear that combined their Riesling icewine with Knob Creek bourbon and pear. Although many were tasty, this could be added to our regular repertoire.
But it wasn’t just drinking. For most of the event, a band was playing some traditional funk and getting the crowd up to dance. And keeping moving was necessary as it was a cold winter night that pushed our warm weather gear to their limits. If dancing isn’t you’re thing, there were fire pits stationed about, which provided a lot more relief than the tables and bar that were made out of solid ice.
Day two
We had heard great things about the Willow Cakes and Pastries bakery, so we made it our stop for breakfast Sunday morning. David had perhaps the most Canadian breakfast of his life with coffee and a maple bacon doughnut which was crazy good.
In the afternoon, we returned to the Icewine Village for their daytime event. Vineyards filled the booths and offered tastings of their icewines and some local restaurants served food. The weather was thankfully warmer than the night before and allowed for a leisurely tour of the various stalls. We sipped from our glasses at the ice tables and listened to a few of the music acts that took the stage.
Thinking of going?
We had originally hoped to get this blog post up earlier in the week for anyone going this weekend. A little late but there is still one day left to get out there and experience some of these amazing experiences. The Discovery Pass and all participating wineries will still be underway. And if you don’t think you can get eight wineries in, get one pass and share it between a couple. It’ll get you four great tastings, In Niagara-on-the-Lake, a big tent was set up on Queen Street last Thursday for the big White on Ice Dinner and is still up this weekend for their Shop, Sip, Sample, and Savior event.
