Fun Stuff: Travels to Niagara-On-The-Lakes- Winery Tour

This past weekend our friends took Shawn and I on a Winery Tour within the city of Niagara-On-The-Lakes.  I have never really had wine before besides at Weddings which was very nasty to me.  I am a water drinker so anything with flavor is hard for me to just used too.  So we started our winery tour at Thirty Bench.


Thirty Bench was very rustic looking from the outside but so contemporary on the inside.  The room where we tastied overlooked the vineyard plus over the water which you could see Toronto in the distance.  Just beautiful!  The first wine tasting we learned the proper way to taste wine.  You get your wine, you swirl it around in the glass, you smell it.  Then you swirl it around again, smell it and this time you taste it.  Before you determine if you do or don't like it they say give it three sips.  So I did and it made a huge difference.  If I would have decided on taste one I would have not liked any of them.  We tasted two white wines and an Ice Wine.  With Ice Wine, you have to let it sit in your mouth for about 10 seconds so you get all the flavors inside of just letting it go down.  It is more like a syrup but really sweet and good.  Of course, sweet is my thing!

Thirty Bench-http://www.thirtybench.com/


Next we made our way to an organic Winery - Tawase.  We got to see the cellar and how they process the wine.  Very detailed process.  This vineyard has lambs, chicken and ducks that help care of the vineyard by eating the weeds and fertilizing.  It was a great experience there.

Tawase- http://www.tawsewinery.ca/


Next we headed to Vineland where we met Ted.  Ted was gentlemen who served us during the wine tasting.  He was so fun and Shawn really had fun with him.  At Vineland they have a little chapel where you can get married and the whole back of the chapel is windows that overlook the vineyard.  I know it would look amazing during the summer time when the vines are full.

 Vineland- http://www.vineland.com/


After Vineland, we needed lunch so we went to the restaurant called The Old Winery- it was delicious!
The Old Winery- http://www.theoldwineryrestaurant.com/


To finish the day off we stopped by Peller Winery which was just stunning.  Gorgeous estate!  There was some delicious wine as well

Peller- http://www.peller.com/niagara/homepage.php


After Peller we drove through Niagara-On-The-Lakes which is a very cute and small town on the lake.   We drove to our hotel in Niagara Falls to stay.  It was so fun to see the falls frozen.


For my first wine tasting experience, I learned a lot and the wine wasn't so bad after a few tastings.  I figured out that I don't like red wines but I do like the Riesling White Wines and the Ice Wines.


In the morning, we went to see the falls in the daylight which was just breathtaking to see.  It is amazing how there is ice but a huge fall with gushing water.

We had a few more wineries to hit on the way home. 


First we stopped at The Ice House where they are known for Ice Wine.  They make an Ice Wine slush that was the best thing I had tasted all weekend.  It was a cute rustic place but it was great to taste wine with food and chocolate.

The Ice House- http://www.theicehouse.ca/


We swung back into Peller Estates so we could see the cellar since they were setting up for a party the night before.  They set up a table in the cellar that can seat up to 87 people.  It was so pretty down there!

We made our next stop at Hillebrand.  At Hillebrand we tasted some good wines plus our wine server was just the best.  She was so entertaining and we just laughed and had a good time with her.

 Hillebrand- http://www.hillebrand.com/


Next we made our final stop at Ravine.  It is a small winery but so fantasic.  It is an old house that they have remodeled but kept some of the old stuff as well.  I really loved all the wood work.  We ate lunch at their little restaurant which was delicious.  Very unique food but so tasty.

 Ravine- http://www.ravinevineyard.com/

All in all it was a great first wine tasting experience and I would definitely do it again!  I was amazed at the estates and all the different tastes the different wines had.