Niagara: A wine lover’s indispensable guide

For decades, the Niagara peninsula – set on the southern banks of Lake Ontario, just 90 minutes from gateway city Toronto – was synonymous with one drink: ice wine.

Aided by reliably frosty but sheltered winters and hot growing seasons, local vinous reputations in the 1990s were built on this decadently sweet style, wrought from naturally frozen Vidal and Cabernet Franc grapes.

Times have moved on, both for wine and tourism, and Niagara has grown from a laidback farming corner dotted with century-old barns to a swanky vineyard region, where sublime dry table wines are paired with Michelin-starred restaurants and architecturally dramatic tasting rooms.

The region is now Canada’s answer to Bordeaux or Napa – though, with its relaxed hospitality and nearby natural wonder of Niagara Falls, it maintains a distinctly local character.

History in the making

Stretching over nearly 2,000km2 and 10 different sub-regions, all bordering the sprawling blue monolith of Lake Ontario, the Niagara peninsula is geographically varied, with exciting and diverse wine profiles.

There’s a marked shift in terroir from the warm, eastern district of Niagara-on-the-Lake, which butts up against the US border at the Niagara river, to the broad central and western swathes around St Catharines and Beamsville, which are dominated by the vast limestone ridge of the Niagara escarpment.

It’s in the latter that you’ll find one of Ontario’s oldest producers, Henry of Pelham.

The Speck family has been farming this land since 1794, and their historic homestead-turnedcellar-door is now run by sixth-generation brothers Paul, Matthew and Daniel. Walk-in tastings and tours are the perfect introduction to the wider Niagara region’s history, as well as their eclectic range, which includes traditional-method sparkling Cuveé Catharine Brut (Chardonnay and Pinot Noir with 54 months on lees), citrussy Rieslings and inky, darkly fruited Baco Noir.

Things are similarly atmospheric a 13km drive to the west at Vineland (vineland.com) – the 73ha estate is set around an 1845-built Mennonite homestead that features a chapel and restaurant with sweeping views over undulating vines.

It was the late German winemaker Hermann Weis who first recognised the site’s potential in the 1970s and imported Riesling vines from his native Mosel.

The estate, under long-serving winemaker Brian Schmidt, still specialises in the grape, which thrives here on the sloping escarpment. For more expressions of this cooler-climate pocket, try Malivoire for Gamay and minimal-intervention Tawse nearby.

Warming up

Around 40km by road to the east, warmer weather coupled with sand and clay soils produce some of the region’s finest red wines, and the pretty town of Niagara-on-the-Lake makes an atmospheric and buzzy base when striking out to the dozens of small-scale surrounding vineyards.

Southbrook Vineyards showcases what’s possible in the region with organic, biodynamic and regenerative methods via its structured Chardonnay and bright Pinot Noir wines, while larger Inniskillin is the original flag-bearer for ice wine.

Towards the Niagara river, Two Sisters Vineyards and its nearby elite sibling winery Stone Eagle indicate the direction Niagara hospitality is travelling with grand tasting rooms, polished dining options and serious Bordeaux-style blends.

At the former, tastings of creamy Chardonnay and red-fruity Cabernet Franc are best rounded off with a meal in the onsite Italian restaurant Kitchen76.

At the latter, the Signature Experience pairs a flight of their five wines – including a Sauvignon Blanc-Semillion blend and two ageable Bordeaux-style red blends – with paired nibbles. Or, if you’re feeling extra flush, try the Beluga caviar pairing.

As is often the case in New World wine regions, Niagara has a healthy attitude towards experimentation.

That doesn’t always mean wine; at Ironwood Cider House, right on Lake Ontario’s shore, the focus is firmly on apples, but with a winemaker’s approach to precision.

Single-variety bottlings, barrel-ferments and careful ageing produce one-of-a-kind, limited-edition ciders (try the crisp, tart Bramley).

Meanwhile, B-Corp Stratus Vineyards firmly eschews Niagara-on-the-Lake’s prevailing Bordeaux beat and has planted 16 grape varieties across its 22ha farm, which it bottles primarily as single varietals.

From its LEED-certified facility it sells Sangiovese aged in amphora, unfiltered Chardonnay, Viognier and an ancestral field blend, as well as flagship red and white blends.

Keeping it simple

In contrast to Stratus’ highly polished tasting experience, Pearl Morissette in Jordan produces lively, minimal-intervention Cabernet Franc, Chardonnay and Riesling, which you can taste in an unpretentious converted barn cellar door. (Or if you’re visiting between May and early autumn – the best time to come to Niagara in general – under an oak tree onsite.)

It’s an unfussy set-up, but don’t be fooled – there’s serious attention to detail here; case in point, just above its winery is Ontario’s first Michelin two-star restaurant.

For an even more unexpected tasting experience, try Bachelder, which pours some of Canada’s finest Burgundian-style Pinot Noirs and Chardonnays in a modest house in Beamsville (appointment only).

Each of its single-plot bottlings, from Wismer-Wingfield in Twenty Mile Bench to Frontier Block in Lincoln Lakeshore, is a study in Niagara terroir – which, given the region’s youth, is still being mapped. A love letter to Canadian wine in its purest form.

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