Hidden Gems in Ontario Wine Country (with no reservations or itinerary)
As a very low-key summer comes to a close, I have found myself missing many of the trips and activities that have been the highlights of summers pre-covid. While I was lucky enough to do lots of riding and spend a week in cottage country, I did not travel out of ontario, attend a festival or concert, or go to to a zoo or theme park or other attraction.
Even as things were beginning to open up in Toronto, living with my grandfather and parents, it still just didn’t feel safe. However, as I am back downtown now and about to be there for the year to teach, I figured that now is the time toindulge any final summer adventures.
And so, after doing a bit of research (thanks google) my mother and I planned a day in wine country as a final summer send off. We have a tradition of going to Niagara County at least once in recent years, shopping the old town, seeing a play at the Shaw festival, and of course, hitting the wineries.
However, this year we did things a little differently. First off, we decided to go off the beaten path of more touristy (and busy) NOTL and made twenty valley and the surrounding area our destination instead. While this meant giving up some of the bigger and fancier wineries with their cavernous shops and tasting rooms and tours on the hour, it all allowed us to uncover some hidden gems.
If you type in “wineries twenty valley” on google maps you will find countless wineries that you may have seen bottles of in the LCBO, as well as many more with intriguing names and rave reviews that you havent quite heard of.
On the car ride there, I began making a list of the many I was hoping to visit. While we only made a small dent in the list, each of the four wineries (and one brewery) that we did visit did not disappoint.
So let’s start from the top.
9:00 AM-- Leaving Toronto
With a latte and vegan breakfast cookie from Rooster cafe!
Picture Property of Rooster Cafe
10:00 AM—Jordan Station
After an easy breezy drive, we arrive in Jordan Station. Wineries are not open yet, but the farm markets are! First stop was Bjzack farm market, one of my favourite vendors at the Brickworks Saturday market and the Leslieville Farmers’ Market. We loaded up on the season’s first apples, a bushel of peaches, some sweet corn, and Ontario melon. I also decided to pick up two of the cutest cacti to help bring some green into my downtown living space as we go into the colder months.
Picture property of Bzjack Farms
11:00 AM- Twenty Valley Trail
taking a tip from the owner of the market, we drove a kilometre down the road near the entrance of the Jordan valley campground, where we found a small trailhead to a small hike leading to the larger Twenty Valley Trail. We didn’t hike far, but we explored the conservation area, taking some pictures, and ending up climbing to a viewpoint of the Niagara escarpment just behind the Jordan Museum. We were initially planning to check out the view and then simply hike back down to our car, but a quick check on google maps showed us that we were spitting distance from Cave Spring Wineries in the town of Jordan. So we walked a few minutes down the road and found ourselves at our first wine tasting of the day.
12:00 PM- Cave Spring Winery
This first wine tasting stop of our day was not right on the vineyard, but in a spacious, elegant tasting room right on the main drag of town. We each tried three white varieties, although there were many more than that to choose from. The most memorable were rieslings, both the reisling Dolomite, apparently available at the LCBO, and the CSA riesling, which was only available at the winery. Needless to say, we bought a bottle.
Picture property of Cavespring Cellars
2:00 PM-- Lunch @ Bench Brewing
As one of us had to drive the rest of the day, a lunch break was in order before hitting up any more wineries. With no reservations or plan in place, we decided to drive over to Beamsville and see what we passed on the way. Along the way, as we spotted a patio or a winery that looked as if they might have something, I would do a quick google of the hours and menu.
We were looking for something with decent vegetarian options, not too pricey, and outdoor seating, and in the end we found that not at a winery, but at a brewery. This was an unexpected find for the two of us as neither of us really drink beer.
However this stop turned out to be one of our highlights of the day. The outdoor patio was packed (although socially-distanced) and there was actually a bit of a wait for tables. However, the restaurant did a smart job of keeping those waiting placated through walking around with generous samples of some very interesting beers, as well as inviting us to walk over to their tasting room in an old church-like building where we could taste more complimentary samples as we waited for a call that our table was ready.
Picture property of Bench Brewing
I stayed away from trying any of the IPAs or more traditional beers that I know I don’t have much of an appreciation for. However, they offered several fruit-heavy beers, that almost tasted like a hybrid of wine and beer and cider. Even my mother who is more beer-adverse than I do was won over by the Niagara peach-infused lager.
In what felt like no time at all, we got the call our table was waiting for us. We shared a huge platter of toasted pita bread and hummus, before digging into our mains-- summery salads that were anything but boring or bland. I appreciated the vegetarian-minded option of adding some delicious barbeque tempeh for protein. We demolished our food, took some pictures, realized that it was much later than we anticipated, and got back on the road to try to fit in a few more wineries.
3:30 PM-- 30 Bench Winery
This was the one reservation that we made, and only because it was noted as “required” on the winery website. I had heard from a few friends that this winery was the highlight of their trips to wine country, and know others who seek out their wines in the LCBO, and so a trip to 30 Bench was the one of two “must-visits” on our rather open itinerary.
Having finished lunch so late, we only had the last time slot available for tastings to choose from. The pours were generous, the wine delicious, and best of all, the view overlooking the vineyard and the lake. We could even make out the CN tower in the faint Toronto skyline.
4:30 PM-- Back 10 Cellars
So caught up in the beautiful view, we almost didn’t make it to the other side of Beamsville for this one. However, Back 10 cellars was on my must-visit list of wineries so we rushed into the car and made it there by the skin of our teeth before closing. We were afraid we might be too late to be allowed to do a tasting, but the staff was more than happy to seat us and talk to us even after the official 5 pm close. What struck me about the story of this winery is how it came to be. The vineyards have only been planted in 2004, the property bought by a couple in their mid twenties, who knew nothing about winemaking other than their dream to own a vineyard. 10 years after planting their first grapes, they produced their first bottle of their own wine. 10 years, with 10 acres out back, and the name Back 10 came to be.
Picture property of Back 10 Cellars
After all the wineries we had been to, it seems that we had saved the best for last. At least for white and sparkling varieties. Someone else will have to get a blog out there about the reds.
6 PM- The Good Earth Winery
Ended the long day of wine tasting with an amazing meal in the garden terrace of good earth winery and bistro. Complete with a spectacular vineyard view, and a patio complete with live music and fairy lights, dinner felt like a scene out of midsummers night dream. A little more sober and a lot more satiated, we watched the sun setting beyond the rolling hills of orchards before getting back onto the road to Toronto.
So there you have it. A whirlwind day trip to wine country, going a little off the beaten path. The wine was good, the food delicious, but more than anything, I enjoyed the spontaneity and flexibility of heading out to explore somewhere with nothing more than a loose idea of where to go, and an open mind of where we may end up.
And as I’m writing this, I am thinking that might not be a bad way to think about the way I want to live my life. It’s all great and good to have ideas and hopes for how it turns out, but being a little fluid and spontaneous along the way could likely lead to even greater adventure.
