Making the Rounds

For my 21st birthday, Dad took me around the Niagara Wine Trail to check out the competition to have my first official Taste of the Trail!! Unfortunately my whirlwind journey stopped at winery number eleven- leaving only four unvisited…
Things got busy around the tasting room with Harvest Fest and all the excitement Autumn brings and time slipped away from me. Next thing I knew it was Hallowine time and things just got busier!! I decided to use my lunch breaks on Sundays though to finish making my rounds… And I’ve made it to Victorianbourg Estates and Eveningside Vineyards, and Honeymoon Trail so far… (I’m sorry Spring Lake!! I’ll be there soon. Saving the best for last, of course!) I’ll make my trip to the last winery on my list ASAP, but I figured I better blog about the other three while they’re still fresh in my mind.

I took Ashley, a good friend of mine I grew up with who’s now working in our tasting room, with me to Victorianbourg Wine Estate where we had the pleasure of meeting both Victoria & Daniel. I surprised myself by tasting all dry wines… And actually falling in love with a few! I left with a bottle of Vika Verzay, (actually I left with two bottles… but I only have 1 now.) i also really really enjoyed their un-oaked chardonnay- because I’m not (yet) a fan of that “chewing on acorns” taste that comes with the oaks. But as it turns out, my palette has changed, and I’m finding myself less and less interested in sweets, needless to say I’ve made Daddy proud.

Our neighbors down the road at Eveningside Vineyard make a pretty mean wine, too, I found out! Despite my developing taste for dry wines, I still like my sweets now and again. Their Crofton Blush, made with a Catawba grape, was fantabulous (creative license, I can make up all my own words I want, thank you very much!) and the bottle I left with is now gone. Jamison and I enjoyed it with a bowl of French Vanilla ice cream one night… YUM!!!! I also took home a bottle of Raven, which I’m thinking might be just the thing I need on a rainy night like tonight.

Dad and I headed to Honeymoon Trail Winery today, where we had the pleasure of meeting Lori, and being reminded how nice it is to have an owner to chat with in the tasting room. We were able to discuss our shared passion, and trade the tricks of the trade we’ve picked up along the way. I tried my first DRY Niagara (I’d never even heard of a dry Niagara before), but their Semi-Sweet Riesling was today’s winner, it’s crisp apple taste undeniable.

With just one winery left to visit on the trail, I think it’s long time that I make my stop at Spring Lake Winery… Will I run into you there next Sunday?! (;

Til Next Time!
-D. ❤ xo.