There’s More to Niagara than the Maid of the Mist

Tricia L. — Fri, 26 Aug 2016 13:11:09 +0000

Everyone needs to see the breathtaking views of Niagara Falls at least once in their life. But few people know that there is a lot more to the area than waterfalls and casinos. The region is lush with fruit trees, and even more importantly, wineries. You can spend a great day touring a few of the wineries and picking up fresh fruit. There are plenty of great wineries on the New York side of the falls, but why not take advantage of the low Canadian dollar, and even more spectacular views, and cross over the border? Here are a few wineries to visit in the Niagara region:

Ravine Vineyard

Ravine Vineyard was established over 100 years ago and is still run by the Lowry family. The tasting room is in a beautiful old farmhouse and their tastings include 4 wines. They have a good selection of whites and reds. I also recommend trying the Cabernet Rose; it tastes of cherries and has a great dry finish.

Between the Lines

Between the Lines is another family run winery. The family farm was started by the German parents of the current owners, who studied winemaking in Germany so the wines have a bit of a German influence to them. The winery is still small and you get great service with the tasting. I recommend trying the Cabernet Franc, it’s full bodied with the taste of plum and black pepper.

Konzelmann Estate Winery

Konzelmann Estate has a great location right on the lake, making for spectacular views. They have several award winning wines, including ice wines. Their tours are particularly informative and interesting, if you are going to take a full tour at one winery in Niagara, this is the one to do. Once you get to the tasting, I recommend trying the Vidal Ice Wine, they’re sweeter than other wines and very unique.

Once you’ve finished up your tour of the Niagara wineries, make sure you stop at one of the many fresh local fruit stands to pick up peaches, pears, cherries or whatever else is in season before you head back across the border (or head to the casino).

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Weird Wine Aromas (yes, cat pee is a thing!)

Tricia L. — Fri, 26 Aug 2016 13:10:50 +0000

Tasting wine properly can seem pretty snobbish and like people are speaking gibberish, but it’s actually not hard to learn. The first thing you need to do when tasting a wine is smell it. You’ll notice that wine glasses are deep and large enough that you can swirl the wine in the glass, this releases some of the aroma of the wine so you can smell it properly. After you’ve swirled a little bring the glass to your nose and take a good wiff. It might be hard to make out too many scents at first, but with practice you’ll begin to identify more and more. You can use the tasting notes on the bottle or menu to trigger your identification, but there are several aromas that you probably won’t find on the side of the bottle. Aromas like leather, cat pee, roses, asphalt and petrol are all commonly found in different wines and while they may seem strange, they are present in great wines.

Cat pee

This is a common aroma found in Sauvignon Blanc. The tangy smell is reminiscent of cat urine.

Leather

I usually prefer to wear my leather over drinking it but this aroma is common in many wines with heavy tannins.

Tobacco

You probably don’t want to mix your wine with tobacco, but you’ll often get a wiff of cigars when drinking Cabernet Sauvignon.

Barnyard

You’ll often hear people mention a barnyard smell when tasting wine, this basically means the wine smells of manure. Sounds awful, right? But this marks some of my favorite wines like Pinot Noir.

Roses

Okay, a little more pleasant than the smell of manure but still not what you’d expect from something made of fermented grapes. You’ll find this aroma in many different types of wine including Gamay, Sangiovese and Grenache

Asphalt

There’s nothing better than the smell of wet asphalt right? Well, this can be true in a nice white wine with medium acidity.

Petrol

The smell of petrol or gasoline is actually a sign of a well-aged Riesling.

These aromas may seem strange, but don’t let them put you off. They’re subtle or identifying them will make your wine tasting more interesting and fulfilling.

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