While many wineries are devoted to producing only Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, all wines are made here, with one winery, Hinterland, producing only sparkling wines.
What follows is a list of the places we visited, along with brief WTNs on the wines. Overall, I found some poor examples, some average and a few good or very good (enough to bring home 16 bottles). In a number of cases, I liked the wine enough to consider buying it, but found the price to be too steep for what I was getting. Another item to note, while much of the wineries now use county-sourced fruit, some still use Niagara fruit for some wines.
Editor's note: Usually I made use of the spit bucket in the tasting room, but many times I did not (since my wife was doing the driving) so some WTNs may be more more complete and coherent than others.
Casa-Dea Estate Winery
CD Bianco 2008
(A blend of Chardonnay and Pinot Gris)
Light yellow in the glass.
Lemon on the nose.
Medium bodied, peppery, tangy, lemon, clean and crisp.
Drying, lemon rind on the finish.
Chardonnay 2009
Light yellow in glass.
Nutty, cheesy nose.
Medium weight, spicy, creamy, lemon, good acidity, clean, crisp.
Chardonnay Reserve 2009
Oaked
Suphur, perfumed on the nose.
Tangy, lemon, light bodied, oak, clean.
Pinot Gris 2009
Very clear in the glass.
Pear, lemon, good acidty, very tangy, clean.
Rose 2009 (Cabernet Franc)
Light pink in the glass.
Good fruit, light bodied, strawberry, raspberry, drying.
Pinot Noir 2007
Good cherry red in the glass.
Leather, smoke, earth on nose.
Good weight, tangy acidty, drying, tart cherry, spicy.
CD Rosso 2008
(A blend of Gamay and Zweigelt). I gave a silent toast to Paul B when I tried this wine.
Dark cherry red in the glass.
Leather, floral on the nose.
Earthy, currants, juicy, raspberry, soft in the mouth. Very tasty.
Cabernet Franc 2008
Dark red in the glass.
Old cheese on the nose.
Earthy, medium weight, herbal, green pepper, drying, not much fruit showing.
Cabernet Franc Reserve 2008
Dark red in the glass.
Currant, raspberry on the nose.
Med weight, good acidity, currants, cherry, raspberries.
Very nice.
Huff Estates
Chardonnay 2007
(With 10 per cent Viognier)
Fairly dark yellow in the glass.
Floral, spicy, citrus on the nose.
Medium weight, toast, spicy, lemon, refreshing.
Chardonnay South Bay Vineyards 2008
Light yellow in the glass.
Caramel, very oaky, toast on nose.
Toast, caramel, medium weight, smoky, oaky sweet, vanilla, no fruit.
Pinot Gris 2009
Very light yellow in the glass.
Dirty nose.
Rich pear, good acidity, clean, spicy.
Pinot Noir Picard MacLarurin 2007
Light cherry red in the glass.
Very spicy on the nose.
Cherry, very light bodied, spicy, tart, rather thin.
Merlot-Cabernet Sauvignon South Bay 2007
Dark cherry red in the glass.
Smoky, earthy, roasted on the nose.
Some greeness, medium weight, earthy, cherry, smoky.
Very rich finish.
Lift Haus Winery
This is a very young operation, with the tiny tasting room opening only this past May. They produce only four wines and we tasted three.
Chardonnay 2008
Bright yellow in the glass.
Sulphur, smoky on the nose.
Med weight, hair perm, sulphur, buttery, lemon, tangy acidity.
Toast on the finish.
Pinot Noir 2007
Dark cherry red in the glass.
Bacon, smoky on the nose.
Medium weight, cherry, spicy, red licorice, good acidity.
Tangy finish.
Cabernet Franc 2008
Very dark red in the glass.
Chemical flavour, maderized, dried out, raspberry fruit. Quite unpleasant.
Closson Chase Vineyards
This winery produces only Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. The bad news is that when we visited they were sold out of the PN, and I was very much looking forward to trying that.
Sans Chene Chardonnay 2009
Suphur and hair perm on the nose.
Good mouthfeel, good acidty, rich, juicy, sweet and sour tangy green apple, orange.
Delicious.
South Clos Chardonnay 2008
Deep yellow in the glass.
Toffee, spicy, caramel, very rich nose.
Honey, creme caramel, pear, spicy, custard, medium weight, toast.
Aberdeen Chardonnay 2007 (Niagara)
Cream, coconut, a hint of paint on the nose.
Quite rich, pear, spicy, medium weight.
Still big and rich but more subtle than South Clos.
Long finish.
Rosehall Run Vineyards
Riesling 2008
Light yellow in the glass.
Chemical nose.
Peach, orange, good acidty, apple, medium weight, mouthwatering,
Chardonnay Musque 2009
Peach, orange, rich nose
Very drying, peppery, citrus rind.
Chardonay Rosehall Vineyard 2008
Barell Fermented
Fairly young vines, planted in 2001.
Light bright yellow in the glass.
Light oak, spicy nose.
Medium weight, good acidity, caramel, lemon, rich, good mouthfeel.
Clean, lemon finish
2007 Chardonnay Cuvee County
A blend of older and younger Chardonnay vines with some Chardonnay Musquee added.
Darker yellow in the glass than the Rosehall Vineyard.
Floral, peach, spicy nose.
Spicy, floral, drying, citrus fruit, lemon, mouthwatering.
Cuvee County Pinot Noir 2008
Light cherry red in the glass.
Raspberry, spicy, jammy on nose
Medium weight, juicy, cherry, raspberry, spicy, drying,
Pinot Noir 2008 Rosehall Run Vineyard
Light cherry red in the glass.
Gentle, smoky on nose
Weightier, drying, tangy.
Cabernet Franc 2007 Cold Creek
Earth, veggy, cheese, currants on the nose.
Cherry, tangy acidty, spicy, medium weight, good acidty.
Norman Hardie Winery
This was one of my favourite stops. The winery is built into the side of a hill, with the tasting room located above the wine crushing area so we were able to sample the wines and watch the grape juice being pumped. We also met and chatted with Norman Hardie himself. This is another winery dedicated to Chardonnay and Pinot Noir.
Chardonnay County 2008
Light bright yellow in the glass.
Matchstick, burned on the nose.
Tangy, rich, lemon, apple, creamy, gentle oak, smoky, charred.
Chardonnay 2008 Unfiltered (Niagara)
Darker yellow than the previous wine.
Spicy, honeyed, light oak on nose.
Very thick in the mouth, lemon, good acidity, smoky, oak, apple, very clean and rich.
Pinot Noir County 2008
Light red in the glass.
Currants, spicy, lovely rich wine, fruit peel, Christmas cake on the nose.
Light bodied, a little tangy, spicy, tangy cherry, good acidty, drying toward the end.
Pinot Noir Unfiltered 2008 (Niagara)
A little darker in the glass than the above.
Very spicy nose.
Medium weight, tangy, drying, tangy cherry.
Keint-He Winery and Vineyard
Prounced Kenty, the name is taken from an ancient Iroquois village in the area.
Pinot Noir Little Creek 2007
Good dark red in the glass.
Smoky, leather, earth on the amazing nose.
Medium weight, tangy, cherry, good acidty, spicy, soft and silky in the mouth.
The best red wine I had in PEC.
The Grange of Prince Edward Vineyards and Estate Winery
The winery produces two lines: Trumpours Mill and the upscale Grange of Prince Edward. I disliked almost everything I tried.
Grange of Prince Edward Chardonnay 2007
Victoria Block
Barell Fermented
Very dark yellow in the glass.
Toasty, caramel, a little veggy on the nose.
Sulphur, bitter, caramel, veggy, no discernable fruit, vanilla
Grange of Prince Edward Pinot Noir Diana Vineyard 2007
Light cherry red in the glass.
Smoke, earth, leather, maderized nose.
Tangy cherry, spicy, smoky, sulphur, medium weight.
Grange of Prince Edward Cabernet Franc Northfield 2007
Good cherry red in the glass.
Earthy, smoky nose.
Light bodied, rich cherry fruit, spicy, good acidity,
Trumpours Mill Estate Chardonnay 2008
Light yellow in the glass.
Light citrus on nose.
Medium weight, lemon, chemical.
Trumpours Mill Estate Cabernet Merlot 2007
Dark cherry red in the glass.
Light nose, spicy,earthy.
Smooth, spicy, good mouthfeel, cherry fruit, rich, medium weight, raspberry.
By Chadsey's Cairns Winery and Vineyard
My award for the most akward name. The winery is named for gravestones or cairns erected by Ira Chadsey in the early 19th century.
2007 Gamay Estate
Good cherry red in the glass.
Tangy, cherry, currant, drying in the mouth.
2008 Gamay Estate
Light red in the glass.
Tangy, barnayard, cherry, fruit, drying.
Pinot Noir 2008
Light cherry in the glass.
Spicy, cherry nose.
Tangy, earthy, medium weight, very drying.
East & Main Bistro, Wellington
A very nice restaurant with an impressive wine list, including many PEC wines by the bottle and by the glass.
With lunch, we had two wines by the glass.
Hinterland Vineyards Sparkling Rose 2007
Copper in the glass.
Yeasty, dough, strawberries on the nose
Med weight, tangy, crisp, refreshing, good mousse, a hint of raspberries, drying, creamy, mouthfilling, strawberry.
Very clean, mouthwatering finish.
I was crazy about this wine, but couldn't buy any as the tasting room was only open on weekends.
Norman Hardie 2009 Melon de Bourgogne
Good rich yellow in the glass.
Light nose, spicy, green apple.
Med weight, crisp, refreshing, lemon, green apple, very clean, rich.
Delicious.
Harvest Restaurant, Picton
Debbie and I had a fantastic dinner here on our final evening and I ordered a bottle of the Keint-He PN that I enjoyed so much at the tasting room.
Keint-He Little Creek Pinot Noir 2007
Decanted at the table.
Rich cherry red.
Lovely nose: spicy, rich cherry and raspberry, red licorice, chocolate.
Tangy, earthy, rich cherry fruit, medium weight, very supple and full in the mouth, floral, drying, chocolate, currants, raspberry.
Spicy, cherry, drying finish.
The wine expanded and softened throughout the meal. I believe it will be incredible with a few year's bottle age.