ottawa foodies

Hi everyone!
I just came back from Prince Edward County and had to share with all the wine lovers out there. This place is amazing and it's only a couple hours from Ottawa. There's something like 30 wineries in an area roughly the size of Ottawa and it's so picturesque...even in winter! Definitely a great weekend trip!!

Cheers!!!

Hey,

Yeah I agree that Prince Edward County is very picturesque.

A colleague of mine is a huge wine aficionado, and did a few tours of wineries in Price Edward County. From the hear-say I have received, I heard that the wine is so poor that Prince Edward county wines must be blended with French wine in order to meet quality standards? Not sure if this is true, nor have I had Prince Edward wine in a few years. And back then - I didn't know anything about wine, so I can't comment.

Can anyone confirm this?

An Ontario VQA wine has to have 100% Ontario grape content. There are other requirements for VQA wines such as passing a tasting panel etc...

A wine labelled "Product of Canada" has to have a minimum 75% domestic content, and wines labelled "Cellared in Canada" can have less than 75% domestic content.

I traveled down there last fall to visit a friend whose family owns one of the wineries there. I won't say which one or she'll likely find this post in one of her interblag searches. I'm going to go along with ILRF above. All of the wine I tried and a fair quantity of the cider was just horrid. Not 'bad' from a certain perspective, just awful. Oh, palatable, certainly. I'm still working my way through a bunch of it. I'm a good friend so I bought a case. Theirs was not the only place I visited.

I prefer the cheese I found there.

That's my opinion. Your mileage may vary. It was a very nice Saturday drive.

Thanks cntygrl for the info on the wineyard trip to PEC, sounds like a great place to visit.
I went to the WInterlude vintage Taste of Ontario event www.vintages.com
Heard about it at the last minute in Metro, very I went, the food was amazing and they had a large array of wines to try, a few from PEC (e.g. Sandbank with interesting vintage reds Baco, Foch and Cabernet/Merlot, and Grange of Prince Edward, I really like their sparklies:)

Did you try one of the restos around the PEC wineries? Are reservations or organized tours needed to visit the vineyards/wineries?

Thanks a bunch again for the great info cntygrl

Cheers!

PEC is a 'new' wine region, but many of the wines have promise. We enjoyed wines at Huff, Casa Dea, Hillebrand, By Chadsey and Norman Hardie (some of the brands are even at the LCBO ;-) and others).

I do know wine, and Ontario wines in Prince Edward County have much to offer. Many of the wineries are just opening - after having planted their vines for a few years before actually making wine with the grapes.

I suggest you go and see for yourself...it's a nice drive and you really get to know the wine makers. We were there in May both times, when it wasn't too busy. Stayed at The Merrill Inn both times. We were able to speak with all the vinters and feel their passion about their products. Give them a shot.

We had dinner the last time at Blumen Bistro (affiliated with Wellington Gastropub - but forget how) - food was fabuluous!!

I've had some absolutely stellar wine from the County. If I walked into a restaurant and saw that they were serving something from Closson Chase or Norm Hardie, I'd probably get it, or at least seriously consider it.

From the ones that I've tasted, my feeling is that the wine at the higher price points is improving far more quickly than the wine at the lower price points are. $30 Pinot from the County? Probably going to be good. $12 Rosé from the County? May not be your cup of tea.

I've found that by touring the wineries of PEC, or Niagara, or Lake Erie North Shore, you can find some nice wines that aren't generally available elsewhere. As I understand it, a winery must guarantee a certain number of cases in order for the LCBO to offer it for sale. This means that many of the smaller batch wines are only available at the winery. The other nice thing about visiting the wineries is that you often get to try some of the more unusual and creative things that the vintner is working on at the moment. Yes there are some dogs, but by visiting, purchasing and providing feedback we are really encouraging the development of higher quality products.

I agree with some of the posters, this area doesn't produce good wine. Niagara is better, but even better is a short drive to the Finger Lakes region in NY state.

Well I guess its a matter of taste, but the finger lakes wines I tried touring around down there were all terrible (there may be some awesomes - I just couldn't find any). Niagrara wines range from wonderful to horrid - you just have to watch out which winery you hit up. I haven't had a lot of PEC wines yet. The vines there are all less than around 10 years old, so I'm sure there is a lot of maturing left to do.

Thankfully, wine is ALL about personal taste. Otherwise, there'd only be a handful of wines that everyone agrees are worth drinking. The reality is, there are tens or hundreds of thousands of wines out there. Each of them likely has a fan.

I thoroughly enjoyed a Sandbanks Riesling at Petit Bill's Bistro a year ago. Does the area produce good wine? That's a subjective question and my answer is yes. :-)

I'm a fan of the Norman Hardie and Long Dog Pinots, Hardie and Closson Chase Chardonnays, most of the stuff from Huff but especially the Reislings and Pinot Gris. I just wish they were cheaper so I could buy more of them! You can understand the prices though as most of them are small operations and there's lots of manual labour involved; I understand they have to bury the vines every winter for them to survive the temperatures.

The Sandbanks Cabernet Merlot (Waves) is also becoming one of our everyday go-to wines.

A lot of them produce some wines with 100% PE County grapes, and then some others using Niagara grapes or a mix. They are upfront with the origins of their grapes. I've never heard of them using foreign grapes, but I haven't visited all of them (and there are news ones popping up every year). Not sure why they would as I think their niche is better off in small run, craft wines rather than trying to be the next mass market Piat D'or or Yellow Tail. Some succeed better than others.

Also check out the Prince Edward County Wineries [Booze] thread:
Forum - Prince Edward County Wineries

The finger lakes wines are good for me the problem lies with the idea of bringing some home. If you want to bring more than your one bottle it can get very expensive. Did it once and we found that it wasn't worth the money.

This is not PEC, but if you are looking for Finger Lakes/New York State wines and other Small batch wines from anywhere, Lot57 in Massena is a great little shop that brings in unusual things regularly and is a lot closer to Ottawa than Finger Lakes.

lot57wine.com

You can also get on their mailing list and get advance notice of tastings or special wines they are featuring for a limited time.

Had a couple of bottles last night from jabulani vineyards on jocktrail rd outside Munster hamlet .the red was a Marquette and a white chardonnay. We've been buying from them since they opened to the public last summer. I think.the owner told me they have over 10 acres of grapes this year which is pretty good for anyone growing in the Ottawa valley. Check out their website and take a drive out its worth it for the tasting and pairing samples alone.

couple bottles!? heck I thought I saw someone stumbling down the road last nite ;)

Hey Krusty cut me some slack they were big freakin bottles.

Bought two more bottles of Marquette / syrah on my way home this aft. Hey krusty if I'm stumbling again tonight throw me a bone and pick me up bro.

I'd be remiss in not linking to the Quebec Eastern Townships here....

www.laroutedesvins.ca

...wine route starts 45min or so south of Montreal.

Not to take anything away from PEC which has a lot going for the area, but vs PEC or Niagara my informed opinion would send me back to the ETs in a second. I like PEC, but i LOVE the ETs and for my time and dollars, the ETs offer nicer scenery (mountains, not rolling hills but real mountains), better food and better wine (and cider... oh the cider products rock... and craft beer, and PQ microbrew.... and... and...).

On the food topic, it's frankly a bit of a foodie haven and you can blow your foodmind multiple times per day if you've a mind to.

Plus no silly limits on how much you can bring back and with a few minor exceptions you might find over the bridge at the SAQ, you will not find most of these wines in ON.

That said, to be fair, the whites, fortified, ice wines and various cider based things are far better than the reds. If you're a die-hard red and red-only drinker the ETs wines will likely dissappoint.

I have had some very nice Closson Chase wines, and the Black Prince. I find it a little expensive to get the good wines, butthey are good at the $30 price point (as noted above).

Huff estates makes a very good sparkling wine as well.

Oooh, another variety to add to my Century Club list.

www.winecentury.com

Totally checking it out.

Hi - has anyone been lately? I'll be there for a day or two at the end of July. My itinerary is wide open so far, but am hearing from various quarters that visits to Norm Hardie, Hinterland and Rosehall are musts. Thoughts? Recommendations on where to stay? (Musty old B&Bs give me the heeby-jeebies, so I'm actually having a bit of a hard time choosing since this seems to be the norm in the area. Merrill Inn in Picton looks ok though and apparently the restaurant is very good...?)

If you are staying in Picton I highly recommend dining at Blumen on Highway 49 (just outside of Picton, pretty close to Merrill Inn). Everything I have ever eaten there was prepared perfectly and the service is fantastic. I used to travel to the area on business and ended up eating quite a few meals alone, the staff there always made me feel very comfortable.

www.blumengardenbistro.com

You might also want to look at the other end of the island in the Wellington/Bloomfield area, it is closer to the wineries you mentioned there is the Drake Devonshire Inn in Wellington just off Highway 33 www.drakedevonshire.ca/ that I have heard some positive things about.

As for wineries: I recommend going to The Grange if you are on the west side of the island where the above wineries are, I also really like By Chasdey's Cairns and Sandbanks Winery. If you are staying around the Picton end, there are a few nice ones there too: Waupoos has been there a long time; they were purchased and renovated in recent years and they now have a chocolate shop as well. Devil's Run is also a nice little winery out that way and you could check out County Cider and Black River Cheese.

One thing that I have noticed is that there are a number of lovely little wineries that aren't necessarily on the maps so if you have the time to just drive around, enjoy the scenery and look for little signs pointing you to them, you will be sure to find some "gems".

Thanks for those. We'll be at the Great Canadian Cheese Festival on June 7-8 (and staying an extra day on the 9th) and will be looking for interesting places to eat.

We stayed at the Merrill Inn last year. We were on the third floor and if stairs are a concern, you won't want to be on that floor as the stairs are steep and narrow. We had dinner at the reastaurant one night and I will never eat there again. Not because the food is not good, because it was excellent, but because the tables are so close together you were privy to everyone's' conversations. You are cheek to jowl with your fellow diners. When the dining room is full, you have to almost shout to make yourself heard. A very strange atmosphere in a place that has fine dining food.

For somewhere to stay, I highly recommend Huff Estates www.huffestates.com Really nice rooms. You get breakfast, a complimentary tasting of their wine (if you like the sweet dessert wines try the Zero de Gris) and they also have a nice outdoor sculpture gallery to explore.

I'm interested in some intelligence on the Fifth Town Cheese. Haven't tried their cheese since they re-opened over 1 year ago.

Also, I'd like to find out if they have any plans to re-introduce "Lighthall Tomme" cheese. This was my favourite ...

So much to enjoy in PEC. Bloomfield is a very cute town! Love the ice cream shop - slickers - Campfire ice cream is the best!