While most people often first think of Niagara Peninsula or Prince Edward County when planning a visit to Ontario’s wine country, did you know there are several wineries just north of the city in the emerging wine region close to Toronto? For visitors looking for a pit stop on the way up to cottage country, these wineries offer four unique tasting experiences.
When you’re at the wineries, keep an eye out for wines with VQA on the bottle, which means that the wine is made from 100% Ontario-grown grapes, while having been approved through a strict quality assurance program.
Ontario produces a complete range of premium wines including red, white and rosé table wines, sparkling wine and Icewine, so you know you’ll find something you’ll love. From fresh and crisp or rich and oaky white wines to elegant and light-bodied or spicy and full-bodied reds to fun and easy or classic-style sparkling wines, there’s a wine style for every wine drinker in Ontario. Plus, this is a great way to know that your wine is not only local and tastes delicious but you can rest assured that you’re drinking authentic local wine.
To plan your visit to Ontario wine country, visit winesofontairo.ca where you can map out the best route, or learn something new about the emerging wine regions in Ontario with the online Travel Guide and mobile-friendly Trip Planner.
But as a quick guide, here are four wineries close to Toronto to visit in Ontario’s Emerging Regions.
Find your wine match
To determine which Ontario VQA wines you should try during your visit, head to pleasuretomeetyou.ca to get matched with one of ten eligible Ontario wines. Through a series of questions, they’ll figure out your perfect VQA wine match through a series of questions based on your personality, interests and flavour profile preferences.
Magnotta Winery
Magnotta Winery is a family-run spot just off the 400 in Vaughan that has a large retail space to pick up one of the locally-made wines and an Italian-inspired patio that is the perfect spot for a tasting in the warmer months.
Best known for their Sparkling Ice™ wine, if you’re looking to pick up a VQA wine for a good cause, the Venture Series wines are not only locally made but a portion of the proceeds are donated to the G. Magnotta Foundation for Vector-Borne Diseases to benefit Canada’s first Lyme Disease translational research lab at the University of Guelph.
Willow Springs Winery
Willow Springs Winery in Stouffville, Ontario is the perfect place for a wine tasting and lunch on their patio. Run by the Testa family, you can see the family-run touches throughout the property in the home-like main spaces and welcoming property.
Willow Springs Winery was the first winery in York Region to receive VQA Ontario Certification and the first to produce VQA wines in the Oak Ridges Moraine, making it a must-see on your Ontario wine-tasting journey. Both the Morraine White and Morraine Red Wine are VQA wines grown locally on clay-loam soils that give them a complete and fragrant profile.
Holland Marsh Winery
Newmarket’s Holland Marsh Winery benefits from a unique soil composition and bowl-shaped micro-climate that allows it to grow grapes with a distinct flavour profile to create award-winning wines. For a sweeter tasting, choose between the VQA Vidal Icewine or the VQA Cabernet Sauvignon Icewine made from 100% Ontario-grown grapes.
Plan your visit around lunch to taste their artisanal cheese and charcuterie boards or a homemade wood-fired pizza with the VQA Select Sauvignon Blanc.
Windrush Estates Winery
While you may recognize the name from menus, Windrush Estates Winery primarily distributes to restaurants and their wine shop in Palgrave, Ontario is the only place you can purchase their wine by the bottle to take home. After a tour of the production facilities, head up the hill to the Windrush Estate to enjoy a glass with a sprawling view of the region or for a musical performance in the Concert Hall during their Saloon Sunday series.
Set in the idyllic Hockley Valley, the winery uses top-quality grapes to make its award-winning wines, including a VQA Dry Riesling with only 2 grams of sugar per litre, VQA Pinot Noir Vintner’s Reserve, or their most sought after wine, the VQA Classic Jim Warren’s Chardonnay.
