The wine tour

We left reasonably early so that we would be in Niagara at our hotel for collection for our wine tour. A brief stop for Tim Hortons refreshment saw us checking in to the Ramada by midday then grabbing a quick sandwich while we waited for our minibus.

Male members of the wine tour

Our tour driver/guide David had come over from Glasgow in 1957 immediately after he got married but he still had a distinct Scottish if not exactly Glaswegian accent. He was a remarkable chap; we introduced ourselves to him just once and he remembered our names infallibly all afternoon even to the extent of associating the voice and the name when he couldn't see us. He was a mine of interesting information about the area.

Our first visit was to Jackson-Triggs winery. This is a huge concern and we had a tour of the winery led by a very interesting young man who gave instructions for tasting and appreciating wine. We sampled 3 wines, one was called Meritage and is based on a classic Bordeaux recipe, the next was a dry white reisling and finally we had a drop of icewine which was very good indeed.
Our next visit was to Strewn, a smaller concern, where we tasted 3 wines again; the one with the most impact for me was a delicious Reisling Gewurztraminer – I bought a couple of bottles for later consumption.

The third winery was Pallatine Hills; again 3 interesting wines and a palate that was beginning to have some difficulty in differentiating between them, and a brain that had difficulty in appreciating why you should bother analysing something so much fun.

Carolines Winery

Sampling at Carolines

Our final visit was to a winery called Caroline after its founder. A very simple building and a family run affair. They offered 4 wines to taste and while by this time, it was difficult to relate and compare with the earlier wines, they did have a unique product in the fruit wines. I was quite taken with a pinot and cherry wine and bought a couple of bottles.

The drive back from Niagara on the lake (which was a rather nice, tidy town) along Niagara Parkway was very pleasant.

Tour members with David

Back at the Ramada, we went up to our rooms and Kris & Dave swapped with us – theirs had a better view! The Ramada appeared to have been built as a bit of an afterthought; we wondered why when we got in the lift, the floors started numbering at 25! it was built as a tower with reception in the base and then at the top of the stick, the observation deck, then the restaurant and the bedrooms.

The Ramada Stick

Obviously, there would have been no views any lower down, so it was built with lower floors missing! After a freshen up we decided to go down to the observation deck for some fabulous views of the falls. After much debate we had dinner in the restaurant where we had a table overlooking both falls; the meal itself was marvellous if more than we could handle and with the view, the experience was truly exceptional. Grandpa Morris may even have used the word 'fantastic'.

View from the Dining Room over both sets of the falls

After our meal, a walk down to the falls and along the embankment to take in the view as dusk was falling. The numbers hanging around suggested that they may be lit, so we hung around ourselves and were delighted to see them lit up at 21:00.

Canadian Falls at night

Niagara Falls, Canada