Ontario wineries: Beamsville bench & Niagara region

Hi all,

Looking to visit 3-4 wineries near the end of November and looking for some recommendations. Really just looking to taste the best possible wines we can throughout the day.
Based on some other threads, we’d love to try both Pearl Morrisette and Five Rows, but both are unavailable for tastings currently. I have the following on my list currently, but having trouble whittling it down, and wondering if I’m missing any:

Tawse, Hidden Bench, Westcott, Foreign Affair, Leaning Post, Cave Spring, 13th Street, Two Sisters, Queylus

Does anyone have any strong recommendations? Really looking for the highest quality of wine and experience we can have - I can time to book some private tastings in advance and might do so as well to avoid potentially crowded tasting rooms.

Many thanks in advance!

Of that list my picks would be Tawse, Hidden Bench & Queylus. Of the rest I’m only familiar with Cave Spring and 13th Street. I’ve heard that Thomas Bachelder is making wine with Clos Jordanne fruit again (Le Clos) but I have no idea what winery facilities there are. Would be very well worth a visit if feasible.
You might also consider Stratus and possibly Ravine and Coyote Run (excellent wines but the change of ownership is interesting to say the least).
You won’t be going to the County?

Decent list to choose from there Dave, maybe depends on what varieties you like best? If I was going to choose 3 of what you list for someone new to Ontario wine, I’d recommend staying out of NOTL and keeping with the frankly more diverse Beamsville/ Jordan areas:
Tawse - premium quality almost across the board, same owner as Marchand Tawse in Burgundy, decent volume of wines to try, cool winery (Moray’s country home and attached gravity fed winery).

Leaning Post - Ilya is still pretty small but burgeoning - you very well may get him in the tasting room as it’s off-season since he only has a very small staff, not a lot of wine, but makes the Ontario basics (8-12 wines maybe?) at a high level and likes to play with natural wines (Freaks & Geeks) which are fun to try, but maybe aren’t the best choices to travel far with. He’s become a lot better known over the past couple years so some wines will be gone. He gets a good amount of Wismer fruit, which many (including me) would consider the top (big) Chard & Pinot vineyard in Niagara.
13th Street would be my other choice. Along with Tawse, will be likely the busiest of the 3, as they do have a resto, do events and have adopted the “art” scene, so there’s more traffic, but maybe just on weekends.
JP Colas left Chablis (ex winemaker at Laroche) and has been in Ontario for about 20 years. He loves a cleaner, focused style in his wines. Lots of wines to taste at multiple price points. Blessed with some nice vineyards that 13th Street owns, he’s now making interesting Gamay and sparkling wines. His premium in house label is the ‘Essence’ line. Just tasted the '16 Essence Riesling and it was crazy good. Dry, with a Mosel like nose and the weight of a good Smargd. His best Chardonnay’s are benchmark wines for me.

The above 3 will have wines to try (unlike either Five Rows or Pearl, which are small and have little left for a tasting bar). Somewhat different styles all around, but nothing too avant garde.

I"d add a new contender - Cloudsley. Not a lot of wine and the tasting room is the wimemaking building with a plastic table, but Adam has got some really nice fruit and interesting Chards & P.N. Can almost guarantee you’ll be alone, as the place isn’t well marked. He’s fairly close to Tawse and all 4 of these are within 20-30 minutes drive. You mention private tastings - they are more of a who you know vs. what you pay scenario in Ontario. I’d call ahead to L.P & Cloudsley and they may prepare something for you. Wouldn’t expect that from either Tawse or 13th as they have the tasting bar staff in place.

Richard, I do understand Thomas will be getting fruit from those vineyards back from Anterra. Hopefully he has enough time/ energy to do them justice again. I have the impression he’s being somewhat stretched thin these days, the last few wines I’ve had from either Queylus / Bachelder were good, but not noteworthy. I’d have to check CT for specifics.
P

Thanks for the reply! What do you mean by “the County”?

My apologies … Prince Edward County, about 2 hrs drive east. Mostly smaller wineries, but some terrific wines being made (most years; but wine making there could be described as ‘character building’ haha, between harsh winters and migrating birds) - Chard and Pinot Noir are the headliners but interesting things being done with other grapes. With a couple of notable exceptions winery visitor centres much simpler that Niagara if not non existent.).

Many thanks for the great response. I am definitely going to check out Cloudsley whether on this outing or another. Varietals really aren’t as important as a quality wine with a sense of place. I do prefer varietals that tend to perform better in the microclimate, such as Rieslings, Gamays, PNs, Chards, etc, and tend to not like Bordeaux varietals which tend to underperform in the climate, but a good wine is a good wine and if someone manages to make a nice Merlot in Ontario, then I’d be happy to consume it.

Still narrowing it down, but Tawse is a lock and the short list is now LP, Hidden Bench, Cloudsley, Westcott, and 13th Street.
Thanks again for the guidance!

Cab Franc is a red to try. Tawse does a pretty good job. Global warming is helping!

Enjoy. You may well find you can visit more than just 3-4, as many are so close together.

I may be able to get a tasting or two in the area the Sunday before Christmas. Any must try places (and restaurants)?

Thanks,

Jeff

Bump anything new in the last few years? Have reservations for Pearl Morissette and probably going to go check out Willibald Farm Distillery.