Niagara Peninsula ON
I was quite ambivalent about going to Niagara TBH.
I’m from BC right. We have no shortage of waterfalls
But everyone says “You gotta go see Niagara on the Lake. It’s so beautiful there. And you cannot miss the falls!”
So whatever. We got a week here. See Niagara on the Lake, hit a winery or two, see the falls, go over the falls in a barrel….ah darn. You’re not allowed to do that.
Our first stop was Niagara on the Lake. What a pretty little town. Unfortunately a caffeine shortage affected my photographer brain and I neglected taking any pics. Well lets eat first. After a short stroll down the main street we decided on the Sunset Grill for breakfast.
I’ve been looking for a good Benny all this week. I didn’t find it here.
Although what we did find wasn’t awful. Just not really a Benny. Yes it did have Hollandaise. But I guess the chef never learned how to poach an egg. As the eggs were fried over easy.
This was the California “Benny” with avocado and bacon. Pretty good all things considered. Hash browns were tasty too.
Coffee next. Get that caffeine fix. There’s actually a Starbucks here in town.
Yes the exterior was much nicer than your standard Starbucks but the interior was just as boring and the coffee just as average as any other Starbucks. The caffeine helped though.
Now off to find some vino.
Our first stop was Chateau des Charmes. It’s a beautiful winery. I could easily imagine the Chateau somewhere in France, not the Niagara Peninsula.
But for as beautiful as the winery was the wines were not. We tried 5 wines and didn’t care for any of them. This was the premium tasting for $35 too.
Next we tried Flat Rock Cellars. Much better luck here.
The Pinot Noir has spicy notes from the French oak. Tannins are quite soft but I wouldn’t mind a bit more punch here. The Gamay had a very cherry forward flavour and pepper lingered on the palate. It was quite tart which I liked very much. This is the one I would buy if I had more room in the suitcase. We had two there that were decent but I definitely preferred the pinot and the gamay. And a very nice spot to sit on the deck overlooking the vineyard. Too bad about the smoke from nearby forest fires.
We had planned another winery stop but honestly the wine experience in Ontario is nothing compared to the wine experience in BC. I’m not saying the wines are better or worse but the experience of traveling from winery to winery and the scenery that you get in BC is just much more pleasant than the experience here in Niagara. Ok ya maybe I’m saying BC wines are better too lol.
And then there’s the falls…
Sunset Grill 6/10
Chateau des Charmes wines 3/10
Flat Rock wines 7/10