Every September and October the Niagara wine region — 90 minutes from Toronto — hosts the Grape & Wine Festival and harvest season tastings. 100+ wineries in the Niagara-on-the-Lake region open for harvest dinners, vineyard tours, and the Icewine Festival in January. Ontario's most acclaimed Rieslings, Chardonnays, and Pinot Noirs are poured at the source.
Neighbourhood: Niagara Region · Address: Niagara-on-the-Lake, ON (90 min from Toronto) · Hours: Harvest season: September–October | Icewine Festival: January · Price Range: $$$ · Editorial status: Not yet verified
Hit over 100 Niagara wineries in their busiest season for behind-the-scenes crush pad tours, chef-paired harvest dinners, and exclusive tastings you won't get any other time of year. There really is no better excuse to pop bottles right at the source.
Unlike any Toronto wine bar, here you drink local Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, and Icewine in the exact vineyards they’re grown, with grapes still clinging to the vines. The fall fest is super interactive, from grape stomping to actual winemaker meet-ups, and shuttles run between clusters of small, family-run wineries you’d never stumble upon solo.
The Niagara Peninsula wine country — the approximately 150 wineries spread across the Niagara Escarpment and the flat lakeshore plain of the Niagara Peninsula between Hamilton and Niagara-on-the-Lake — is a 90-minute drive from Toronto and one of North America's most important cool-climate wine regions. The cool climate (moderated by both Lake Ontario and the Escarpment) produces wines with natural acidity, restrained alcohol, and the elegance associated with European cool-climate regions — Ontario Riesling and Chardonnay compete directly with German and Alsatian benchmarks in blind tastings.
The harvest season (September through October) is the optimal visit period: the grape harvest brings activity to the wineries (the pressing equipment running, the fermenting tanks bubbling, the harvest workers in the vineyards), the Escarpment foliage turns in late September and October, and the harvest dinners at the premium properties (Peller Estates, Stratus, Tawse, Vineland Estates, The Old Firehall) are the Ontario wine country dining event of the year.
Inniskillin Icewine — the wine that established the Canadian and specifically Niagara wine identity internationally when it won the Grand Prix d'Honneur at Vinexpo Bordeaux in 1991 — remains the most famous Ontario wine product. Icewine (eiswein in the German tradition) is made from grapes harvested and pressed while frozen (typically at -10°C or colder, in January), which concentrates the sugar and acid while leaving water as ice in the press. The result is an intensely sweet, aromatic dessert wine with natural acidity that prevents it from being cloying.
Niagara Riesling (from the Escarpment's limestone-influenced soils) has developed into the region's most distinctive and critically recognized wine style — the dry and off-dry versions express the petrol, citrus, and stone fruit character that makes German and Alsatian Riesling internationally respected.
Niagara wine country is approximately 90 minutes from Toronto by car via the QEW. GO Train service from Union Station reaches Niagara Falls (3 hours) and connecting buses to Niagara-on-the-Lake are available. Organized wine tours from Toronto are also available for groups who prefer not to drive.
Ontario Riesling grown on the Niagara Escarpment benefits from limestone-influenced soils, the moderating effect of Lake Ontario, and a long growing season that allows slow ripening and high natural acidity. The wines are typically dry to off-dry with citrus, stone fruit, and floral character — comparable to German Spätlese and Alsatian grand cru styles.
Icewine (eiswein) is made from grapes harvested and pressed while frozen at -10°C or colder, which concentrates sugar and acid while water remains as ice. Canada (particularly Niagara) produces more icewine than any other country. Inniskillin's 1991 Vinexpo win established Canadian icewine internationally.
Peller Estates (restaurant, cave tours, icewine), Inniskillin (the icewine pioneer, beautiful property), Tawse (organic, award-winning), Vineland Estates (Escarpment views, excellent restaurant), and Stratus (high-design, single vineyard wines) are among the most visited. The Wine Council of Ontario website provides a comprehensive winery directory.
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