Family Trip to Three Sister Wineries of Niagara Peninsula

Three Sister Wineries of Niagara Peninsula

For those of you who are not familiar with these wineries, they are all related. The owners of these 3 sister wineries enjoy the benefits of separate brands and the convenience of shared vineyards. Eastdell Estates is the largest of the three, followed by Lakeview and then Birchwood.

Lunch or a Wine Tour?

Our experience at Eastdell was quite pleasant. We were greeted as we walked in. We inquired about the wine tour and lunch hours and were given a few options. It sounded like we could only do one or the other at the time we had available. We were getting hungry, so we decided to decline the tour, and just go for wine tasting while our table was set on the restaurant's patio.

The lady at the tasting bar was relatively new, but extremely friendly. She suggested various wines based on each of our preferences. Surprisingly, all four of us picked a different favourite. Shortly, we were called to take a seat on the patio.

The menu was quite skinny. I don't eat bread, so, after trying hard to find something without suitable, the only item that was not breaded or did not come on a bun was grilled vegetables with warmed goat cheese. I ordered that, and my mom chose the same. My dad and my husband each got a burger. Man, were we ever surprised when the 'Vegetable Towers' arrived. They each consisted of literally 6 peaces of vegetables, 2 slices of sweet pepper, 2 slices of zucchini, an onion slice, and a mushroom. It was situated in the middle of the plate, taking up about 1/8th of the plate space. So, if you're hungry, don't order that, even thought it's on the Entrée menu. The guys got a good size burger. The rest of the plate was filled with green salad. I could not believe they cost almost the same. Our men had to share with us a part of their meal after all.

Now, the best part was selecting wine to go with our meals. My husband and my dad got 2004 Merlot - very good wine. My mom was a designated driver. I went with a suggestion on the menu - Barrel Fermented Chardonnay 2006. It's good that I tried it before getting a full glass. It was so sweet! Apparently, they leave residual sugars in the barrels for better fermentation. I had to order another white. It was way too sweet as well, so I settled with a regular unoaked Chardonnay. It was also on a sweeter side, but quite refreshing. I didn't want to bother the waiter any longer, and got a glass of that.

We left the winery with a bag of wine bottles, some for us, some for my folks.

Birchwood and Lakeview

Our next stop was Birchwood Estates. It was short and sweet. We had a pleasant tasting at their modest tasting room, bough a couple of bottles, and headed toward the Lakeview Cellars.

On our way there, we stopped at the roadside farmers market and stocked up on peaches, plums and apricots.

When we arrived, we were surprised to find familiar labels on some of the wines offered for tasting. The Chardonnay I had with my lunch was Lakeview Cellars. So, I knew it was not worth buying or even trying one more time. It's one of those "try it once" kinds of wine. So, I tried their Vidal 2003. Oh, goodness gracious, was it ever delicious! It hit the spot. It one of the few tasting glasses I actually finished. My husband liked their Cabernet Merlot. We got a few bottles and went back to the car where my parents were waiting. My mom wanted to see what we got, and when I showed her a Vidal bottle, she decided to go back in and actually taste it. She also loved it and got a bottle for herself.

It was our last stop on our way to the Niagara Falls, so, slightly tipsy from all the samples, we happily took off for our next destination.

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