Niagara Wine Country: World-Famous Canadian Icewine, Best Estates & Bike Tours

Look at a globe and you will see that the Niagara Peninsula sits at 43° North latitude, the exact same latitude as Burgundy, Provence and Tuscany in Europe. Protected from harsh northern winds by Lake Ontario and the limestone cliff of the Niagara Escarpment (a UNESCO World Biosphere Reserve containing the same ancient marine seabed limestone as Chablis), Niagara is home to more than 90 wineries divided into two main zones: flat, bicycle-friendly Niagara-on-the-Lake (20 mins north of the falls) and the hillside bench vineyards of Beamsville / Twenty Valley (30 mins west toward Toronto).

1. What Is Canadian 'Icewine' (And Why Is It So Prized)?

Canada is the world leader in authentic Icewine, and 85% of it is made right here in Niagara. By strict VQA (Vintners Quality Alliance) law, wineries leave healthy Vidal, Riesling and Cabernet Franc grapes hanging on the vine through November and December until winter temperatures drop naturally to at least -8°C (17.6°F) or colder:

• Picked by Hand in the Freezing Night: workers head into the snowy vineyards in the middle of the night with headlamps to pick and press the rock-hard frozen grapes while the water inside each grape is frozen solid as ice crystals, leaving behind only a single concentrated drop of pure, golden nectar bursting with apricot, mango, lychee and honeyed acidity. Because an entire grapevine yields just one small 375ml bottle of Icewine, always look for the official 'VQA Ontario' seal on the bottle (avoid cheap 'iced wines' made by freezing grapes artificially).

2. Top Wineries to Visit Around Niagara-on-the-Lake

1. Inniskillin Wines (On the Niagara Parkway): the pioneer estate whose 1989 Vidal Icewine won the Grand Prix d'Honneur at Vinexpo in France in 1991 and put Canadian wine on the global map.
2. Peller Estates Winery & The '10Below Icewine Lounge': step inside an indoor igloo lounge kept at -10°C year-round (parka coats provided) sculpted from 13,600 kg of ice to taste Icewine at the exact temperature the grapes are harvested.
3. Two Sisters Vineyards, Trius Winery & Stratus Vineyards: admire the palatial Italianate architecture and bold Bordeaux-style reds at Two Sisters (with Italian dining at Kitchen76), tour Canada's largest underground sparkling-wine cellar at Trius, or taste LEED-certified modern blends at Stratus and 5th-generation Konzelmann Estate, the only lakeside winery right on the shore of Lake Ontario.