Getting “Wrapped Up in the Valley”

Wine Country

A couple of years back I visited Ontario for the first time and attended Taste the Season, a food and wine event that features wineries from the Niagara-on-the-Lake region. Prior to this trip I had no idea that Niagara was actually wine country. I’d never traveled to Canada and had no idea what to expect. Nevertheless, I instantly fell in love with the charm and romance of this most beautiful place, as well as the warmth and friendliness of it’s people. I brought back with me a new found appreciation for good wine, some great memories, as well as a few bottles of wine to enjoy when I got back home. 

So What’s Wrapped Up in the Valley?

Ever since this first trip I’ve been eager to attend such an event again, so when the opportunity to attend Wrapped Up in the Valley presented itself, I jumped on it. This past weekend I had my first experience with getting Wrapped Up in the Valley,  Niagara, Ontario’s Twenty Valley that is. Often described as “the Sonoma Valley of Niagara,” Twenty Valley is Niagara’s largest wine producing region featuring upwards of fifty wineries. As if wine alone weren’t enough, for this event each winery features an exclusive pairing of wine and a seasonal dish prepared by local chefs.  Food and wine! What could be any better than that?!  Enjoying it all while taking in the breathtaking beauty of the Niagara Escarpment.

This Year’s Event

This year’s Wrapped Up in the Valley event spanned three weekends in November, beginning November 10th, and featured twenty-three wineries, fourteen from the east and nine from the west. While eight wineries a day is recommended for the optimal experience, the purchase of your weekend passport allows you to visit up to a dozen wineries each day.  Don’t have a whole weekend? There’s a Sunday only option as well.

There’s such a variety in the wines offered for tasting, as well as in the recipes selected for parings that everyone is sure to find something to tickle their fancy. Not a wine drinker, or perhaps you’re the designated driver? No worries, you won’t be left out of the fun. Select the designated driver’s pass and at most wineries you can enjoy a non alcoholic mocktail, or you and your group can opt for the Saturday Shuttle Touring Pass  and enjoy getting wrapped up  via the Twenty Valley Magic Winery Bus.

Ready to book your flight? Allow me offer a bit of advice, before setting out to tackle this food and wine experience, it’s a good idea to take some time to view the food and wine pairings and decide which wineries you’d like it visit ahead of time. This way you can plan your route and make the most efficient use of your time. This year, our goal was to maximize our passports. We selected twelve wineries, but stopped just short of our goal only visiting eleven.  

My Top Five

While I enjoyed all of the food and wine and highly recommend this experience, I did have a few favorites. Here’s a quick rundown of my top five, in no particular order.

Henry of Pelham

Our first stop of the day was Henry of Pelham. This particular winery was selected and subsequently made my top five largely due to my enormous sweet tooth. For this year’s Wrapped Up in the Valley they offered a cupcake. But not just any old cupcake, a pumpkin spice cupcake with caramel filling. My mouth waters, simply recalling it. Their 2016 Estate Gamay was chosen to go along  with it. Personally, I prefer whites over reds, but the fruity notes of this wine, played especially well with the spice of the cupcake. 

Di Profio Estate Wines

The second winery on my top five list,  Di Profio Estate Wines was chosen for two reasons, Riesling and lobster, and it did not disappoint. Their offering for this event was a 2014 Riesling and a double cream brie lobster gnocchi. Yep, it was as good as it sounds. We savored each bite of lobster  and every sip of wine before quickly declaring this winery a new favorite. Before leaving we ventured inside to the main tasting area where we enjoyed more wine and some rather enjoyable conversation with one of the owners. We learned all about their dedication to using only the best grapes to produce small batches of very high quality wines. We enjoyed this place and their wine so much, we left with a few souvenirs, including a bottle of their very popular Kitchen Zinc.

Tawse Winery

Later in the day, we dropped into Tawse Winery.  We’ve had the pleasure of visiting previously and their wines are definitely among some of our favorites . I always enjoy seeing the beautiful grounds, which include a pond that makes for a great photo op. However its the wine that keeps us coming back. For this year’s Wrapped Up in the Valley pairing, Tawse offered a 2015 Chardonnay along side a chicken stew. This hearty stew featured braised chicken and autumn vegetables. In addition to being  just plain delicious, it provided a much needed bit of warmth. Before leaving we again ventured over to the main tasting area to try some of their other wines and I added a new fave, their 2016 Riesling, to my list.

Kacaba Vineyards and Winery

After visiting six wineries from Twenty Valley East, we turned our attention to the west, and Kacaba Vineyards and Winery. Kacaba’s featured pairing was an open-faced Cuban-Style pulled pork sandwich with a zesty herb  mojo sauce. I’m not usually a huge fan of pork, but this was no ordinary pork. This was melt in your mouth tender pork. Accompanied by the citrusy brightness of the zesty mojo sauce this little sammie was a real winner. To go a long with it was a Cabernet Sauvignon. Not much of a red wine drinker, I was delightfully surprised at how well I enjoyed this particular pairing.

Vineland Estates Winery

Rounding out my top five is Vineland Estates Winery. To know me is to know that for me tacos are life, so this stop was a no-brainer. By the time we arrived at Vineland Estates we were nearing the end of our evening, so I had to adjust my belt just a bit. But there was no way I was going to miss out on this taco!  While I did not manage to eat the entire taco, it was so worth the stop. The pork belly taco with radish, chili and Harissa emulsion was totally taco goals. And the wine was good too!

Wrapping it Up

Choosing a top five from the wineries we visited this weekend was virtually impossible. I only attempted to do so in an effort to keep this post from being unbearably long. Hopefully I succeeded. The truth is I enjoyed it all! The food, the wine, the people, the picturesque scenery, Niagara owes me nothing! But you best believe I’ll be back for more, hopefully soon. In the meantime, I have a few bottles of wine and dozens of pictures to remind of  this trip and my first time “Getting Wrapped Up in the Valley.”

Curious about the other wineries visited? Check below.

1. Angels Gate Winery
2. Fielding Estate Winery
3. Calamus Estate Winery
4. Cave Spring Cellars
5. The Foreign Affair Winery
6. Harbour Estates Winery