During our latest trip to the Niagara for the Icewine Festival, we made a point to drop by and see our friends at Caroline Cellars in Niagara on the Lake. We were hoping to catch up with Ricki Lakeit, winemaker for this family owned winery, and luckily we did. Ricky was eager to show off the new wine shop and tasting room, hand built by himself and his father. But that was just the beginning. In spite of a challenging couple of weeks, including icewine harvest, Ricky was very excited to show us the latest project being undertaken by Caroline Cellars. We were lead through a door behind the tasting bar into the newly expanded wine storage area, still only roughed in with insulation visable through the plasic vapour barrier. After navigating the maze of stainless steel wine kettles, then up a set of roughed in stairs to the second floor of the winery, we entered the future banquet hall. With great pride Ricky described how his father plans to finish it himself. The expansion will double the current capacity to 250 and create a great location for larger weddings, something customers have been asking about for some time.

The Lakeit family’s hands-on approach is evident in the construction of the winery but is more evident in the wines themself. Ricky excited about the potential of this years wines, especially the 6 rows of pinot grapes, which have historically been a troublesome crop. In spite of the VQA, Caroline Cellars continues to push the boundaries of varietal character by experimenting with different techniques. Not held back by tradition, Caroline Cellars produces a number of great quality, value priced wines that you may not expect from a small Ontario winery. Look out for the 2008 Late Harvest Vidal, it will certainly be a crowd pleaser. Drop by and check out Caroline Cellars during your next wine country visit.

Tags: Caroline Cellars, Icewine, Late Harvest, Niagara, Ricki Lakeit, Vidal, VQA