Share A Glass » Blog Archive » Niagara Icewine Festival

Tuesday, January 20th, 2009, 8:44 am |

What is a trip to Niagara without a visit to Creekside Estate Winery. We made sure to head over during the Niagara Icewine Festival to check out their icewine pairing. For a mere $10, we were able to sample both Creekside’s riesling and vidal icewines and enjoy roasted chesnuts on the new patio. If you visited Creekside last year you would remember the cozy wine shop, well it seems it was time for change! The newly expanded wine shop and tasting bar is a great addition and really helps showcase the great wines offered by Creekside. With a new patio overlooking the vinards, you will now be able to stop by for lunch on your next visit when the warm weather comes.

With success comes sorrow and Mike Weir has decided to part ways with Creekside and go forth idependently after many years of success. Seems the brand had grown to a point where it made sense to separate it from Creekside and allow both to focus efforts on continuing their individual success. However, Mike didn’t leave Creekside with an empty nest, and helped to bring another Canadian icon on board at Creekside with the addition of Wayne Gretzky wines. Haven’ t tried them yet, but knowing Creekside, Wayne will be proud.

We were lucky to run into Marketing Director Matt Loney, who poured us some great Creekside wines. We are always impressed by Creekside’s ability to combine some old world style with Ontario’s new world grapes. We tried 4 or 5 wines but my favourite was the 2004 Reserve Pinot Noir; ripe berries on the nose, indicative of a new world pinot, but with a velvety, elegant finish that reminds me of Burgundy. Their Laura Red is also one to try as they combine 4 different varietals (Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Merlot and Malbec) and create a unique and great tasting wine. Oh yeah, did I mention they make a great ice wine too. Bottom line, make sure you add Creekside to your list of wineries to visit on your next trek to Niagara.