When you are in the Niagara Region, famous for being an exceptional wine region in Canada, do yourself a favour and visit Jordan. I must admit, when I think of Niagara, I picture Niagara-on-the-Lake or the falls, but Jordan needs to be on your radar too.
It is just a short 20-minute drive from Niagara-on-the-Lake, and here you’ll find tons of incredible wineries too. The top hotel in the area is the Inn On The Twenty, and it just so happens Cave Spring Cellars is across the street. As I could see the winery right from the door of the hotel, I decided to see what they had to offer.
Wine tasting at Cave Spring Cellars is remarkably affordable. It is just $2 for wine or $5 for ice wine.
But you might be able to drink for free. Many of the local hotels provide coupons for free wine samples, which include three glasses per person.
On my visit, I ended up sampling the following:
2018 Gamay – The medium-bodied red tastes of blackberries, cacao and pepper.
2017 Cabernet Franc – The medium-bodied dry wine tastes of tart grapefruit and lemon, plus juicy peaches.
2017 Cabernet Franc Dolomite – It is only available at the winery. The dry, medium-bodied wine has spicy notes of ginger, plus flavours of grapefruit and peach.
2017 Riesling – While I’m typically not a fan of many rieslings, I highly enjoyed this one. It was medium-dry and tasted like tropical fruit and citrus.
2017 Riesling Dolomite – Compared to the riesling, it was dry, and also had spicy notes of ginger.
Without question, my top two were the Gamay and riesling, and I suggest you try both if you get the chance. If you can’t get to the winery, you can find it in the LCBO or available at other wine stores.
One of the major perks about Cave Spring Cellars is you aren’t left standing at a bar. Instead, they have several tables where you can take a seat and leisurely sip and swirl your wines with your friends.
I also appreciated that it was directly across from my hotel, so there weren’t any logistical challenges of worrying about drinking and driving.