An Insider’s Guide to Niagara Wines

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Discover the best of Canadian wines with our insider’s guide to Niagara wines. Read on to explore top wineries, regions, and cool-climate grapes.

Canada, the land of hockey, ice fishing, and poutine, produces award-winning wines. This northern neighbor boasts eight wine regions and approximately 500 Canadian wineries. The Niagara Peninsula Appellation in Ontario has two regional appellations: Niagara Escarpment and Niagara on the Lake.

Just 90 minutes from my home in Toronto, the Niagara Escarpment appellation has 57 wineries. While working for the Liquor Control Board of Ontario (LCBO), I picked the best Niagara wines for my dinner table. Cool-climate wines—chardonnay, cabernet franc, gamay noir, merlot, pinot noir, and riesling—take center stage. Limestone soils and the three Great Lakes provide the perfect conditions for grape growing.

You can experience the best Niagara region wines no matter what the season. Wineries organize events for wine lovers all year round, including tutored tastings, yoga in the vineyard, and live music. I tasted some fantastic Niagara wines, including ice wine, during this trip to Niagara.

Thirty Bench Winery

Thirty Bench is a boutique winery on the Niagara Escarpment’s Beamsville Bench. The tasting room fronts rows of sunlit vines, uniformly trimmed to direct energy to the fruit. The property is perfect, with a high percentage of limestone and prevailing winds off Lake Ontario.

Winemaker Emma Garner has developed award-winning wines, gaining global recognition at the Decanter World Wine Awards in 2024. Wine consultant Deb Bonthron explains, “Emma lets the soil do the talking in her production of riesling.”

Thirty Bench’s ‘Small Lot’ wines are made in limited quantities, with the number of cases indicated on each label.

The winery offers two tasting menus:

An overview of Thirty Bench wines, including a sparkling riesling, a rosé blend, a red blend, and a late-harvest Vidal
Four ‘Small Lot’ rieslings from different vineyards, each produced in slightly different ways

The cost of tastings is waived when purchasing four bottles of wine. Purchasing six or more wine bottles also gives you a 15 percent discount on regularly priced bottles.

Thirty Bench Winery Tasting

I liked the 2020 Thirty Bench “Small Lot Riesling Triangle Vineyard” Beamsville Bench ($32 CAN). The grapes were hand-picked and sorted, and the juice was cold-fermented and aged in stainless steel tanks. The wine is off-dry and medium-bodied, with aromas of green apple and pear and flavors of pear, peach, and melon. I liked this wine so much that I bought four bottles. The 2019 vintage won silver at the 2022 Decanter World Wide Awards.

I also bought two bottles of the 2020 Thirty Bench “Winemaker’s Blend Cabernet Franc” Beamsville Bench ($26.95 CAD), which earned silver at the 2022 Decanter Wine Awards. The grapes were hand-picked from two growers—Crabtree Vineyard and Van Beers Vineyard—and macerated in open wooden fermenters. The wine was then barrel-aged in French and American oak for 12 months. The full-bodied wine has a lovely garnet color, with aromas of plum and black currant, flavors of dark fruits, and a lengthy finish.

Hidden Bench Winery

Also on the Beamsville Bench, Hidden Bench is an artisanal, low-yield winery crafting premium wines from three organic estate vineyards. The winery follows ProCert-certified organic and sustainable best practices. The wine club coordinator, Cody German, told us, “The vines are touched by human hands 16 times.”

Hidden Bench took several awards at the 2024 Decanter World Wine competition.

Hidden Bench offers three wine series: the Estate Series, a blend of all three vineyards; the single-vineyard Terroir Series; and the Rachis & Derma natural wine series. The winery strives to bottle unfiltered wines when possible.

Hidden Bench Winery Tasting

I enjoyed the 2021 Hidden Bench “Estate Chardonnay” Beamsville Bench ($31.75 CAD) from the Locust Lane, Felseck, and Rosomel vineyards. According to German, “You can sip on this wine for hours and days and have another bottle if you need to.”

The grapes were hand-picked and sorted. The oak regime included nine months in concrete and French oak barrels. The wine is dry, with green apple and pear flavors. Hidden Bench took silver for this wine at the 2023 Decanter World Wine Awards.

Also of note is the 2020 Hidden Bench “Rachis and Derma Gamay” Beamsville Bench ($30 CAD), hand-picked from a new estate vineyard within the Lincoln Lakeshore Appellation. Natural, spontaneous fermentation was used, and the wine was transferred to French oak barrels. The long finish allowed me to fully experience the lovely taste of cherry and raspberry. 

Tawse Winery 

Tawse Winery is located on the Twenty Mile Bench, a sub-appellation of the Niagara Peninsula. After trying to buy a vineyard in Burgundy, Moray Tawse, a financier by trade, decided to look locally. His choice was spot on, as the winery has won many awards, including at the Decanter 2024 World Wine competition. This organic winery is Ecocert certified.

Two baby goats sparred on a picnic table beside the vines while the others looked on. A flock of sheep moves around the vineyard to graze on weeds. Cover crops keep the soil and the root system healthy.

Tawse Winery Tasting

I tasted nine wines and was kindly offered more. I enjoyed the 2023 Tawse “Quarry Road” Rosé Twenty Mile Bench ($28.15 CAD). The limestone in the Quarry Road vineyard is very close to the topsoil, making mineral-driven savory wines. The color is very light. The wine is dry and fruity, with hints of cherry and raspberry.

According to Daniel Lafleur, national sales manager, “The trend over the past four to five years is for Rosé to be lighter color—similar to what you find in the south of France.”

I also liked the 2023 Tawse “Cabernet Franc” Icewine Twenty Mile Bench ($37.05 CAD), displaying flavors of rhubarb and strawberry. Tawse medaled eight times at the 2024 Decanter World Wine Awards for various wines.

Megalomaniac

Also on the Twenty Mile Bench in Vineland, Ontario, Megalomaniac Winery offers panoramic views of Lake Ontario and the skylines of Toronto and Niagara Falls. Megalomaniac crafts “affordable wines with a touch of sass.”

Wines have names such as Sonofabitch Pinot and Narcissist Riesling. Megalomaniac Winery exudes a European elegance, with a black and white decor, massive glass chandeliers, and images of men in black bowler hats. During the pandemic, the winery team traveled 900 miles to deliver 720 bottles of Much Obliged Chardonnay to 30 care facilities across southern Ontario. 

Megalomaniac Winery Tasting

I tried the 2022 Megalomaniac “Outspoken” Chardonnay Twenty Mile Bench ($20.95 CAD). This unoaked wine is pale gold, with a nose of green apple and stone fruit. It’s citrus-forward and light on the palate, with pear, peach, and apple flavors. The 2020 vintage won a bronze medal at Canada’s 2021 WineAlign National Wine Awards.

The 2022 Megalomaniac “Unconventional” Cab Merlot Twenty Mile Bench ($34.95 CAD) was fresh out of the cellar. The wine was garnet in color. I noted aromas of black fruit and plum. On the palate, there were flavors of blackberries.

Enjoying Niagara Wines

I’m lucky that Niagara is practically in my backyard, and I will visit every season to enjoy the many wine events. In September, you can check out Event in the Tent, a night filled with delicious wine, the best beer, fabulous food trucks, and live dance music. During the January Niagara Grape and Wine Festival, you can explore ice wine at the Cool As Ice Gala. At the April Spring Sparkle, you can sip on sparkling wines and taste foods from local chefs. Niagara vineyards have much to offer: a convenient location, the best award-winning wines, and more.

We invite you to explore Wander With Wonder for more of our favorite wineries and our recommendations for things to do when you visit Canada.