Long Dog Winery in Milford is a must visit for lovers of Chardonnay and Pinot Noir as this is their focus. Finding that the terroir of their land is similar to Burgundy, Victoria and her husband, Winemaker James, planted Chardonnay and Pinot Noir vines in 1999. Their first commercial vintage was in 2004. All the vintages since continue to confirm to them that wine is made predominantly in their vineyard by diligent management. The Long Dog name for their winery comes from their sweet wire-haired dachshunds. Recommended: 2010 Top Dog which was just bottled.
Exultet Estates is another winery in Milford producing wine with 100% PEC fruit from their vineyards planted in 2004. I had a lively conversation with Winemaker Gerry and his wife Leah who are very passionate about their vineyards which are hand-tended and grapes that are hand-picked producing about 1000 cases annually. Recommended wine: 2012 The Blessed Chardonnay, Gerry suggests decanting this one.
It was a hot summer day when we arrived at Three Dog Winery in Picton where we were met by you guessed it, three friendly dogs, and their owners Sacha and John.
One of the newer wineries in PEC, Three Dog Winery in Picton began with plantings of Pinot Gris in 2000 followed by Pinot Noir a couple of years later. I tasted their Vidal, a refreshing white wine made in a dry style which is about to be released - a great patio wine! My husband and I also tasted their 2013 Pinot Grigio, a perfect wine for the warm weather which we enjoyed on their inviting deck overlooking vineyards while our son cooled off with a Freezee.
That's it for my winery visits, but I will leave you with this. In Sandbanks Provincial Park there is an abundant amount of grapevines growing, albeit not the kind that anyone is likely to produce table wine from. The Riverbank Grape (Vigne des rivages), from Genus and species Vitis riparia serves as ground cover en masse near the shores of Lake Ontario. And although it is not going to make for good wine, sources say it is an acidic and juicy edible fruit that can be eaten raw or dried, the leaves can be used for wrapping and cooking other foods, tendrils can be eaten, the sap can be used as a sweet drink, and lastly the animals sure like it!