Taste Ontario 2025
04 Nov 2025- Details
- Category: On the Road with the Grape Guy
(May 2025) ... Recently, I posted my top wines from Cuvée. A month later, Taste Ontario happened. This is where the Ontario wine producers take over a venue and pour a number of their their wines.
This year, it was held at The Quay in Toronto. While I appreciate the opportunity to taste as many Ontario wines as possible, they secured a venue that was a little confusing. There was a primary room that housed the majority of wines from Lake Erie North Shore, Prince Edward County, and the Bench. But Niagara-on-the-Lake got short-shrifted into a room down a hall and past some sitting area. Plus, not all of them were in there. When I left and boarded my train back home, only then did I realize that anything S and beyond was missing from my tasting notes.
Next year, if the venue remains the same, better signage is a must.
Here is a list of the best wines from Taste Ontario.
THE TOP WINES ...
(with notes)
Divergence Wines NV MV Brut One 
Lincoln Lakeshore - $ 33.00
Chardonnay (42%) and Pinot Noir (58%) from the 2021/2020 vintage - spending 28 months on lees: lovely complexity and acidty and a fantastic finish - lots of biscuits and toasty sensations. (**** ½)
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Bachelder 2022 Chardonnay Les Villages Bench
Niagara Escarpment - $ 34.95
Tropical fruits like pineapple meet pear and nice minerality, here the acidity slaps. (****+)
Creekside Estate Winery 2022 Iconoclast Syrah
St David's Bench - $ 30.00
20 months in oak helps produce a smoky-raspberry wine with lots of pepper - this one is pure Syrah at its core. (****+)
Domaine Queylus 2023 Chardonnay Signature
Niagara Peninsula - $ 26.00
Pretty floral with notes of apple, pear and tropical fruit. (****+)
Kern & Co. 2018 Rapanaro Vineyard Cabernet Franc
Creek Shores - $ 49.00
Nice ripeness of fruit from the mediocre 2018 vintage: smooth and silky across the palate, this one hits the sweep spot for good Franc; best of all, it’s ready to drink. (****+)
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Black Bank Hill 2021 Égalité
Lincoln Lakeshore - $ 40.00
Equal part Cabernet Sauvignon / Merlot / Cabernet Franc - it's from the 2021 vintage, so I expected a light wine. But this one has a surprising fruit driven core. A lovely expression of a wine that had the potential to be so much worse, and yet has turned into something so lovely. It’s an eye-opener as to how good a wine can be in a poor vintage if care is taken – the acidity just takes it up another notch. (****)
Closson Chase Vineyards 2023 Brock Chardonnay
Niagara River - $ 24.95
Good crispness with plenty of apple and pear. (****)
Cloudsley Cellars 2021 Pinot Noir, Hanck Vineyard 
Twenty Mile Bench - $ 53.00
Earthy and fruity, spicy with great, and surprising, licorice notes; finishes pretty and floral. (****)
Cloudsley Cellars 2023 Chardonnay, Twenty Mile Bench
Twenty Mile Bench - $ 36.93
Creamy pineapple puree with apples and spice. (****)
Creekside Estate Winery 2024 Backyard Block Sauvignon Blanc
Creek Shores - $ 24.95
Really zippy and fresh with a lively grapefruit punch. (****)
Hidden Bench Estate Winery 2022 Chardonnay
Beamsville Bench - $ 31.95
Creamy but also has a smoky character; you’ll also find peach and pear fruit with a long finish. (****)
Huff Estates Winery 2023 Huff's Corners Pinot Noir
Prince Edward County - $ 40.00
70% of the wine spends time in neutral oak, keeping the fruitiness, but also adding texture: earthy, cran-cherry- rhubarb and spicy. (****)
Inniskillin Winery 2022 Reserve Cabernet Franc
Niagara Peninsula - $ 19.95
Lovely fruit forward nature with good smoky content. (****)
Kern & Co. 2018 Foxcroft Vineyard Chardonnay
Twenty Mile Bench - $ 42.00
Super pretty wine. Spends time in new oak (25%), has great acid punch; drinks well now, but is on the cusp of old; a little creamed corn and peachy on the finish. I’d drink this now-2026. (****)
Meldville Wines 2023 Sauvignon Blanc
Lincoln Lakeshore - $ 20.00
Vibrant and fresh - lovely and peachy. A good expression of Ontario Savvy B. (****)
Rosehall Run Vineyards 2022 JCR Chardonnay
Prince Edward County - $ 36.00
Nicely balanced fruit core with apple leading the charge. Spends time in 100% barrel French for a mere 6 months, of which 25% is new - nice finish. (****)
Rosehall Run Vineyards 2022 JCR Pinot Noir
Prince Edward County - $ 45.00
Mineral and stony. A solid offering with good acidity, and cranberry-cherry fruit. This one spends 18 months in French oak, of which 25% is new. (****)
The Grange Of Prince Edward 2023 Estate Series Chardonnay
Prince Edward County - $ 34.10
Spicy with a lovely mouthfeel: apple, slightly musque-like, and a long finish. (****)
Trail Estate Winery 2020 Cabernet Franc 
Twenty Mile Bench - $ 58.00
19 months in oak, fruit comes from the Foxcroft vineyard in Niagara: spicy, and fruit forward with notes of blueberry, black cherry and black raspberry. (****)
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THREE-AND-A-HALF PLUS
Bachelder 2022 Pinot Noir Les Villages - Niagara Escarpment ($34.95)
Black Bank Hill 2022 Cabernet Franc - Lincoln Lakeshore ($50.00)
Closson Chase Vineyards 2022 South Clos Chardonnay - Prince Edward County ($50.00)
Divergence Wines 2022 Sauvignon Blanc Brut - Niagara Peninsula ($20.00)
Domaine Queylus 2020 Mountainview Pinot Noir - Lincoln Lakeshore ($80.00)
Drea's Wine Co. 2022 Cabernet Franc - Niagara Peninsula ($36.50)
Henry Of Pelham 2023 The Shadow Rock Estate Sauvignon Blanc - Short Hills Bench ($21.61)
Henry Of Pelham 2023 Three Hills Estate Chardonnay - Short Hills Bench ($20.48)
Inniskillin Winery 2022 Reserve Chardonnay - Niagara Peninsula ($19.95)
Inniskillin Winery 2023 Discovery Series Blanc De Franc - Niagara Peninsula ($23.19)
Redstone Winery 2021 Estate Syrah - Lincoln Lakeshore ($40.95)
The Grange Of Prince Edward 2023 Estate Series Cabernet Franc - Prince Edward County ($36.36)
Westcott Vineyards 2022 Block 76 Chardonnay - Vinemount Ridge ($50.00)
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THREE-AND-A-HALF
Broken Stone Winery 2021 Amour Traditional Method Sparkling - Prince Edward County ($44.95)
Icellars Estate Winery 2024 Cervus - Niagara-on-the-Lake ($25.00)
MW Cellars 2023 Pinot Blanc - Niagara-on-the-Lake ($21.00)
MW Cellars 2024 Sauvignon Blanc - Niagara-on-the-Lake ($21.00)
