Chateau des Charmes - Niagara-on-the-Lake, ONT
Posted by: 
cldisme
N 43° 09.389 W 079° 07.516
17T E 652419 N 4779898
One of the finest wine tasting experiences I ever had.
Waymark Code: WM20C5
Location: Ontario, Canada
Date Posted: 08/14/2007
Views: 120
We arrived too late to participate in any of the tours, so I cannot comment about its quality. Tours are limited to 11:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m. for the English speaking tour and 12:00 for the French speaking tour. The tours are limited to 30 people on a first-come basis. The charge for the tour is $5.00 which does include three tastings from the Estate Bottled and Single Vineyard series.
Tasting, however, I can comment on.
The cost per tasting varies upon the "quality" of the wine - meaning basic varietal wines are less than the ice wines. Typically, the tasting fee ranged between $0.50 and $2.00.
The staff knew their wine and knew how to read the customer.
We set down our Twoonie (we are not big spenders), and marked what we thought we would like to try. After two tastings and listening to our comments, the staffer assisting us told us not to bother with the other wines we wanted to try because we would not like them. Instead he suggested two others that might appeal to us and our price range.
We are not the extreme wine connoisseurs some people can be, and I kind of liked the write-up they gave a certain wine, so I insisted on trying it. Our staffer was correct, it was not what we liked. So if you go, listen to the staff. They want to sell you the wine and they need to match the wine to the person.
So, we were done with the sampling we paid for, but the staffer returned with a glass of their flagship red, the 2002 Equuleus, as a gift since we seemed to know what we liked in wine. It was something we did not consider because it was out of our normal price range.
WOW! No wonder they consider it their flagship red. It had everything you could want in a red wine. Does it need to breathe before serving? No, just pop and pour and enjoy.
Like I said, they know how to match their wine to the person. Just one more bottle of '02 Equuleus was sold that day.
Winery Size: Large 10,000 to 99,999 Cases
Attached vineyard?: yes
Tasting Room Available?: yes
Days and hours of operation: Daily 10-6
Charge for tasting?: 1.00 (listed in local currency)
Tours Available: yes
Cost of Tour: 5.00 (listed in local currency)
Phone #: 905- 262-4219
Address:
1025 York Road
Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario
Winery, Wine Cooperative, or Tasting Center's Website: [Web Link]
Types of wines:
All of good quality from Ontario vineyards:
Whites (Riesling, Chardonnay, etc.)
Red (Cabernet, Pinot Noir, Merlot, etc.)
Icewine (Riesling & Vidal)
Best Wine Tasted: 2002 Equuleus (50% Cabernet Sauvignon; 25% Cabernet Franc; 25% Merlot)
Rate the Best Wine Tasted: 
Price per Bottle: 35.00 (listed in local currency)
2nd Best Wine Tasted: 2004 Cabernet-Merlot
Rate the 2nd Best Wine Tasted: 
Price per Bottle #2: 20.00 (listed in local currency)
Winery Club: Yes
Wine Club Description:: Not listed
Overall Comments:: Not listed
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Visit Instructions:
All logs must be the result of an actual visit to the winery, wine cooperative, or wine tasting center. Any logs posted otherwise will be deleted. After your tasting list the top 2 wines you liked and rate them on a scale of 1-5 (5 is great) and the price per bottle (see winery listing for an example). Original winery lister is exempt as they listed this information on the original winery listing.