You can’t go to Prince Edward County without visiting Sandbanks Estate Winery!
Located along the picturesque shores of Lake Ontario, Sandbanks is one of the oldest wineries in the region. They were founded in 2001 by Catherine Langlois — two years before Prince Edward County was even designated a wine growing region by The Grape Growers of Ontario! Since then, they have gone on to win numerous awards for their wines, especially for their Riesling and Baco Noir.
Their Baco Noir (and actually quite a few of their other wines) is available at the LCBO, so I have tried it a few times. I was pretty excited that I was able to visit the actual winery with my best friend, where we were able to sample their other products! Below is a little summary of our experience.
The first thing you see when you enter the grounds is a large house-like building, surrounded by large, well manicured lawns, and rows upon rows of grapevines. The lawns were dotted with colourful Muskoka chairs and tabes, were patrons were enjoying glasses of wine and food. That particular day, there was a local food truck preparing gourmet pizzas in a wood burning oven. The smell wafted through the air, inviting us in.
Sandbanks hosts free vineyard tours three times a day, but we had arrived after the last time slot. Instead, we decided to relaxingly taste-test a few different wines. Tastings are $10 per person for a tasting of 5 wines, or complimentary with the purchase of 2 or more bottles per flight (this is pretty common in PEC). We opted for the second option.
We had the choice of staying inside the main building or tasting outside, under large pergolas. Outdoors appealed to us more — how often can you enjoy wine in front of the very grapes it was made from?
For the tastings, we were handed menus of all the wines available, including descriptions of each. We followed their suggestion of starting with the lightest wines (whites, rosés, and sparkling) before moving on to heavier reds, and ending with a sweet dessert wine. I’m not a fan of sweet wines, so I opted for more white wines, ending with a red.
The first wine I tried was Route 33 White. It is named after the nearby highway that extends down to the County from Kingston. Made from Voignier grapes, it has a slight peachy flavour. It is light and easy to drink. I can see it going well with mild cheeses or really just sipped by itself before a meal. An overall great summer wine. It is pretty popular is often sells out!
I’m a bit of a snob when it comes to chardonnays. I love the luscious, rich taste of a good bottle. They are generally my go-to when I’m in the mood for a white wine. So, of course, I had to try Sandbanks’ Entre Nous Chardonnay Reserve. It is dry and crisp with hints of citrus. I wish it was slightly more buttery, but overall I was impressed. I think this is actually one of the first Canadian chardonnays that I like.
A little different than what I would normally drink, my third sample was the Sparkling Rosé. Smelling like roses and tasting like strawberries with a hint of citrus, it is femininity in a bottle. I found it was more effervescent than truly bubbly, which, in my opinion, makes it an enjoyable summer wine. Despite the tasting notes, it is not overly sweet. I was surprised with how much I liked this wine and I actually took home two bottles of it!
Stepping back into the white wine realm again, because this next one has big flavour. This interesting wine just won a bronze medal at the National Wine Awards of Canada (literally only a few weeks ago). Bay of Quinte is wine crafted with apples grown in Sandbanks’ orchard — in the Bay of Quinte. I was expecting it to taste like cider, but was pleasantly surprised with its dryness and floral notes. In fact, it tasted like apple with apple blossom and bit of citrus, with a refreshing, crisp finish. Admittedly, I can’t imagine myself drinking more than one glass, but I would recommend trying this if you are looking for something different.
The final wine of my tasting was the Entre Nous Foch Reserve. It is described as “a full bodied velvety red with notes of jammy plum, cherry, raspberry, and chocolate”. I think the tasting notes are spot on, but I think this wine is somewhere in between medium and full bodied (not a bad thing!). I did a little bit of research on the grape variety, Maréchal Foch, and found out that it is a hybrid French red wine grape variety. It is widely grown in North America because it is cold hardy and disease resistant, with good flavour. I honestly really liked this wine a lot, but the price point was a little higher than I wanted to spend, so I ended up not getting it. I regret that decision!
After the wine tasting, we headed back inside to make our purchases. Their newest wine, Summer Rosé, was on full display, along with all the medals that the winery has received. As I mentioned above, I decided to buy the Sparkling Rosé, which I plan to save for our next Girls’ Night.
Overall, I really enjoyed this experience at Sandbanks Winery. The wines were great and the estate was beautiful. I hope to return and take a vineyard tour! I would recommend visiting this winery if you are exploring Prince Edward County.