A couple weeks ago, my husband and I spent two days in the Niagara-On-The-Lake wine region to celebrate our anniversary. We've been to NOTL many times before but there is always a different winery or something yet to be discovered.
Both my husband and I have worked in the hospitality industry and as a result a hospitable experience is even more important to us. We started the day out in the village of NOTL. I had packed a picnic and all we needed was a cold bottle of wine to go with it. Since we were in the village we made a stop at the Vineyards Estate Wines (Hillebrand and Peller wine store) to pick up a chilled bottle.
At the wine shop, someone greeted us at the door, good start I thought to myself. We approached the wine fridge to have a look to see what was available. We asked "can we taste some of the wines before we buy a bottle?" The response was, we charge for samples but I guess I could give you a small taste. Okay no longer feeling the hospitality here. I thought that the point of visiting wineries was to try wine so that you would buy a bottle and one that you like! We'll let that one go, after all we are on our anniversary so no point in letting a little shortness from someone change our mood.
We took a look at the options in the fridge and out of about five or so Gewurzts/Rieslings we could only sample one. We tried it and it wasn't for us. The person recommended a bottle that was $25. But we can't taste that one. Hmmm $25 for a picnic wine that we can't taste. Again anniversary in mind, we decided to purchase the bottle and left.
Before we stopped in the village, we dropped in our hotel to see if we could check in, we knew we were early at 10 am but we thought we'd give it a try. My husband travels a lot for business and stays at the same hotels to build up loyalty points for free hotel nights. He is used to being greeted with a warm hello and welcome back Mr. A. No such experience this time. Not even a hello which in my book is the bare minimum you should expect anywhere in the world.
At this point I was thinking that hospitality was indeed dead. In a village that lives on tourism what has happened to appreciating guests? What happened to making them feel at home and welcome?
We enjoyed our picnic lunch and the Hillebrand Gewurzts/Riesling was indeed very good. I would debate with hubby whether it was worth the price tag but in any case we did enjoy - thank goodness after the cool reception we experienced.
We had stopped on our way to the village at the tourism office for a map of the wine region. The person who assisted us also provided us with a couple of free wine tastings which we gladly accepted. One of the coupons was for Inniskillin. It had been years since we had been to Inniskillin so we thought we'd give it a re-try. The coupon we had was actually for a tour. Joe and I have toured wineries in California (Napa, Sonoma, Livermore), Argentina (Mendoza), France (Alsace, Champagne) and of course Canada (Niagara) so we did not have a need to do yet another tour.
As we arrived at the winery we were greeted by a couple of people who were tending to a market like area. The area was set up with different food and wine tasting stations which seemed nicely done. I showed the person the card and asked if it would be possible to exchange it for a tasting instead of a tour. She kindly directed us inside and said someone would be able to assist us. Since
Inniskillin is a large wine producer I did not expect them to be overly welcoming or flexible. I was wrong.
Once inside I proceeded to the customer service area, meanwhile someone had already greeted Joe and asked if they could assist him. He caught my attention and I went over to the house wine tasting area. In my mind I was thinking this person is not going to help us. Again wrong. The young woman was very warm and welcoming. I showed her the ticket and she said no problem. Let's start you with a few house wines and then you can take the ticket to the ice wine bar for a taste of one of the ice wines. Wow I thought I didn't even have to negotiate! Good start. She began pouring wines for us to try. When I asked my husband to save a little taste of one of his that I wanted to try he forgot and finished it. No problem the young woman poured me another glass. We had a wonderful chat with her. She even suggested some other places to visit based on our taste in wine. Overall we were enjoying the experience.
Off to the ice wine bar. We presented the ticket, explained the situation and again pleasantly surprised that there was no problem and in fact we were given back the ticket in case we wanted to come back again sometime for tour. Wow! Now our faith in hospitality has been restored. We are provided a menu from which we can each try one ice wine. Joe chose a red and I (of course) chose a sparkling. The sample is a very generous pour. I take me first sip and think oh my, I have actually died and gone to heaven! The cost of Joe's wine by the bottle is $99 and mine was $70. Comparing this to our experience in the Vineyards wine shop - well no comparison really!
While enjoying our wine we have a conversation with the sampler and are really having a great experience. We want to tell the manager. One of the staff finds the manager so we can express our appreciation. Overall very nice experience.
We make our way back to the hotel to check in. A little warmer reception this time, we did get a hello. Long story short, our stay at this hotel was a comp from a poor experience we had on a previous visit. We take our key and our bags up to the room and are very surprised to see the room door open. Hmm... did we get the wrong room? We look at our card, no we have the correct room. The room has not been cleaned and the door has been blocked open. Joe calls the front desk and they say they will be coming up with new keys for a different room.
One of the things that bugs when checking into a hotel is when the key doesn't work in the door. You've lugged all your stuff up to your room, you get there and the door won't open so you have to schlep all the way back to the front desk. At least the staff member was going to meet us. Meanwhile we are standing in the hall waiting. She arrives about 10-15 mins later apologises, presents us with new keys, a Tims certificate and a free appetizer at the bar. Okay nice gesture.
We take a break in our new, clean room before heading out for a couple more wine tastings. We have a coupon for Peller and for Hillebrand. Since our experience at the Vineyard store wasn't pleasant I wasn't feeling over enthusiastic about either but free wine tasting is free wine tasting! Off we go.
We stop at Hillebrand, overall experience is fine, nothing special. We stop in at
Peller. We have been to Peller more times than I can remember and usually we have dinner there, but not this time.
The tasting room is very busy but we do eventually find a little place at the bar. We show our certificates and are presented with the tasting menu that we can have with the certificate. Not the best options but that's okay. I ask if there is any way that I can change my first white choice to a sparkling. The person says, sure no problem, I can just add a sample of that to your tasting. Okay I'm liking the attitude here. We have a chat with the person explain that we are pretty familiar with the winery have visited many times and usually dine there. We try the wines, most of them are a bit light for me but we did have a very pleasant experience. When we are leaving, he offers us a wine tasting coupon for Hillebrand (we'll use that next time we visit).
Following our cool reception at the Vineyard store our feelings about Peller has been restored. Overall, we had a pleasant experience and we'll look forward to using our tasting at Hillebrand again next time.
We are done our tasting for the evening, head back to the hotel for a break and freshen up before dinner. This time we have decided to forgo the rather expensive dinner at Peller for a very affordable one at the Niagara College. At about half the price of what we would pay at one of the top restaurant in the region we feel it's pretty good value. The wine menu is pretty decent and the mark ups are less (I believe) than most other restaurants. The atmosphere is not fantastic and people tend to dress pretty casual but all in all a pretty good experience/value. All the food and wine is catching up with us so we retire back to the hotel for the night.
Next morning we decide to visit a couple more wineries on our way home. I had picked up a brochure at the tourist office the prior day for a winery which I thought Joe would enjoy. The winery is called Alvento and the brochure says they make Italian inspired wines. Since Joe and I (especially Joe) have never been impressed with Ontario reds, I think it's worth a try. As we are making our way to the winery we happen to see a sign for
13th Winery. I like the look of the branding so we decide to make a stop there first.
We had never been to the 13th before. As we drive up we see a nice market area with a bakery, looks good. Pies look good too. The young girl behind the counter tells us there are fresh pies just coming out of the oven if we want a warm one. Oh yes I think I will be taking a cherry pie home with me!
We have a wander around the market, tell the young girl we'll have a tasting and be back for the pie. We head across to the tasting area and there is a beautiful boardroom set up with a natural wood table and art on the walls. The feeling of the space is clean modern with a nod to tradition.
We enter the tasting room, very nicely set up. We are greeted and presented with a tasting menu. We are told that if you buy two bottles of wine, tastings are complimentary. That's pretty fair. Officially, tastings are $5 for 4. We only buy wine if we like it so we are prepared to pay the $5. We decide to share a tasting as we still have another winery to visit and are driving home so no point in over doing it. We select some wines to taste again engage in a discussion with the sampler. She pours a couple of extra samples for us to try. Nice strategy the one we like is quite pricey!
Overall we enjoyed the samples and did buy a couple of bottles. We head back towards the bakery to pick up our pie. On the way we are greeted by a gentleman in overalls. He thanks us for visiting the winery. Nice. We start a conversation with him. I tell him that I find the winery very charming and that it is our first time visiting even though we have been to the area many times before. We chat for probably about 15 minutes. He shares information about the winery, how they've tried to restore the building respecting the history etc. During that time every single person who walked past him, he stops to greet and genuinely thanks them for visiting.
This stop along our way was not planned but I'm glad we visited. We had a pleasant experience tasting the wines and seeing the winery. I was especially impressed with the overall hospitality and the genuine nature in which it was expressed. I really sensed the gentleman's genuine appreciation of people visiting and his desire for them to have a wonderful experience. As it turns out that gentleman was Mr. Whitty owner of the winery and in my opinion a wonderful example of hospitality as it should be in Niagara On The Lake. I would highly recommend a visit to the winery.
We continued on our way to visit
Alvento. I knew that the winery would be small from the description on the brochure, I had no idea how imitate the experience would be. The winery is owned and operated by a couple, Bruno and Elyane.
Upon our arrival we were welcomed by Elyane. The small tasting room is decorated with a poster from Teatro alla Scala and a photograph of their original wine cellar in Tuscany. We start our tasting and the wine maker Bruno pops in, just out of the fields. We engage in a conversation with him and try several of the wines, some of which are French Bordeaux style. Bruno takes us for a quick tour of the cellar room.
We are impressed with the quality of the wines and the fact that the two of them run the entire operation by themselves with the exception of two seasonal field workers. The reds are by far the best reds we have had from Ontario. We purchased a couple of bottles and will definitely go back again. I'd highly recommend a visit to this winery and I am certain you will not be going home with out at least a bottle.
Enjoy your next trip to the Niagara wine region and hopefully you will find the art of hospitality alive in the places you visit.
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