Vineyards & Wine Trails
Lake Erie Wine Country
Lake Erie Wine Country, located in the largest grape growing region east of the Rockies, extends roughly 40 miles from Silver Creek, New York (Chautauqua County) to North East, Pennsylvania. The southern shore of Lake Erie has a long grape and wine heritage that begins with the geological history of the area. During the Ice Age, glaciers descended from the north gouging out great trenches, and brought with them tremendous quantities of Canadian soil, rocks and boulders. As temperatures began to warm these glaciers receded, filling the trenches with glacial melt to form the Great Lakes, and left in their wake, ridges of soil and gravel along the Lake Erie shore. Today, the Chautauqua-Lake Erie wine and grape region produces wines for all tastes, from fruity native Labruscas and exquisite French-American wines to European-style wines. The styles produced here are unique and diverse, resulting in wide spread consumer enthusiasm.
Niagara County
Thirteen award-winning wineries are located along the Niagara Wine Trail. Just 1.5 hours from Toronto or Rochester, 1/2 hour from Buffalo, and minutes from Niagara Falls, the Niagara Wine Trail awaits the traveler seeking a beautiful combination of wineries, sleepy back wood farm vistas, and a truly rural life within an afternoons drive. The Niagara Escarpment and Lake Ontario have created a unique microclimate suitable for the production of world class wines. Experience the beautiful countryside of this area as you spend the day traveling from one winery to another.
Wine Bars
For a list of wine bars in the region, click here.
