Monica spent her birthday giving us the grand tour of the Niagara region - with a definite liquid theme for the day. We left the Toronto area in rain and the grey weather followed us down to the vineyards which sit in the fertile bowl between Lake Ontario and the escarpment to the East. More liquid - of an infinitely more interesting kind - followed two wine tours. The first at Jackson-Triggs, where we tasted the best Pinot Noir in a long time and at Pelliteri, who specialse in Ice Wine. To show we were paying attention, ice wine is made from grapes that are left on the vine until the first frosts; three nights at 8degC or lower has them ready for harvest. The temperatures mean a concentrated grape juice, which is much sweeter than table wine, altough not quite as sweet as European dessert wines. I rather liked the less traditional version ,which was a little sharper to the palate. Suitably fortified, we headed off to Niagara Falls. A fury of water and spray from the huge volume of water plunging over the cataract, whilst the tourist boats below eddyed around in the mist, looking like sticks tossed in a storm. We had lunch at a bar overlooking the falls (and the Canadian, Horseshoe Falls, are definitely the most spectacular of the two), occasionally dampened by the spray. We took a ride on the 'Maid of the Mist' tourist boat to the foot of the falls, taking a communal shower with hordes of similarly blue pack-a-mac clad speactators. You really do get wet and to be at the foot of this boiling, roaring force of water is breathtaking.
We spent the night at Monica's cottage on the shore of Lake Erie, wonderful views across to the USA. We ate Yellow Perch from the lake at a local fish restaurant - still not quite used to the portion sizes...then wine around a fire on the terrace of the cottage with stars overhead and the sound of the waves rippling on the shore. Perfect..
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