We love visiting my parents in Niagara-on-the-lake. It’s like having our own personal bed and breakfast. This week we went to Chicks and Chocolate (a pairing event offered at Peller Estates) to sample wines and chocolate, as well as their neighbouring winery, Two Sisters.

We started in the upper tasting room with four glasses and four intriguing chocolates.

We began with the sparkling Ice Cuvée Rosé, a Champagne-style wine infused with icewine, to cleanse our palates.

Then we moved on to one of my favourites, the 2012 Sur Lie Chardonnay: a huge, buttery Chardonnay that reminds me of oatmeal raisin cookies. We paired it with a milk chocolate, and learned about listening to the break of the chocolate, smelling the fresh cut edge, feeling the back of the chocolate and pressing it to the roof of our mouth.

There are worse ways to spend an afternoon. Our hour took us through all four of the pairings. Next, the merlot: a ripe, fruit forward wine, paired with the third chocolate.

We concluded our tasting with an incredible Cab Franc Icewine, as José guided us through the proper tasting methods.

It’s always good to get a refresher. Despite working at Peller a number of years ago, I love learning new things and trying wines; the best advice: you are never wrong. No one else can tell you what you smell or taste.

As we left Peller, we decided to stop in at Two Sisters, a winery I had never visited before. The imposing facade certainly seems to have something to do with the high price-point for their wines. Each detail of the interior was equally well-chosen for visual impact.

All told, this is a lovely way to spend the day; I hope one day you get a chance to try Niagara’s unique wines, influenced by our cold climate and escarpment, and to experience the hospitality of our sweet, chilly in Spring, but wholly welcoming peninsula.