We are wine afficionados and are considering a trip to Montreal and Quebec City. I just realized that there are wineries in the Montreal and Quebec City areas and we are thinking of spending a couple of days in one of those regions to do some tasting.
We mostly drink dry reds and always enjoy tasting different ones from different regions. Can anyone tell me if one region (Montreal or Quebec) is more worthwhile than the other? In that, I mean, are the wines of better quality in one region over the other? If so, can you recommend which wineries are good ones? We always share 1 glass when we taste, so we usually go tasting at 4-5 different wineries each day. We would rent a car to reach one of these regions.....is the scenery better in one region than the other? Also, can you recommend a nice little place (reasonably priced) to spend a night or two?
Wineries in the Quebec area
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We have visited many wineries in Quebec in the past several years. A few comments:
Grape winemaking in Quebec is a fairly new industry, it's only taken off in the past 10 years as new varieties of cold climate grapes have been developed. However it's become very popular and there are many fairly extensive vineyards in southern Quebec, mainly between Montreal and Sherbrooke. The biggest concentration is around the Dunham/Cowansville area. I'm not a real expert on wines, but we've found some fairly good whites and rose's. The reds (imho) range from 'ok' to barely drinkable. The ice wines are world class. Needless to say, in a French wine drinking culture like Quebec's these wineries are much visited and enjoyed by the locals. Many of them, like Domanie du Ridge, and Vinoble La Bauge are in beautiful settings. Quebec's wine region is quite modest compared to a Napa or Sonoma type area, but is still a lot of fun to visit. I believe the tasting fees range from free at the more isolated spots to $5 - $10 for the bigger more popular wineries near Dunham. Often on weekends there are festivals with food and music, all with a French twist. There are many other fruit wineries and cideries throughout Quebec, but the majority of the grape wineries are in the area I mentioned. As for places to stay, Frelighsburgh is often considered one of the more charming villages in the area. There are also some simple inexpensive motels in the Farnham area. The one minor drawback to rural Quebec is the dining options are somewhat limited, especially if you've been spoiled by Montreal!
I will add that some of the more interesting towns to stay in are just outside the wine loop - Bromont and Sutton are two scenic ski towns, and Magog is a very pleasant lakeside resort town a short drive from many wineries.
l'Orpailleur is another good vineyard in Dunham in the Eastern Townships with a restaurant.
There is a Route des Vins which has listings for restaurants and places to stay. We have not spent the night in the area
http://www.laroutedesvins.ca/en/
Duck is a specialty of restaurants in Knowlton which is a nice town with lots of antique stores.
there is another route for cideries nearby which you could also visit if interested in sampling the cider.
Thank you all for your replies.....I will continue to research your suggestions. Have a great day!
Making drinkable wines in a cold climate is always challenging. Growing apples comes more naturally and Quebec has made a new specialty out of an old commodity. Hard cider is a drink with a long history, now being refined into an after-dinner dessert "wine" called Cidre de glace. It is patterned after ice wine, a success for the Ontario wine industry, but it has a crisp bite and less suffocating sweetness and sells for about half the price of ice wine. Crank up Google to find pommiers -- apple orchards -- which sell at the gate or bigger labels in the specialized section of government liquor stores. Here is a substantial list from the Quebec alcohol authority of producers in the province
http://mondialcidresdeglace.com/exposantsen.html