Like Mike Tyson, wine is usually robust, is often boxed, and should never influence tattooing decisions. Imbibe the spirit of a champion with today's Groupon to The Grange of Prince Edward Vineyards and Estate Winery in Hillier. Choose from the following options:
For $15, you get a group tour and tasting for two (a $30 value), which includes:
- A private tour of the vineyards and winery with historical, viticultural, and oenological details
- A guided tasting of three wines
- A bottle of wine for the group to take home
For $25, you get a barrel-cellar tour for two (a $50 value), which includes:
- A private tour of the vineyards and winery with historical, viticultural, and oenological details
- A guided tasting of three wines in the barrel cellar
- A monogrammed tasting glass for each guest to take home
For $69, you get a vineyard picnic tour for two (a $150 value), which includes:
- A guided walking tour or working experience in the vineyard
- A picnic lunch in the vineyard
- A tour of the winemaking facilities
- A monogrammed tasting glass for each guest to take home
The Grange's guides lead guests through 60 rolling acres of vines and demonstrate the craft of their expert winemakers. Guests on regular group tours and tastings embark on a more than 45-minute circuit, taste three in-production premium wines at a bar in the former hayloft, and depart with a select bottle of wine. On barrel-cellar tours, up to 12 oenological enthusiasts saunter through the winery's grape fields, nurseries, and old-fashioned laser-tag arenas in a 90-minute journey.
In a two-hour vineyard picnic tour, pairs jaunt through the verdant fields while guides expound on their history, viticulture, and moonlighting careers as soccer pitches. Incite jealousy in surrounding vines during a gourmet picnic, indulging mouths with bites of brandied duck pâté or smoked salmon, a picnic salad, local artisan cheeses, and berries imbued with Grand Marnier, all paired with winemaker-selected wine. Participants may also opt to spend morning hours with winery crew to tend grapes and fend off attacks from rival hops. Tours continue with a jaunt to the rustic winery barn, erected in 1826, and culminate in the limestone barrel cellar for guided tastings. On the picnic and barrel-cellar tours, participants depart with a monogrammed cellar tasting glass to help eyes share the tongue's fond memories.
The Grange of Prince Edward Vineyards and Estate Winery
For Caroline Granger, Victoria Day 2001 marks the exact moment that her dream took root, both figuratively and literally. It was on that May morning that a year of field preparation culminated in the planting of 10 acres of chardonnay, gamay, and pinot noir grapes that served as her winery’s inaugural crop. In the years since, Caroline has tirelessly overseen the growth and development of her crops, which have now expanded to include six types of grapes cultivated across 60 acres of clay-gravel soil.
Caroline and her team welcome visitors to her family’s 600-acre farm with tours through the scenic vineyards, around the winery housed inside a repurposed barn built in 1826, and into the barrel cellar––the barn's former dairy-milking parlour—where the staff produces and then stores their wines. Guides regale visitors with a history of the vineyard and viticulture as well as important winemaking facts. A refurbished hayloft boasting its original handmade beams and a 20-foot limestone fireplace crafted from farm materials serves as the tasting room wherein The Grange’s sommelier shepherds tongues through sips of wine.
In warmer weather, private events reach full swing by the millpond's bubbling waterfall on a stone-and-wrought-iron patio, where revellers avoid the poor social skills of scarecrows found on most farms. As part of Sustainable Winemaking Ontario, The Grange of Prince Edward's vintners protect their piquancy with sustainable pest-management programs and keep grapes free-range to craft their array of award-winning house-labelled wines. Additionally, a cadre of chefs keeps visitors sated with house-made picnics that can be enjoyed amid the winery’s pastoral surrounds.