Prince Edward Bounty: a hedonist’s guide to eating and drinking in Ontario wine country
Prince Edward Bounty: a hedonist’s guide to eating and drinking in Ontario wine country
In Prince Edward County, $1.3 million buys a lot of real of estate—an entire 19th-century inn, to be precise. That’s how much Jeff Stober, the founder of Queen West’s artsy Drake Hotel, recently spent on Wellington’s historic Devonshire Inn, which he will convert into a high-end restaurant and boutique hotel next spring. He’s the latest in a string of urbanites turning the County into a wine country destination to rival Niagara—only smaller, scruffier and hipper. Since 2001, newbie vintners, dreaming of grape-stained feet and sleepy-town life, have set up more than 30 boutique wineries in the County, producing some brilliant wines from the area’s limestone-laced soils. The food scene, too, has rapidly evolved past pick-your-own-berry patches into eclectic farm-to-table dining with a distinctly Toronto edge (wood-burning pizza ovens, charcuterie, fancy-pants cocktails). City escapees—those who can’t ditch their corporate jobs to raise goats—now hightail it to Wellington, Bloomfield and Picton for a weekend’s worth of edenic vineyard tours, tipsy tastings and produce yanked fresh from the dirt. Here, we pick the best (and newest) places to eat, drink and sleep off the hangover, County style.
OUR GUIDE TO PRINCE EDWARD COUNTY
FRESH OBSESSED
Foodie secrets from chef Jamie Kennedy, the patron saint of Prince Edward County
“I love to stop by Schroedter’s for their sandwiches. They have great gluten-free alternatives, too.”
1492 Hwy 62, RR 1, Bloomfield, 613-393-2823.
“Redtail, an off-the-grid winery, makes amazing pinot gris.” 422 Partridge Hollow Rd., Consecon, 613-965-0893.
“I buy the best local asparagus from Green Ridge Farms’ roadside stand.”
1002 Ridge Rd., RR 1, Picton, 613-393-2986.
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- Some of Ontario’s best chefs, including Rocco Agostino of Pizzeria Libretto, Chris McDonald of Cava, Craig Harding of Campagnolo and <em>Top Chef </em>contestant Carl Heinrich, will throw the ultimate locavore dinner party to benefit Autism Ontario. They’ll be joined by wine world heavy-hitters Frédéric Picard of Huff, Deborah Paskus from Closson Chase and Norm Hardie, who will tap six of their best barrels for pairings. After dinner: live music, dancing and dignified drunkery. June 29. $150. <em>Huff Estates Winery, 2274 County Rd. 1, Bloomfield, 613-393-1414.</em>
- 1 | Six Barrels for Six Chefs
- 1 | Six Barrels for Six Chefs
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- Cynthia Peters, who used to be a personal chef in Toronto and released a cookbook (<em>The Art of Herbs</em>), opened her culinary school in 2010 after relocating to a 40-acre Bloomfield property. She teaches farm-to-table classes in the immaculate, tricked-out kitchen of her 19th-century farmhouse. For the bargain price of $85 per person, students can take a four-hour Tuscan cooking class and learn how to prepare a four-course rustic Italian meal, which could include luxe dishes like handmade ravioli with locally grown mushrooms and chèvre in sage-butter sauce. Groups of four to 10 can book a private class for $100 each, which starts with shopping for the day’s produce at local farms. <em>618 Burr Rd., 10 minutes north of Bloomfield, 613-922-9194.</em>
- 2 | From the Farm Cooking School
- 2 | From the Farm Cooking School
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- Brother-sister team Alexandre and Melanie Fida have given Angéline’s, the long-standing fine dining room, an urban make-under. It’s now a little bit County (the Victorian dining room retains its original charm) and a little bit Parkdale (the place now looks like a cottage-inspired lounge and serves up bourbon cocktails). It’s a great spot for charcuterie and cheese, as well as a few hearty Italian dishes, like lamb ravioli (pictured). <em>433 Main St., Bloomfield, 613-393-3301. </em>
- 3 | The Hubb at Angéline’
- 3 | The Hubb at Angéline’
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- Scarborough couple Henry Willis and Natalie Normand moved their bakery to Bloomfield last year. They renovated a 140-year-old dairy barn on their 13-acre property and built a wood-burning oven using bricks reclaimed from a demolished Picton church. They hand-knead 1,000 loaves of sourdough a week to supply local vendors. There’s no storefront yet, but their heavenly loaves, like cider-raisin bread, are available at restaurants around town, including Agrarian, a new wine and cheese bar in Bloomfield. <em>275 Main St., 613-243-9888.</em>
- 4 | Humble Bread
- 4 | Humble Bread
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- Dedicated Toronto foodies have been known to drive to Bloomfield just to perch outside this cheery shop in a Muskoka chair with a cone. Lines of patrons debating the 30-odd freshly churned options snake out the door. Save yourself the deliberations and order the apple pie flavour. For each batch, three house-baked pies are blended—crust and all—into silky vanilla ice cream. <em>271 Main St., Bloomfield, 613-393-5433.</em>
- 5 | Slickers Ice Cream
- 5 | Slickers Ice Cream
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- Richard Johnston (a former Scarborough MPP) and Vida Zalnieriunas (a psychotherapist) have opened up their 140-acre property and vineyard for guests to wander. On weekends, pit masters from barbecue joint Charnivore serve pork sandwiches under the maple trees near the property’s pioneer cemetery. Live concerts by the likes of Jill Barber and Sarah Harmer are announced in the Cairns newsletter, so sign up before you go. <em>17432 Loyalist Parkway, five minutes west of Wellington, 613-399-2992.</em>
- 6 | By Chadsey’s Cairns Winery
- 6 | By Chadsey’s Cairns Winery
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- Norm Hardie’s Old World–style wines are the County’s most exported. (Just try to get your hands on a bottle of his Melon de Bourgogne, a crisp white developed specifically to pair with oysters; Toronto restaurants snap up most cases within days of their release.) The 60-seat patio overlooks a creek and the lush vineyards, and features a wood-burning oven. On weekends, chefs trained by Rocco Agostino, the godfather of Neapolitan pizza in Toronto, crank out thin-crust pies. Our favourite, the Alsatian flammkuchen with bacon and sour cream, is best devoured with a bottle of 2009 County pinot noir. <em>1152 Greer Rd., south of Hillier, 613-399-5297.</em>
- 7 | Norman Hardie
- 7 | Norman Hardie
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- A craft vodka, gin, whisky and rum distillery on an 80-acre former hops farm, Sixty-Six offers tastings of their small-batch elixirs in an elaborate 1874 mansion built by the property’s original hops grower, Bert Cooper (no relation to the Mad Man). The pine vodka, distilled from whole-wheat grains and infused with pine needles, tastes the way Christmas trees smell—fresh, green, potent and nostalgic. Tours of the distillery are offered on summer weekends. Demonstrations in the barrel-making barn can be arranged by appointment. <em>66 Gilead Rd., Bloomfield, 613-393-1890.</em>
- 8 | Sixty-Six Gilead Distillery
- 8 | Sixty-Six Gilead Distillery
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- Producing small-batch vintages since 1999, Closson Chase was one of the area’s first serious wineries, and it’s still one of the most lauded. Viticulturist Deborah Paskus uses organic and biodynamic growing methods to produce her award-winning chardonnays and pinot noirs. Guests can bring picnic lunches and enjoy a glass of wine (request a chardonnay or pinot from 2009, an excellent vintage for Closson Chase) in the flower garden overlooking the vineyards. <em>629 Closson Rd., Hillier, 613-399-1418. </em>
- 9 | Closson Chase
- 9 | Closson Chase
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- The main draw to this cider house on Prince Edward Bay isn’t the bubbly, although it’s very good. It’s the spectacular view of Lake Ontario. After soaking it in on the patio with a pint of peach-apple cider (that tastes nothing like the kind you drank in high school) and a wood-fired pizza, guests can meander around the heritage apple orchard. <em>657 Bongards Rd., Waupoos East, 613-476-1022.</em>
- 10 | County Cider Company
- 10 | County Cider Company
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- Last year, Calgarians Sian and David Fitzpatrick turned the manse beside Picton’s United Church, which had been sitting empty for years, into a boutique inn. Inspired by hotels in London and Paris, the couple maintained the history of the 1906 exterior, but completely gutted and upscaled the interior. All seven rooms have spa-like ensuites, fireplaces and luxury linens, and the sprawling grounds feature a waterfall, pond, outdoor pool and hot tub. Book early to score suite 6, the Manse’s swankiest digs, in a vaulted octagonal room overlooking the church’s clock tower. <em>10 Chapel St., Picton, 1-877-676-1006.</em>
- 11 | The Manse
- 11 | The Manse
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- 1 | Six Barrels for Six Chefs<br />2 | From the Farm Cooking School<br />3 | The Hubb at Angéline’s<br />4 | Humble Bread <br />5 | Slickers Ice Cream<br />6 | By Chadsey’s Cairns Winery <br />7 | Norman Hardie<br />8 | Sixty-Six Gilead Distillery<br />9 | Closson Chase<br />10 | County Cider Company<br />11 | The Manse
- Prince Edward County | Map
- Prince Edward County | Map
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. City escapees—those who can’t ditch their corporate jobs to raise goats—now hightail it to Wellington, Bloomfield and Picton for a weekend’s worth of edenic vineyard tours, tipsy tastings and produce yanked fresh from the dirt. Here, we pick the best (and newest) places to eat, drink and sleep off the hangover, County style.
OUR GUIDE TO PRINCE EDWARD COUNTY
EAT »
DRINK »
STAY »
MAP »
FRESH OBSESSED
Foodie secrets from chef Jamie Kennedy, the patron saint of Prince Edward County
“I love to stop by Schroedter’s for their sandwiches. They have great gluten-free alternatives, too.”
1492 Hwy 62, RR 1, Bloomfield, 613-393-2823.
“Redtail, an off-the-grid winery, makes amazing pinot gris.” 422 Partridge Hollow Rd., Consecon, 613-965-0893.
“I buy the best local asparagus from Green Ridge Farms’ roadside stand.”
1002 Ridge Rd., RR 1, Picton, 613-393-2986.
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A stop at Black Prince Winery in Picton is well worthwhile – they have a great selection of wines at good prices.