Rhian Lubin
PCHEERS Below, Trius Winery. Above, poutine outine, maple syrup and butter tarts are all things to tick off on the Canadian foodie wish list. But for me, it’s the country’s wine that tops all of the above.
Although best known for its sweet ice wine, Canada is steadily gaining recognition for its excellent reds and whites produced in the wineries of the Niagara region, home to a certain famous waterfall.
Before hitting the vineyards, we stopped off in Toronto, which has the nearest airport to Niagara, after a comfortable seven-and-a-half hour flight. The cosmopolitan city is a blend of the old and the new.
Our hotel, the beautiful Art Deco Fairmont Royal York, conveniently located opposite the city’s central train station, was the tallest building in the Commonwealth when it was completed in 1929. Now it sits nestled beneath towering skyscrapers, a sign of how much the city has been built upwards in the last century.
The rooms in the grand Fairmont are pristine, the beds are seriously comfortable and a pre-dinner aperitif in the elegant bar with its velvet sofas was just the ticket after the long flight.
Dinner in the hotel’s brasserie, Reign, is a fantastic
Rooms at Fairmont Royal York option if venturing out into the freezing cold doesn’t appeal. A signature cocktail followed by the special of scallops and the rack of lamb for mains went down a treat.
But the highlight has to be the breakfast buffet – my eyes were bigger than my stomach at the sight of the mountain of delicious food in front of me.
There’s also an à la carte menu in the unlikely scenario you can’t find anything to your fancy.
Fuelled up, we set off on a walking tour through Toronto, following fabulous historian and guide Bruce
WELCOMING Shaw Club Hotel
Bell as he spilled out the secrets of the city.
Starting at St Lawrence Market, we sampled Carousel Bakery’s signature peameal bacon sandwich before visiting the famous Anglican Cathedral Church of St James and the iconic redbrick Gooderham Building – also known as the Flatiron Building.
We then escaped the cold weather, heading below street level to explore the labyrinth of shops and restaurants which make up the underground city.
Emerging from the depths, we headed 1,151ft above ground for a slap-up lunch at award-winning 360 Restaurant in the CN Tower.
It’s a little disorientating as the tower spins slowly around while you eat, but the views of Toronto and Lake Ontario are incredible.
Before lunch was over, we’d already planned where to go for tea, and Eastern Mediterranean restaurant Byblos in uptown Toronto proved a good choice.
Sharing dishes makes this a sociable meal, helped by a superb wine list.
We ended the evening at Toronto Zoo, a 45-minute drive away, walking off the calories on a 1.5km magical trail through a memorable light show – an immersive experience of dazzling lights and video projections (torontozoo.com/terralumina).
The next day, Toronto’s skyline faded away as the landscape transformed into sprawling countryside on the approach to the quaint town of Niagara-on-the-Lake. Every year the historic Ontario town plays host to the Niagara Icewine Festival, a celebration of the dessert wine produced from grapes frozen on the vine.
En route we stopped at two vineyards – first the family-run Westcott vineyard in the village of Jordan, where we were treated to a tasting including their award-winning sparkling wine. And we learned many of their wines are now stocked in the UK (westcot
My eyes were bigger than my stomach at sight of food mountain