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It was early January, and after the excitement of New Year festivities, the cold Canadian winter was not doing much to liven up things in Toronto. My friend and I were looking for things to do on a weekend, when someone mentioned the Ice Wine Festival of Niagara – a ten day festival in the northern Niagara region of Ontario, just a couple of hours drive from Toronto.

With its harsh and long lasting winters, it’s hard to imagine vineyards and wineries in North America. Canada's wine-growing regions are pocket-sized in contrast to the massive regions typical of other wine-producing nations. So, during my early days in Toronto, when I stepped into a restaurant and was offered a long list of wines including a long list of Canadian wines, I was intrigued. Not only was the list of Canadian offerings substantial, but the local restaurants took a certain pride in offering the local make. Our server had also mentioned that to enjoy Canadian wine in all its goodness one had to make a trip to the country’s wine regions.

Canadian wineries are characteristically small, often family-run operations, the kind that have belonged to a family for generations. The country has also established various restrictions on the trading of alcohol among the provinces and hence, many of this country's finest handcrafted and estate wines are available only where they are produced. The only way one can ever sample many of these wines is by visiting the wineries.

On further enquiry I learned that just outside of Toronto, in the province of Ontario was Canada’s very own deep-south, the beautiful Niagara region. Resembling a floating oversized lily pad over the waters of Lake Erie was the Pelee Island that had been cultivating grapes since the 1860s. It was also the site of Canada’s earliest commercial vineyard.

Niagara is the best-known of Canada’s wine regions, representing about 80% of the nation's production. During the ten day festival in January this region is transformed into a wintry wonderland, celebrating one of Canada’s most cherished products, Ontario Icewine. For over two decades, Ontario has been a world leader in the creation of Icewine.

Naturally then, the Ice Wine festival seemed like the perfect time to explore Canadian wines and wine-regions. So, on a cold Saturday morning, armed with large cups of coffee to keep us warm, we began the drive to experience Niagara’s famed wine route.

In less than two hours, we were entering the Niagara region. There were flurries (light snow), and the breath-taking Canadian winter scenery of its hinterlands was stunning. As we drove through the winding lanes of quaint snow-covered villages there was a distinct feeling of getting transported to a kind of wonderland, a winter-wonderland. All along, there were trees with ice-laden branches, bent under the weight of snow, to form wondrous, eye-catching formations. Snow-covered chairs left on front yards of fairy-tale houses on warmer days resembled fluffy white inviting cushions.

The Peller Estates Winery was our first halt. It had stopped snowing, but as we stepped out of the car, we watched our feet sink at least two inches deep into fresh snow. We entered the warm building which was the main office. It also housed a gourmet restaurant, and a wine shop. As part of the festivities to celebrate the Ice Wine, we got an insider glimpse of the incredible local bounty of wine and culinary experiences the Niagara region had to offer. There were ornate ice bars, celebrity chefs talking about the perfect winemaker’s dinner and the best decadent dessert and wine pairings. There were educational winery tours available. We were invited to participate in a wine-workshop where the vintner elaborately explained the different ways of tasting, holding and enjoying all types of wine, the reasons why some wines tasted better when not refrigerated, and the process of making ice wine.

Ice wine, as the name suggests is usually enjoyed ice-cold. But that’s not the reason it is called Ice Wine. It gets its name from the way it is produced. Icewine is a rare dessert wine made from the juice of naturally frozen grapes that have been picked in the middle of a cold Canadian winter. At 43 degrees, the Niagara Peninsula is within the same latitudinal range as Southern France, Rioja in Spain, Chianti Classico in Italy and Oregon. The Niagara Peninsula is the only place in the world where every single year the summers are warm enough to grow fine wine grapes, but the winters are cold enough to make Icewine (but never so cold that the vines do not survive.) Once picked, the grapes are pressed immediately while still frozen. Each frozen grape yields just one drop of intensely frozen juice.

After this educational, enchanting and thoroughly enjoyable tour, we visited the historic Queen Street in old Niagara-on-the-Lake - the perfectly picturesque backdrop to the Ice Wine festival. Here, visitors could sample Icewines and table wine from 20 different Niagara wineries, savour local cuisine, enjoy live entertainment and stroll through the shops of downtown Niagara on the Lake. There is normally a charge for a

tasting of perhaps three vintages, although some wineries waived the fee for customers who bought a take-away bottle or two – which is always a good thing to do when you happen across a wine you really enjoy because few wines from small estate wineries are available at liquor stores.

Just looking at the popularity of the event – there were visitors not just from different parts of Canada, but from all over the world – one can understand why Niagara wineries continued to win the highest awards and accolades for their unique and decadent Ice Wine at international wine competitions.

It was certainly an experience not to be missed.