Friday 12 April 2013

Travelling in Ontario-More Prince Edward County

When I started this series on Prince Edward County I had forgotten there were so many great places to visit in the area.  I'm just skimming the surface with what I have shown you in my 3 previous blogs and with this final blog on the County.  Continuing on with featuring a few more wineries in the area it is my hope that I have given you a small snapshot of what awaits you when you visit the area.  There is a winery I don't have any pictures of but it's one of the wineries in the area that has the most consistent and reasonably priced wines.  That winery is Rose Hall Run and it's located in Wellington, just down the road from Casa Dea and Hardie Estates on Greer Rd.  Their Cab Franc is a stand-out but all their wines are fantastic.  They also have a small deli in the tasting room where you can pick up the fixings for a nice picnic of meats and cheeses to go with your wine.

Before we get to the wineries, I wanted to share a few pictures of the area.  The first is a view of downtown Picton.  Such a pretty little town.


This picture was taken at Little Bluff Conservation area off County Rd. 13 in South Bay.  It's a bit hard to find but the view is spectacular and it's a great place to enjoy a picnic on a sunny day! It sits on top of a 20 metre high limestone bluff and overlooks Prince Edward Bay.  You can take a path down to the cobblestone beach and there are also hiking trails.



View from Little Bluffs. Great limestone bluffs!





This is a view of the cove on Prince Edward Bay at Little Bluff.  Boaters either swim into shore or use their dinghy. The water is always calm in this protected cove.

The  Glenorra Ferry in Picton Bay...the only way to continue on the Loyalist Parkway from Picton going east!  A quick and free 15 minute trip! It runs every half hour non-rush hour and every 15 minutes during peak hours.



 Typical Sunset on Picton Bay




This is the entrance into  Chadsey's Cairns Winery. Chadsey's is on Loyalist Parkway in Hillier which is near Wellington.  The winery is across the Parkway from Lake Ontario and the view from the winery is beautiful!   The name Chadsey's Cairns comes from the history of the property. A Cairn is a stone marker; in the late 1800's Ira Chadsey built an elaborate stone fence and claimed the stones were there to guide him home after death.
The current owners host concerts in a barn that is just opposite the entrance to the tasting room. They also have a farmhouse which they rent out.  Guests are invited to participate in the harvesting of wines in the fall.



 The wines at Chadsey's are amazing....great Rieslings with zippy citrus, mineral and green apple on the tastebuds.  We also love their Gamay Noir.   You can take a glass of wine and sit on the porch overlooking the vineyards.

 There is a pioneer burial ground on the property.








This is The Bloomfield Inn. The restaurant is called Evangaline's which is an amazing restaurant 

 The restaurant has small, intimate dining rooms.


There is a raw oyster bar.

Their menu when we visited the restaurant.  Makes your mouth water, doesn't it!

Their amuse bouche...the night we were there it was sushi grade tuna tartar in a tangy lime sauce.



Their fois gras


Rack of Lamb


Charcuterie platter


Pan seared Walleye- So fresh! Right out of the Bay!


One of their amazing desserts

 Their version of strawberry shortcake


This is the patio of Casa Dea in Wellington. Their restaurant is called Cucina Italiana.
 Their wine boutique


Casa Dea



The property around the main building is beautiful and includes this huge chessboard




Sandbanks Bar and Grill is a very relaxing bar on the water.  This is not a place you'd go to for fine food. It's really the location that sells the place.  The food is typical bar food but it's well prepared. The best part is sitting on the patio facing the Lake and sipping a glass of Prince Edward County Wine. There is a fishing pier here and it's fun to watch people catch their quota of fish for the day.


This is a view of the patio from the water.  So relaxing!!!!




 No matter what country road you take there will always be something to see.  We don't know what this is or what the sign means but it was so beautiful in the field we just had to stop and look.



Thank you for visiting my blog on Prince Edward County.  I hope you take the time to visit the area.