June 20th was my birthday… I won’t say which one I celebrated though.  My boyfriend surprised me with a trip out to Prince Edward County – he had it all mapped out with stops at wineries and everything.

We hopped in the car and headed east stopping for our packed lunch, along the lake, in Cobourg.  From there we took Loyalist Parkway towards Picton where we were booked at the Claremount Inn.  We planned to stop at a few wineries and Sandbanks Park before checking inn.

Beautiful room at the inn

Our first stop Grange of Prince Edward County was beautiful but I have to say the least favourite of our stops for me.  While we left with a couple bottles it was not anything I would go back for and the young man in the wine tasting room acted more like we were a bother to him.

Our second stop was my favourite and that is reflected in the box of wine we left with (actually 3 bottles of port – 2 of those are white port – YUM!). Karlo Estates was beautiful and tasty.

Tasting at Karlo Estates

The tasting room and retail is in an old barn staffed with helpful, personable people and the best news is that they deliver to Toronto free of charge for orders of 8 bottles or more. I got a couple bottles of their rose and my boyfriend grab a few of their reds (in addition to the port).

After a dip at Sandbanks we checked in where I napped for a bit before dinner. Dinner was at Portabella where we had the best bruschetta I ever tasted and also some delicious Norm Hardie white.

The day was perfect and so was the evening where the night was lite up with fireflies and we had a swim before bed.  One thing that did disappoint was our breakfast but not enough to comment further.  Day two was more wineries.

Waupoos Estates was our first stop (actually I forgot our stop at the Rose House, a 1800s farm house museum before the winery opened) and it has a beautiful location with decent wine.  We wanted to go and sit by the water but couldn’t get around the ropes they set up at their pavillon.  This place has a petting zoo and they make chocolate on site!

My 2nd favourite after Karlo estates was our last trip – Long Dog Winery where we met the winemaker and discussed his IMAX film that he is shooting about the polar ice caps and the animals that are suffering with the loss of the ice. Fascinating man and great wine.

We plan to go back in September when the crowds die down … Do you have a favourite winery to recommend?