A Day at Huff Estates Winery

Happy Monday!

I’ve been really busy recently. I needed to go somewhere just simply to unwind and distress. This is why couple weeks ago, I decided to go on a day trip to Prince Edward County. I wanted to go there for a long time, but for some reason I would always postpone this trip….

So why Prince Edward County?

I remember 4 years ago, I went on a trip to Kingston city with my friends and on the way back to Toronto we’ve decided to stop by Huff Estates winery, but since we didn’t have a lot of time we couldn’t fully explore it, but I’ve promised myself that I will come back.  4 years later, I finally made it and trust me it was one of the best experiences that I’ve ever had in a long time.

Prince Edward County

The County is home to more than 40 wineries, home of some passionate winemakers who are turning out some of the province’s best Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, where vineyards tend to be smaller and the tasting experience more intimate.

Located to the south of Belleville, it’s just close enough for day trips, but given the area’s bed and breakfast options and cute onsite inns – it’s better-suited to weekend visits.

Huff Estates Winery

I started my day at Huff Estates Winery with a glass of pink bubbly – the best way to start any winery visit!

Followed by very informative tour of the barrel room and production facilities. What I’ve realized after this visit that “WINE TASTING IS ABOUT THE EXPERIENCE, NOT JUST THE WINE.”

Having opened in 2004 and being one of the oldest and biggest wineries in Prince Edward County, Huff Estates is family-owned winery by high school sweethearts Lanny and Catherine Huff. How romantic! Don’t you think so? This story gives that personal touch and example to the younger generation that Love can “build a bridge”, “move mountains” and build “a wine empire” and they definitely did it!

They hired one of the best winemaker from France – Frédéric Picard , who brought a touch of France to the Southern Ontario and made Huff Estates stands out from the rest of the businesses in the County.

By the way, they offer public, private and group tours. If you need my advice on which tour to choose, I would definitely go with private “Barrel Cellar Experience.” I know it will cost a little bit more, but trust me it will worth every dollar that you’ll spend on it.

With this package, the senior staff will conduct an exclusive tasting for you and your party in the barrel cellar. You will learn & taste your way through wine & cheese pairings as well as the impact that oak barrels have on wine.

• 3 premium wines
• 3 various cheese pairings
• crackers/bread
• 1 wine sample straight from the barrel
• private guided tasting inside the barrel cellar

If you go there and choose “Barrel Cellar Experience”, please let me know. I would love to hear your feedback 🙂

After our tour of the winery, I enjoyed the most delicious lunch at their restaurant overlooking the vineyards (hint: ask for the window seat).

I literally spent a good 3 hours here enjoying the most delicious food and wine! I started off my lunch with their mushroom soup and for my main course I had wood-fried “CANUCK” pizza. All the food is made with local ingredients and was SO GOOD! I seriously cannot wait to go back to the Huff Estates again.

Oeno Gallery

We ended our day at Huff Estates Winery with visit to the Oeno gallery and sculpture garden. Over 60 sculptures are located throughout the garden. You can see work by sculptors Shayne Dark, Avron Mitnz, Gord Smith, Christine Dewancker and many more. The gallery is also proud to offer contemporary painting and sculpture by exceptional mid-career and senior artists from Canada and the US. You can spend another half of the day just walking around and viewing impressive installations. I just wish I could spend more time over there, but this is a good excuse to come back, but this time I would definitely stay overnight, because there are so much to do and see.

As you can probably tell, a visit to the Huff Estates Winery is definitely more of an experience and I highly recommend to visit this place this summer! The winery is open daily from 10am to 6pm. You can get information about the restaurant and special events here. Tours and tastings are offered daily, with group and private experiences available. For an enhanced tasting, you can use code “OLYA50” to get 50% off. There is lots to taste and do at Huff Estates Winery so make sure to plan ahead!

Love,

Olya

Sponsored by Huff Estates. All opinions stated are my own.