Mike B.
Yelp
Every single person, place, and thing about this experience was 5 stars.
I had scheduled a winery tour for Sunday afternoon on their website, but when it became painfully obvious that the massive delays with my flights to Buffalo (close to 50 minutes away from Peller) would result in me missing my scheduled tour; I wrote the winery an email asking if they would consider rescheduling me.
They got back to my email pretty quickly with a pleasant and courteous yes.
So I went up early Monday morning for my tour and was greeted at the front entrance by a very friendly woman who told me that I would be the only one on the tour and that it would start right up the steps in just a few minutes.
Ling was my tour guide that day, and what a tour guide she was. She started the tour out with a taste of some bubbly and took me upstairs to a room that overlooks the front of the estate, a barrel cellar, and the main attraction (The Ice Room) a freezer that is lined with furniture, a bar, walls, and hanging ornaments all made out of ice.
But let's back up. Ling, super knowledgeable, very open to questions and conversation, and willing and ready photographer was just a pleasure to be with that day. You can tell that she really has a good grasp on the process, the company, and the history of the winery. Big props to her.
So yes, back to 10 Below (Celsius thank g-d). The walk in freezer that they've made into an ice lounge. The reason why this is here is to experience the temperature that the workers harvest grapes in, at night, by hand to make the ice wine.
So next time you gawkin' at that price of ice wine... remember, those workers ain't goin into a freezer for ten minutes and having a glass of ice wine at an ice bar... they workin' in that biz!
But yes... the 10 below room is awesome and I have some wonderful pictures that came out of it.
Can we also talk about that gift shop... man! Now that's a gift shop! They have everything you could ever need out of a wine gift shop, AND it is super clean and organized. They have all sorts of gadgets, decorations, servingware, xmas things, and more. They also do tastings at a bar in the gift shop... so there's that.
I was in a hurry so I couldn't check out the restaurant, but the food looks incredible.
If you're going on a wine tour up in this region of Canada, I'd for sure recommend Peller Estates. I'd love to go back up there myself truth be told!