Chateau des Charmes

The grounds of this winery are so lovely and the main building absolutely looks like a castle or manor house. I can see why people would want to have special events here.
The tasting fees for the table wines were very reasonable (a buck a pop). The tasting fees for the ice wines were pretty steep (about 4 or 5 bucks each), but they have some fantabulous ice wines so I would recommend that you try them all if you’re a fan. Also, they were donating their tasting fees to Fort McMurray, so that was very generous of them.
We all fell in love with a white ice wine that had some definite tropical notes to it (mango and papaya). Oh my golly. So yummy. Needless to say, we all bought bottles of that one.

My wife and I visited here while on vacation to Niagara falls. We were late to the tour but they got us in anyway. Very knowledgeable and friendly staff. Generous with the wine tasting. We bought 2 bottles to take back home.

Very pretty building and grounds BUT servers were terrible. Inattentive, unwilling to answer questions or even present the wines properly, and quite honestly made us feel as if we were an intrusion into their day. Wines were so so and very overpriced. There are much better choices in the area. Drive by to look at the pretty building and choose a different winery to stop at.

Better out there in NOTL. Overpriced for what they offer. Should focus on wine more and less on the presentation.

My friend was getting married in town and we came here with friends on the day of the wedding for the «Salty and Sweet» tour.
The premises are impressive, and the fact that they manage to make wine despite frigid temps even more so. We enjoyed the tour and the pairings, then did some damage in the gift shop.

Out of the three Niagara Falls area Ice Wineries that I tasted at, this one was the most beautiful to the eye, but the least memorable to the taste. The tasting room is opulent and shiny, I felt like I should be dressed up to enter. The estate vineyard the tasting room is located on is beautiful and seems to continue on forever, the grounds are gorgeous. It was towards the end of the day, and I think our server was just tired. He was clearly not keen on answering any questions, and seemed dismissive. He did mention that he gets crabby when he is hungry, and left for his break on our last pour, maybe he just needed some protein. You can purchase a flight for tasting, or pay per 1 oz tasting of your choice (only 4 per person). I chose to do a selection of my own. Don’t waist time on the dry wines, especially the 2013 Sauvignon Blanc. Although I do make one exception, for the 2012 Gewürztraminer which I found to be lightly crisp, with a great mineral fruitiness to it. The 2013 Rose, Cuvee was listed as dry, but I found it to be delightfully floral and slightly sweet. My favorites here were the sweet wines, especially the 2008 Late Harvest Riesling which was also actually affordable. I also very much enjoyed the 2013 Vidal Icewine.

Stood at the tasting bar for 10 minutes. Neither of the two staff acknowledged our presence. Too busy bragging about themselves — personally.

Great Ice Wine, Cool Location, and friendly staff. We checked In using the mobile app and received a free wine tasting glass. They have a really neat tasting set up and it wasn’t cramped like some of the other wineries. Outside you will see nice landscaping and a cool fountain. I recommend the 2013 Vidal Icewine.

***From my mother and I’s self directed wine tasting tour of Niagara– 6 vineyards /​/​1 day***
Really not my cup of tea.
I found it to be overly traditional, verging on boring (actually a bit more than verging), with a very tasteless atmosphere. Hands down the worst tasting room I’ve seen. I tried 8 different wines and only 2 of them I would deem ‘good’ — a late harvest riesling, and a dessert wine, which to be fair were both pretty fantastic! But none of the ‘regular’ wines were anything special at all. Some of them were downright bad. I can only imagine it’s the grounds that are this wineries redeeming feature.

Having been here before and loving our first experience, we knew what to expect coming here
I loved this big-​family owned winery. They have several estates but the fact that it is still family-​owned, makes me still wander back here.
Paul T., our tasting pourer, was polite, friendly, and knowledgeable.
They’re def known for the Chardonnay, Cab Franc, and Riesling, but we stuck to their ice wine because that was what we came all the way here for. They had a Savagnin Ice Wine that they are the Only makers (in the world) to– pricey ($ 75/​bottle), but extremely smooth and noteworthy. We also tried their Late Harvest and Vidal Ice Wine. The Vidal was also done well, and well enough that we found it very comparable to the Savagnin. We ended up taking away several bottles of the Vidal Ice Wine and a pack of Ice Wine Truffle chocolate.
Of course, with any wine, it becomes subjective, so what you may think is appalling, is fantastic to me.

On our way to Niagra Falls we stopped here mostly because of the beautiful château setting and were not disappointed! Au contrare, we fell in love! Their Vidal icewine is the nectar of the gods! Ever since we got home I have been fighting the urge to jump in the car and go back for 10 cases! The taste host was excellent! He walked us thru their wines, and educated us immensely. He poured two bottles of the same vintage and grape, grown in different fields and showed us how the soil difference made the wine different even tho’ it was just across the road. How to say «today this is my favorite», to be adventerous, to risk new tastes. We were there on a Thursday so maybe missed crowds and could thus have a more personal experience — he made us feel like we had a first class private tutoring and we came away feeling like connoisseurs! I do think the price of the tasting was applied to wine purchase, but being in icewine bliss I’m not sure I had a grip on anything but the possibility that Château de Charmes Vidal Icewine is the amrita of legend!

I was pleasantly surprised at this winery. We had a very knowledgeable young woman (Lainey?) as a tour guide. She gave a very thorough tour and fielded questions well. She really knew her stuff. The winery has a wonderful french wine-​maker who brings all the excellence of wine-​making in her country to these wines. Our tasting was great. The pinot is done in a nice Burgundy style. The dry-​riesling is superb, and very reasonably priced. I also really enjoyed their single-​estate Cabernet Franc.
This place is well worth the stop, and make sure you get the tour!

My husband and I both enjoyed our visit to Château des Charmes. The tasting building is beautiful on the exterior and has gorgeous views of the vineyards. The day that we were there, they were setting up for a wedding later that evening, so there were no afternoon tours available and the patio was closed.
We were greeted in the lobby by two different people and directed to the tasting room. We had to wait a few minutes for a spot to open, but when it did, the server came right over. We were treated very well and given a lot of information about the wines in our flights, but it appeared to vary by the person that you had working with you. The girls next to us were complaining that they weren’t told anything about the wines and weren’t even told which was which.

The flights of wine are available for $ 10 or you can try individual samples anywhere from $ 1 to $ 5 per sample. If you make a wine purchase, your $ 10 is credited towards it. However, you can only use one credit per bottle. We thought we would get the $ 20 towards a bottle but were unable to combine the discount. Understandable, but the policy should be written somewhere or explained.
Even though it was drizzling, we took a few minutes to stop and smell the roses (literally) in the garden with the fountain in front of the building.
Overall, an enjoyable experience, but a bit more pricey then most of the other wineries in the area.

Turning onto the driveway and seeing the château, I thought for a minute I was back in Napa, heading towards one of the destination wineries scattered along Hwy 29. The Château is impressive. The B&B we stayed at gave us a card good for a tour of the estate and a wine tasting. So after registering, we waited for the hour to strike. The tour started and we walked out to the vineyards to see the vines and hear about the history of the winery. I finally learned why roses are planted at the end of each row of vines. I’ve seen them often enough on my travels. Apparently, the roses act like a canary in a mine; the roses will tend to show stress and insect damage before it becomes too serious among the grape vines. Storing that nugget away, we made the trip though the cellars. The tour concluded with a tasting of a 2011 Aligote white wine, a 2012 rose Pinot Noir cuvee, and a 2010 Cabernet Franc. The estate Cabernet Franc was a nice wine. After talking with Linnea, our tour guide, she brought us inside to taste the 2010 Cabernet Franc from their St. David’s vineyard. Now that was a good wine. We bought some of it to bring home.

My boyfriend and I went here as part of a weekend getaway and we loved it! We took a tour of another winery in the area and this one was leaps and bounds better. Not only was the wine we tasted spectacular but the tour was very informational and detailed. We were also welcomed graciously and I felt very comfortable. I read some of the other reviews about them being uppity, but we did not get that vibe at all while we were there. If I am ever in the area again, I will be back!

Nice French style estate outside, I was excited to walk in but interior was missing bit of charm. I received personal warm welcome, I thought that was really nice. I feel they are trying to approach the customer personally. Its rare to see that hospitable welcome in big commercialized wineries. I saw few Japanese customers were tasting and some signs with Japanese.
Tasting room has large windows towards to vineyards and has nice view. Tasting fee was reasonable and has flight option. Tasting room staff was knowledgable but missing bit of personality. As other reviewer warned tasting fee didn’t get waved because I purchased a bottle. Brut sparkling wine was refreshing, blend of Chardonnay and Pino noir made soothe and crisp finish.

While I agree with other reviewers that this place can be cold, impersonal, or a bit snobby, it still produces some very fine wines. My wife is not a fan of them for the uppity atmosphere portrayed, but they have an excellent Cabernet Francs which keep me coming back. They do charge for their tasting and don’t normally waive the fee if you buy a bottle as most places do, so you are fore warned there.
The estate itself is beautiful, offering its use for wedding parties in the summer. Definitely worth stopping in, just keep in mind that you may get more respect if you have a blazer or jacket on VS. jeans and a t-​shirt.

Came here for the Wine and Chocolate festival and loved it! the Winery is very nice, I really liked the old French style look to the front and the inside.
The wine I has was a red wine which is my preferred. I am defiantly coming back for the summer tour.

We had such high expectations for this place because of its reputation. They have Japanese speaking service people to cater to the many Japanese tourists. The exterior is quite pretty, the interior a bit sanitized and without charm.
At our wine tastings… maybe we just had the misfortune to choose some less than stellar vintages, but compared to some of the other wineries we had visited that day, the wine we tried here were the worst. Hubby and pals had one sniff of a particular red, dared a tiny sip and then wouldn’t even let me touch it.
We ended up with another bottle because of the recommendations of one of our friends without trying it. At the other wineries, there would at least be a partial compensation on wine tastings if one were to purchase a bottle or two. Here, we were told that unless we spent a minimum of $ 50, this wouldn’t be so. We paid for our one bottle at different counter than where we had our wine tastings, so if we weren’t being honest, they would never have known that we tasted anything at all.

This is why people are afraid to go and taste at wineries — pretense. Yes, your wines are good, and you’re well known, and you were one of the first two wineries in the area to make ice wine, but that doesn’t mean you should be snotty to the people who are trying to discover your wines and the area.
The facility is beautiful, but somewhat cold and formal. The servers were also cold and formal, not really taking time to understand our tastes and recommend anything special. The wines were priced for the reputation — not for the taste — and despite buying several bottles the tasting fee was not waived. Now I understand that the product is consumed in the tasting, but when you’re this big and famous, you can afford a few tastes in return for your bottles.
Drive by and take a picture, but this is for the serious wine connoisseur, interested in history and name, not the ambiance.