Norman Hardie

Fantastic experience. Greeted and welcomed properly, showed a table by the winemaker himself, had pizza and oysters and wine on an assuming patio in the middle of the vineyard. The pizza is worth it in and of itself.

An early dinner with the kids at the new pizza bar that just opened @normanhardiewinery — a kid-​welcoming place with warm staff and a Pinot Noir that paired perfectly with our freshly wood-​oven baked pie. It really reminded me of dining al fresco in Tuscany.

During our exploration of the wines in the region, I found this place pretentious and over priced. You pay more just because they claim to be better. We Mich preferred the attitude, atmosphere and taste at Casa Dea directly across the road.

Must stop for wine lovers alike and foodies. Definitely worth the two hour drive from Toronto! You’ll not only enjoy fantastic wine (the best Chardonnay in North America) but beautiful scenery, the best tomatoes, and fantastic pizza. YES. Pizza! Norman built an authentic wood fire oven that stands outside and fires out hundreds of pizza a day. Many visitors visit just for the pizza (a mistake cause the wine is real good).
The staff is super friendly and helpful. Will offer great recommendations.
Make sure to book a cabin or the many bed n breakfast spots. Don’t drink and drive, it’s not worth it. And you will be drinking plenty of this fantastic wine! Can’t wait to come back on my next visit to Toronto.

Sadly; our trip to Norman Hardie today didn’t actually happen.
We arrived to find the pizza forno closed, which wasn’t ideal, but we decided to go up to the tasting room as we always do when we visit. We got upstairs and were completely ignored by four different people. The girl at the desk only looked up from her paperwork when we decided to leave, after standing at the tasting bar for five minutes with nobody even looking at us… All she said was «have a nice day.»
Unfortunate. We have been to this winery many times and always get wonderful service and buy more wine than we probably should.
After today, we will not be returning.

I stopped by on a beautiful summer day, so maybe that influences my score a little bit, but not much.
This is a two part review: first the winery, then the food.
I have been to the winery several times, each time drawn by Norm’s wonderful County Pinot Noir. It is such a beauty, truly representative of what Ontario growers can achieve with their Pinot Noir if handled properly. Of course he has other wines to tempt the palate, but I shan’t digress from my love of Pinot. Visit the winery and you too can taste the quality.
If you are in it for the pizzas, check the schedule to see when the patio is open and they are serving them up. It is just a wonderful experience to sit on the patio and just enjoy! As for the pizzas themselves, I just had the opportunity to try them for the first time, and man, they are good! And to top it off, he has excellent gluten free pizzas available as well! So choose your pizza, choose your glass to wine to accompany, and enjoy!

Amazing pizza! And I’m not kidding we had the spicy one with extra peppers and it was so good!!!
The winery was very cute as well and service top notch especially the man directing traffic and parking it seemed he was everywhere at once.
Though the wait was 35 mins they have the coolest wait list app I’ve ever used and exploring the grounds takes up more than the amount of time you’d wait so no problems at all on my end!!!
Super happy would def come back!!!

I’ve been visiting this winery for years — basically back when the tasting room was on the main floor and I was the only visitor. Years, I tell you, years!
I’ve watched it undergo a lot of changes — the tasting room moved upstairs, the pizza ovens, the lunches, the groups — and while I love to see the growth and the expansion of the business I just feel like it’s missing the personal touch. I visited on a Friday afternoon and the place was bustling — the service in the restaurant was fine, the pizza was delivered quickly, but I felt like the charm was missing. Except for the vines in the background, I could have been anywhere. It felt a lot less personal than it has in the past, almost like I was visiting one of the really big wineries that I avoid (I will not mention names here) because of the cattle mentality.
The pizza, though, was great — nice bit of char, great toppings — and so was the glass of wine that I ordered to go with it! Expect to pay Toronto prices ($ 10 – 15 for a glass of wine, $ 14 – 19 for a pizza) — or are they County prices now?
The tasting room upstairs was absolutely rammed with people. My friend bought one of her fave bottles and we left without doing any other tastings — there were not enough employees and just too many people to compete with. I would hate to see the place on a Saturday afternoon if that’s how it was on a non-​holiday Friday. I can’t comment on tasting prices, they were on the slightly higher end — estimate $ 2/​sample with tasting fee waived after a purchase of $ 50+ (or more — it was one of the higher minimum purchases). Estimate $ 35 – 40 for a bottle of the County Pinot Noir.
I still think that this is a must-​stop winery, and I will definitely continue to recommend it to visitors, but I’m not in a big rush to return. There are too many new places popping up!

great pizzas, great wines, great service, great location… it’s pretty much a no-​brainer review. just go.

Norman Hardie seems quite «established» in the PEC wine circuit and that’s why it was the first winery we went to.
The building itself and the tasting area area were bare bones and unassuming, however, the front patio was bustling with patrons who were taking full advantage of the weather and their famous pizza oven. The wine tasting was a great experience; a lot to choose from and their pinot noir was indeed great. I was excited to see some products which I already enjoy in Toronto, like biscotti from Forno Cultura. Their collaboration with the Joe Beef restaurant in Montréal also adds an element of cool. Definitely a must go-​to winery in the PEC.

Had the chance to finally visit this wine yard. Phenomenal Pinots, pricey but worth every penny. Had the opportunity to meet the vintner himself, which is always nice. Will definitely return.
Another must visit, in the area, for Pinots is Exultet Winery. Similar price point, but again another winner. Can easily compete with Pinots from Cali, Oregon or NZ.

Best lunch in Prince Edward County — The food and wine is excellent and the view is to die for!!!

Norm produces some of the best wines in the country and this has to be a stop if you’re ever in the county. Especially in the summer when the pizza oven is roaring and during the weekend the winery becomes a magical place — not quite like a restaurant and not fully a winery but something completely unique and unto it’s own.
Come for the wines, stay for the service, the pizza, and the beautiful view. I recommend to go near sunset as possible, they have the best views!
Norman Hardie’s winery is also close to other wineries so it’s a convenient stop with some amazing wines. They also sell local produce and other things from all over so it’s great to bring guests.

Very welcoming and laid back atmosphere. As we drove past the rows of grapes, a man waved enthusiastically to us. We parked our car and he came to greet us. He introduced himself as Norman and told us about his winery before excusing himself to tend to more visitors. We decided to have a seat on the patio and ordered riesling. Our server recommended a pizza (can’t remember the name) that complimented the riesling so well! Great service on the patio and for tastings also. I’m a big fan of this winery!

This is a nice winery. The pizza oven and outdoor patio are brilliant on a nice day. The wines are very good.
Here’s the rub. Like me, you may be a huge fan of all things Canadian, particularly, the notion that Canada can produce wines (or anything else) as good as anyone. You also travel to every winery trolling for the next hidden gem that proves your point.
The Pinot Noir here is better than most other Canadian Pinot Noir. However, at 35 $ or more a bottle, it should be. For all the hype, much of it deserved, the price is high.
One of these days, we can only hope, there will be more wonderfully enjoyable bottles of Canadian wine that are approachable as a regular occurrence for everyday people and not simply a special occasion. Enjoy this one as a special occasion.

This is a great place. Not only are the wines divine, but the location and setting are fantastic. Not to mention the amazing pizzas that are cooked outside and served with a glass of the incredible wine. One of the highlights of my PE County visit. I’m looking forward to enjoying the Pinot Noir and Riesling that we brought back with us. A great little gem that I hope to visit again one day.

This is a PEC must stop!
Why?
3 reasons
1) The Wines
The Pinot Noir is amazing and this whole winery is all about the simplicity of crafting the best wine possible. I would have thought that the terrain wouldn’t support a wine business in the county but in fact it has a flourishing industry. They do not have full bodied wines as they do not get enough heat in the vines but the Pinot is excellent. I never thought i would spend $ 70 on Canadian wine. I just did.
2) Lunch on the Patio
They offer amazing wood fired pizza from their outdoor oven (now its not a Neapolitan style oven — leave that to a pizza snob like me) and also had fresh shucked oysters and clams on the menu.
All the ingredients are fresh and sourced locally within the county and their dough is tasty as well due to the extra proofing they do.
Sure wine is on the menu as well
3) The Winery
Nothing fancy or pretentious in any way just a modern building with tastings upstairs (with some books and local food items), a tour of the winery itself (look down from the tasting room), look across to the fields to see the grapes and Norman is around to answer questions. I enjoy being able to meet and talk to the folks making the wine and their sense of pride comes out as opposed to the employee trained to speak the big box winery story.
Add up all three and you have a great experience!

This was the last stop of the day for our group of wine tasters, and it was worth the extra few minutes. The staff are really into what they are part of, and they speak of the brand’s namesake with a ton of pride and respect.
The winery grows grapes on site but also imports from the Niagara region, so you can side-​by-​side compare a county pino noir, a niagara pino noir and a blend of the two. I think the county pino won my affection, but judge for yourself. There are also whites available, but I can’t speak to those!
They offer oven-​fired pizza on a regular basis, so this would also make a nice lunch stop at the right time of day. We also noticed they offer Heirloom Farm seeds for sale, which was a nice addition.