End-of-summer sipping at Ocala Winery

With apples ripening and vineyards laden with fruit, a trip to Ocala Winery south of Port Perry seemed like the perfect end-of-summer outing before my daughter headed back to university, not to mention a good opportunity to pick up a bottle of something celebratory to share with her housemates.

In a renovated century-old dairy barn atop the Oak Ridges Moraine, Ocala enjoys a scenic location. The Oak Ridges Trail follows the gravel road past Ocala’s front doors so it’s not unusual to see hikers dropping in for a tasting.

“The Smith family purchased this farm in 1915 when my husband’s grandfather raised Holsteins,” explained Alissa Smith as we chatted in the wine shop.  “There was an orchard here even then.” When Alissa and Irwin began working the farm, the decided to experiment with fruit wines and have adapted the orchard to suit their needs, planting kiwis, currants and raspberries. Older varieties of apples have been replaced with newer Honey Crisp, Royal Gala and Ambrosia, many of which will be for sale in the coming weeks, both in fruit form and varietal apple wines.

With more than two-dozen wines to choose from, we needed to taste a few before we could make up our minds. Alissa suggested we start our tasting with the driest and work our way toward the sweetest. Honey Crisp, measuring 2 on the sugar scale, was our second tasting, impressing us with its honey-like aftertaste almost reminiscent of apple pie.

I was surprised to discover how fruit flavours evolve when made into wine. The plum wine, for instance, had a definite hint of cinnamon. “That’s from the pits,” explained Alissa. “Fruit wines tend to be less complex than wines made from grapes so it’s interesting to get these subtle hints of other flavours.”

Of the six wines we tasted, my favourite was the Black Currant, a bold dessert wine that would go well with either a slice of fruitcake or well-aged cheddar. Coincidentally, Ocala also sells Empire Cheddar. My daughter opted for the Muscat, a white grape wine with subtle aromas of fruit and flowers and a delicate pale colour.

On September 13 and 14, families are invited to join guided wagon tours through the orchard and vineyard. It’s a great opportunity to learn about the harvest, including how farmers use starch-iodine tests to determine when sugar levels are just right for harvesting. Wine tastings (with fruit juice for the youngsters) are included in the free event.

The surrounding area is known for it hills and horses so we decided to explore country lanes and just discover the scenery.