Canada's insider blog

While I have bittersweet memories of summer gone in Canada, fall is one of the prettiest seasons here. It also means the harvest of the grape. Come September, there are only three requirements for eternal happiness. A loaf of bread, changing leaves… and wine festivals.

Go east, young oenophile, and sample the vine in Canada’s Maritimes at the Nova Scotia Fall Wine Festival, Sept. 16 to Oct. 17. Sign up for a progressive dinner with wine pairings, stomp the grapes. You can even imbibe your favourite vintage and go whale-watching out of Lunenburg at the same time.

If you’re chasing the sunset and want to combine that quest with a search for the perfect merlot, check out the Fall Okanagan Wine Festival in British Columbia, Oct. 1 to 10. Here, beside a drop-dead gorgeous lake surrounded by mountains, you can toast the sunset or while away the days at one of more than 165 events.

Want to tipple in Ontario? Niagara Wine Festival (Sept. 17 to 26) features two weekends that include what’s touted to be one of Canada’s biggest parades, live entertainment, the offerings of 36 area wineries and even a kid-friendly venue.

Down in Canada’s southland, there’s the Shores of Erie International Wine Festival. Though this celebration has already been corked, there’s always next year (it’s held in early September). Set amid the historical grounds of Amherstburg’s Fort Malden National Historic Site, where the Detroit River flows into Lake Erie, this festival boasts the biggest variety and scope of live entertainment of the lot.

Read more about wine in Canada.