Diamond Estates Winery

Decent selection and interesting pairing suggestions. Wine was slightly pricy, and we only got to go into the shop portion of the estate. Dan Akroyd sells wine here though, so it must be kinda alright.

Wow, this place really caught me off guard!
As a part of the Niagara fun tours they stop here last. This is not to say that the Niagara Fun Tour had anything to do with my displeasure for the experience I had here. I believe they were contrasting what the different estates had to offer and the only redeeming factor was the fact that we went into a beautiful factory warehouse where wines from multiple purveyors were being stored in oak barrels. This wasn’t your typical wine cellar but rather a very big above ground facility that reminded me of an airplane hangar. It’s a co-​venture between Dan Ankroyd and various other folks with a lot of money and too busy to actually invest the time into running their own estate. The wines we tried were pale in comparison to the first three on the tour. What really stood out was the interaction I had with an older gentleman at the tasting bar. My girlfriend and I wanted to try two wines, and for their sake I will not name the brands, however the man was rude and grumpy. The wine he served us was tainted since they both had off smells. We hope this wasn’t the result of a bad batch but rather Diamond Estate’s fault for keeping an open bottle too long in their fridge. Either way I wasn’t going to ask due to the welcome we received from Mr. Grumpy. Definitely won’t go back and most likely will shy away from brands made there.

Over the weekend I went to Niagara-​on-​the-​Lake for some winery hopping with my pal. We went to Peller Estates followed by Diamond Estates. The boutique is in a little (what seems to be a) make shift portable/​trailer. What didn’t sit well with me was the service — I was buying one bottle and there was a tour group with members buying 5, 6 bottles of ice wine. I was snubbed while waiting in line and the others were able to go before me.
Good for: wine

Diamond Estates was first stop on our Afternoon Delight tour with the Grape and Wine Tours company. In terms of knowledge and history on wine production in the Niagara region this was a very informative tour. Diamond is a bit of a conglomerate which bought up a few smaller brand wineries over the years, so the combined history of the brands is really an integral part to the growing wine region altogether.
Our guide Tessa was great, first pouring a white wine on their patio outback, then moving us into the vineyard to taste some fresh Canbernet Franc grapes, which we were told was good timing on our part as the grapes are just hitting some peak flavors. Finally we got to go into their production facility and barrel room to taste some a red wine and two ice wines. The amount of barrels and huge steal fermentation tanks were a bit awe inspiring for a wino such a myself.
Once done we were able to go into the tasting room where I found some of their other excellent brands I am familiar with. I got a nice Baco Noir and a Cabernet Franc that I can’t wait to have with a steak. Altogether a well structured tour that I thought was great for some history on the process and people making wine in the region.

Mmmmmm Hat Trick Red!
I generally prefer going to smaller, family owned and operated wineries but Diamond Estates is nice for what it is. The tasting and boutique area is nice enough and the staff appear competent. All in all an alright stop for a day in wine country.

Diamond Estates Winery was formerly 20 Bees and was the biggest wine producer I went to on a Niagara Wine Country Tour. Unfortunately it was my least favorite stop on our tour.
They have many groups go there for wine tastings and they have huge outdoor tents for tastings. You stand half under a tent while an employee discusses the wine you’re tasting. I felt bad for our employee because she didn’t seem well informed and as if she was just repeating a script. She stumbled a bit in her script but seemed like a very nice lady. The wines that we tried weren’t amazing but they were A-​OK.
After the tastings we went into the store (which looked like a super fancy double wide — kinda strange) which was nice but the employees didn’t seem overly friendly or helpful. They do carry Dan Akryoyd wines though!

Besides the more familiar white ice wines, they also produce red ice wines. The tastings are complimentary with some Niagara bus tour packages.
So, rare wines, high sugar content, free tasting: you can’t go wrong. Have I mentioned they feature Dan Aykroyd wines?! That’s right, Elwood makes ice wines in Canada!