Vin Villa — Attraction in Ontario

I think the presentation needs improvement.

The tour went from the history of Vin Villa and the rise and decline of winemaking here, but not much about its revival today. The tour in the cellar talked mostly about the money the foundation spent on traveling and buying decorations like stained glass, door, and chandeliers. Bragging about flying in fancy ingredients and name dropping didn't really add to the story either.

Chardonnay was ok, but the tour direction with "buy these wines now or you have to book the tour again" were gimmicky and devalued the wine. I wish they talked about the product more if they wanted to spread the word.

The dining area was dusty. I know wine cellars can get dusty but the tasting table and chandeliers should not be.

The story about this being a birthplace of "champagne" in North America was interesting, but the story didn't develop further. I think it was a missed opportunity.

All in all I would not recommend this tour with the way it's currently designed. I do hear that wines on this island are good with VQA standard so I will try the winery (and bubbly) the next...

They call this a wine tour but the tour guides don't know anything about wine and they only gave us one 1oz tasting of "red or white?". From a wine tasting perspective it was a terrible experience that was very overpriced. The tour was an hour long and we got to go through the oldest winery in North America which was very cool, however the tour guides focused on all of the new renovations that happened after the fire occured. People come to Vin Villa to learn about the oldest winery in North America! They should have talked more about how they made the wine, how it was stored, and more historical facts rather then focusing on the renovations that took place and which decorations were store bought. We walked through the burned down building and saw the old cellar that they renovated to be some event hall. It seems Vin Villa is just focused on events at this point now to make money for the insane cost of the renovations. This tour is very overpriced for what it is at the time of me writing...

The tour was engaging and informative, and the history was super cool. I do appreciate the (surely) millions they must have poured into the design and restoration/remodel of the defunct winery. I also enjoyed the wine that they provided for tasting.

However, the markup on said wine seems to reflect the fact that they are crowd-sourcing funding to finance the restoration and remodel. The wine is produced and the grapes provided for Vin Villa by a different winery which sells the same vintage for a third of the cost. The resulting price differential renders the former's selling price prohibitive. As a consequence, I did not purchase, though I came wanting to.

I will visit again when they have an operational wine bar and hopefully proprietary viticulture, and revisit this review...