Wine Route of Ontario

The Wine Route is a designated Ontario tourist route. It is signed in several different segments in Southern Ontario, ranging from Essex County, Ontario, to the Niagara region, and to the northern shore of Lake Ontario. It is still signed to this day, and promoted in newspapers and other media.

The Wine Route starts in Windsor, Ontario, and travels down Essex County Road 20 (Formerly Highway 18) through LaSalle, Ontario and Amherstburg, Ontario. It continues through Harrow, Ontario, before branching off to the ferry docks in Kingsville, Ontario (to serve Pelee Island's Pelee Island Winery). The trail continues on Pelee Island, and on CR 20 on the mainland, where they both meet up in Leamington, Ontario (at the intersection of Seacliffe Drive (CR 20) and Erie Street (formerly part of Highway 77).

The wine route designation continues along Highway 77 on its entire length to its interchange with Highway 401, but is not signed.

The wine route continues (unsigned) on Highway 401 to Highway 403 in Woodstock, Ontario, where it then travels to Hamilton, Ontario and the rest of the Niagara Peninsula.

Through the Niagara Region, the route is designated as the "Niagara Wine Route", and while well-signed, exists in the form of loops and spurs connecting the various wineries to the communities of the region. [http://www.niagaraonthelake.com/Falldrives/] The trunk route follows Regional Road 81 from Grimsby eastward, where in West St. Catharines it diverges into two primary North and South routings. The first route travels north along Regional Road 34 where it then turns east, huging the shore of Lake Ontario along Regional Road 89 and passing through Port Dalhousie and many of the wineries along the lakeshore. The other route pass along the edge of the Niagara Escarpment and southern Niagara-on-the-Lake along Regional Roads 69, 100 and 55. A spur along Fourth Avenue and Ontario Street connects wineries in the west-end of city and downtown St. Catharines to the northern route, while another spur crosses through central Niagara-on-the-Lake and the community of Virgil, connecting both the North and South routes to the Niagara Parkway . Both trunk routes re-connect in the "Olde Town" of Niagara-on-the-Lake where Regional Roads 89 and 55 meet, not far from the mouth of the Niagara River.

A wine route also exists along Highways 33, 62 and 49 in Prince Edward County.

Newer signs are purely dark blue with white grapes with the legend Wine Route written below. [http://www.winelabels.org/ontario/winerout.jpg] These new signs are universally seen throughout the Niagara Region and Prince Edward County.

See also

* Ontario Tourist Routes

External links

* [http://members.aol.com/Hwys/OntHwys/OntHwysOther.html Tourist Routes]
* [http://www.winesofontario.org/ Wines of Ontario (also has maps of the separate Wine Routes)]
* [http://www.winelabels.org/ontario/winerout.jpgExample of a newer sign in Niagara Region, at WineLabels.org]