I was driving around Niagara-On-The-Lake on a beautiful September day, and saw a sign for a winery that I was not familiar with, that being Icellars. Intrigued I decided to investigate. As I entered the driveway there were only a few cars, which I like. Inside the winery I met Elif and her husband, Adnan, the winemaker and owner who came by and showcased all his wines for me.
Adnan Icel was born in Ankara, Turkey and immigrated to Canada. A mechanical engineer by trade, he has a passion for wines, and as such originally made wines in his cellar. Now being retired, in 2010 he had the opportunity to buy a parcel of land on Concession 6, Niagara-on-the-Lake. His first vintage was in 2014, and the retail store opened in 2016. The winery is helped by his family, Elif his wife, his son Tolga, their eldest son, Arda who is studying in Ottawa and their beautiful golden retriever, Simba who greats visitors with a wag of his tail.
Adnan focus is on red wines; however, he does have a Sauvignon Blanc whose grapes are outsourced and Chardonnay grapes that are picked on site. Speaking of the Chard, full body, unfiltered and delicious. Cabernet Sauvignon is his passion grape, and it as with all his wines are very elegant, beautiful, delicious and unfiltered, except for the Sauvignon Blanc. Two of his wines are named for his native Turkey: Arinna is a winemaking state in Turkey, and his top wine, Wiyana Wanda means “Land of Wine” in the ancient Hittite language of central Anatolia, the birthplace of wine.
The winery is run by a Geothermal system, and soon Adnan wants to have solar panels. All the grapes are small crop and handpicked on the 40 acres of land.
Conclusion
What I really liked about this winery is that it’s a boutique style winery, open 7 days a week, and no tour busses coming in. It’s what you want when you visit a winery; quaint, not pretentious, a warm family atmosphere and a dog that is very friendly to visitors. Can you tell I’m a dog lover?! His wines are all very good & some even exceptional, and with high quality and low quantity for availability the prices are on the higher end. But what a great wine experience and a special bottle to get for yourself or someone special. Check out their winery by visiting the winery or their website at: https://www.icellars.ca/wines
Visited: September 7,2019
