Issue link: http://digital.canadawide.com/i/370921
32 g o i n g p l a c e s | F a l l 2 0 1 4 niagara-on-the-lake, (bottom inset) valerie howes Lunch is relaxed and sociable: between courses, we chat to a rau- cous work group at the harvest table and a couple of tourists with a sweet toddler. But Wille says we must come back for the Good Girth Supper Club, a year-round series of themed three-course dinners. "There was a Latin one this sum- mer," she says. "It ended with danc- ing in the rain." I'm intrigued by the cooking school too. Using local ingredi- ents, wherever possible, Niagara chefs demonstrate how to make everything from Nordic-inspired small plates to Oaxacan cuisine from Mexico in a little kitchen by the vines. Twenty minutes later, we're pulling up at a 200-metre-long horizon-hugging building, all right angles and ref lections, with a façade that changes hue as the daylight shifts. Southbrook Vine- yards' hospitality pavilion was designed by Diamond Schmitt Architects, known for its glass- fronted opera houses in Toronto and St. Petersburg. "That's the yoga crowd," says wine steward Robin Fraser as he pours, nodding towards a group of people in the barrel room. "They practice by the vines once a month. ey like that our wine's organic – it works with their healthy lifestyle." That's what I find interesting: from the outside it looks futuristic; inside, you discover, it's all about harmony and nature. Southbrook was the first Canadian winery to be certified gold by Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED), a benchmark that recog- nizes excellence in green design. All its wines are organic; most are also biodynamic – made with an approach that's pesticide – and chemical-free and synched to lunar cycles. The whole farm – plants, creatures and soil – is treated as (clockwise from left) Downtown Niagara-on-the-Lake's old English town vibe extends to horse-and-carriage tours for tourists; the historic town of Niagara provides the perfect setting for a formal outdoor dining occasion; the luxurious Harbour House Hotel overlooks the Niagara River.