Niagara Icewine Festival in January: dates, tickets, best wineries, food pairings, how to visit, and tips for international wine tourists.

Niagara Icewine Festival: Guide to January's Best Wine Event

Quick answer

When is the Niagara Icewine Festival?

The Niagara Icewine Festival runs across three weekends in January each year, with outdoor wine-and-food pairings at Jordan Village and winery events throughout Niagara-on-the-Lake and the Twenty Valley. Tickets from CAD $40 per weekend; book in advance.

The Niagara Icewine Festival is the single best reason to visit Ontario wine country in winter. For three weekends each January, the Niagara region — the global centre of icewine production — opens its wineries for tastings, hosts outdoor wine-and-food pairings in the snow, and runs chef dinners, winery tours, and special releases of the year’s newly bottled icewines. It is a genuine event rather than a tourist trap, and it coincides with one of the two moments each year when icewine production itself is happening — the midnight hand-harvests when grapes are picked from frozen vines at -8°C or colder. For international visitors willing to travel to Canada in January, the festival is a remarkable and surprisingly civilised experience.

This guide covers the dates, ticketing, best wineries, how to plan your weekend, and how the festival fits into a broader Niagara visit. For the wider wine context, start with the Niagara wineries guide and the Ontario wine regions overview.

Dates and format

The Niagara Icewine Festival runs across three consecutive weekends in January each year, traditionally the second, third, and fourth weekends of the month. The 2026 festival runs January 9-25. Exact dates vary year to year — check niagarawinefestival.com for the current programme.

The festival operates on two tracks:

Discovery Pass weekends: Jordan Village in the Twenty Valley hosts an outdoor wine-and-food pairing village, with 20+ wineries offering tastings alongside food stations from local chefs. The atmosphere is a cross between a European Christmas market and a wine festival, staged in deep winter conditions with fire pits, heated tents, and mulled drinks. This is the signature festival experience and runs across all three weekends.

Winery events: Individual wineries throughout Niagara-on-the-Lake and the Twenty Valley run their own tastings, chef dinners, special icewine releases, and vineyard tours. Many require separate booking.

What is icewine, exactly?

Icewine (ice wine, Eiswein) is a dessert wine made from grapes that have frozen on the vine at -8°C or colder, then are harvested and pressed while still frozen. The freezing concentrates the sugars, acids, and flavours; pressing produces a tiny amount of extraordinarily intense juice (typically 15-20% of the volume pressed from unfrozen grapes).

Ontario — specifically the Niagara region — is the world’s largest producer of icewine by a significant margin, producing more than Germany and Austria combined. The VQA Ontario certification is the quality mark to look for. The signature grape is Vidal (a hybrid well-suited to freezing), but Riesling, Cabernet Franc, and Chardonnay icewines are also produced and are often the more complex expressions.

A half-bottle (200ml) typically sells for CAD $30-70; the finest single-vineyard releases can run CAD $100+. Icewine is served chilled in small pours (50ml) as a dessert wine — it is extraordinarily sweet but balanced by high acidity.

Ticketing

Discovery Pass: CAD $40-65 per weekend, covering tastings from 8 stations (a mix of wine and food). Additional tastings can be purchased. Passes are date-specific and sell out for the first weekend; book through niagarawinefestival.com in advance.

Gourmet Pass: CAD $90-120, covering 12 premium tastings including chef pairings at participating wineries.

Individual winery events: Priced separately; chef dinners run CAD $150-300 per person. Book directly through the winery websites.

Best wineries for icewine

The festival’s participating wineries number around 40. For international visitors with limited time, these are the strongest producers:

Inniskillin (Niagara-on-the-Lake): The historical pioneer of Canadian icewine — the Vidal icewine that won the 1991 Vinexpo Grand Prix d’Honneur in France, putting Canadian icewine on the global map. The winery is set up for tastings and runs tours explaining the production process.

Peller Estates (Niagara-on-the-Lake): The icewine lounge here is arguably the most atmospheric tasting room in Ontario — a below-ground cellar kept at -10°C, where you drink icewine in genuine winter conditions while wearing parkas. Their Signature Series Riesling Icewine is consistently among the finest Ontario icewines produced.

Reif Estate Winery (Niagara-on-the-Lake): Smaller family operation with a reliable Vidal icewine at a more approachable price point.

Jackson-Triggs Niagara Estate: Major producer with extensive icewine range and a visitor-friendly tasting room.

Henry of Pelham (Twenty Valley): Riesling-focused producer with excellent icewine; strong value across the range.

Pillitteri Estates Winery (Niagara-on-the-Lake): World’s largest estate producer of icewine; family-run, with a genuinely good tour.

Tawse Winery (Twenty Valley): Biodynamic and organic; their icewines are among the most refined in the region.

Stratus Vineyards (Niagara-on-the-Lake): Architecturally striking LEED-certified winery; their Cabernet Franc Icewine is remarkable.

Food pairings

Icewine pairs with foie gras, strong blue cheese, fruit tarts, caramel desserts, and — a Niagara specialty — seared scallops with ginger. The festival’s food stations at Jordan Village typically feature pairings designed by regional chefs, and the winery dinners offer substantially more sophisticated multi-course tastings.

How to plan a festival weekend

Base: Niagara-on-the-Lake is the better winter base — more walkable, more hotels, closer to the Niagara-on-the-Lake wineries. The Twenty Valley (Jordan, Vineland, Beamsville) is more rural but puts you closer to Jordan Village.

Accommodation: Prince of Wales Hotel, Pillar & Post, and Queen’s Landing (all Vintage Hotels properties) are the traditional Niagara-on-the-Lake luxury options. Book early — festival weekends fill months in advance.

Transport: This is not a self-drive festival. Every wine tasting involves driving, and Ontario has strict impaired-driving laws. Options:

  • Winery limo/tour services: The most practical. Niagara Wine Tours International, Magnificent 7 Tours, and several others run dedicated festival day tours from Niagara-on-the-Lake hotels with a driver covering 4-6 wineries per day.
  • Designated driver in your group: Works if one person accepts the role; limited pours can be requested at most wineries.
  • Toronto shuttle: Some tour operators offer direct day trips from Toronto during the festival.

Weather: January in Niagara runs -5°C to -15°C typically, with occasional deeper cold. Winterproof clothing is essential — the outdoor Jordan Village pairings are genuinely cold. Insulated boots, thick gloves, and a warm hat matter more than a fashionable coat.

Combining with other Niagara activities

The festival pairs well with a visit to Niagara Falls in winter. The falls themselves are spectacular in January — partially frozen, the mist freezes on railings and trees in ice formations, and the Niagara Parkway light display (Winter Festival of Lights) runs through January. See Niagara Falls in winter for the full winter planning guide.

Combined three-day plan:

  • Friday: Arrive Niagara-on-the-Lake; evening at winery chef dinner
  • Saturday: Day at Jordan Village Discovery Pass; evening in Niagara-on-the-Lake
  • Sunday: Morning at Niagara Falls; afternoon winery tour in Niagara-on-the-Lake

From Toronto

The festival is 90 minutes by car from Toronto. Day trips are feasible but the full experience benefits from an overnight stay. See Toronto to Niagara Falls for transport options, and Toronto-Niagara weekend for the weekend itinerary.

Browse Niagara wine tours and festival experiences on GetYourGuide