But this isn't Bordeaux or Tuscany or even the Niagara peninsula.
It's Essex County, where the north shore of Lake Erie has become home to a fast-growing cluster of wineries that are working hard to gain recognition with both wine connoisseurs and casual travelers looking for a new destination.
Colio, Pelee Island and D'Angelo are well-established Essex wineries familiar to consumers.
But in recent years the number of wineries in Canada's southernmost peninsula has soared to 15 with several more set to open soon.
Most of the new wineries are small family operations where the people behind the counter are often the ones who pruned the vines and bottled the wine.
Although Niagara has been Ontario's dominant wine region for decades, Essex was Canada's first wine-growing region with the first commercial vineyard established on Pelee Island in 1866.
Now that the old industry is undergoing a revival in Essex, the wine makers are reaching out to draw more visitors from London, Sarnia and even the Greater Toronto Area.
"Our growing seasons and soils are different from Niagara. We want people to come down here, bring their kids and enjoy our great wines and the region," said Tom O'Brien, head of the Southwestern Ontario Vintners Association and owner of Cooper's Hawk, the latest winery to open in the county.
The new Essex wineries are far more than small shops. Many feature elegant tasting rooms, tours, indoor and outdoor venues for weddings and other events, playgrounds, ponds, patios and picnic grounds.
"You can't make money just selling wine. You have to be a destination. Making wine is fairly easy. Selling is the hard part," O'Brien said.
The south coast of Essex and Chatham Kent is on the same latitude as Europe's finest wine regions and all the extra heat and sun allow for an earlier harvest and give the wines a unique flavour.
From the London area, Highway #3, also known as Talbot Trail, provides a quiet, scenic route directly to Essex wineries with Smith and Wilson Estate Wines along the way near Blenhiem.
The Essex county roads are marked with Wine Route signs to help guide visitors. On Thursday the annual Shores of Erie International Wine Festival kicks off at Fort Malden in Amherstburg. The four-day festival features 18 wineries and 30 restaurants. Monthly bike tours of the wineries are available through the summer and fall through windsoreats.com. When you're not sipping wine Essex County boasts some great beaches, a bevy of roadside fruit and vegetable stands, the natural beauty of Point Pelee and Pelee Island and local attractions such as Colasanti's Tropical Gardens.
The county is dotted with more than a dozen B&Bs and historic inns such as Seacliffe Inn in Leamington and Kings Hotel Inn in Kingsville.
If you want a change of pace after a day in the country, Caesar's Windsor is just a short drive away offering Las Vegas gaming and glamour, world-class entertainment and sumptuous dining at Nero's Steakhouse.
The combination of attractions boost the confidence of people like Fabio Muscedere, who gave up a corporate career to help establish his family's winery.
He said Essex County has the right climate and the tradition to become a major wine-producing region and he believes it will continue to grow.
"It's coming along. If this region hits 25 wineries, that's a good number. Then people would say 'I've got to go check that out.'"
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