About

Wines In Niagara is a website that will focus primarily on the wonderful wines and food made in the Niagara Peninsula. The mission is to be as complete, current, interactive and informative as we possibly can be. We hope it’s an evolving community and a starting point for conversations about the wines, food and the people who make them in the Niagara region. Please forgive us if we get off the beaten track and venture to other wine regions of the world. If we travel, we will write it here on this website.

The intent of Wines In Niagara is to share a similar passion with Niagara wine and food lovers through reviews, stories, photos, videos, news, events, a blog and, perhaps most important, the conversations that we can all take part in whether it’s on this site, Twitter, Facebook or anywhere else we come together and share information, opinions and the fine nuances of what’s in our glass.

Wines In Niagara is a website long dreamed about and now made possible due to the hard and creative work from the web development students at Niagara College. To Tariq, Nathan, Kristen, Kyle, Henri and Chris — cheers! It has also had help from friends like Adam White in Niagara Falls and Suresh Doss in Toronto. A special thanks to you guys!

Rick VanSickle has been a newspaper journalist for over 30 years.

Rick has been a committed lover of wine since his early 20s, and can remember bringing Mateus to the “boys” camping weekend while everyone else brought beer.

It wasn’t until 1999, as Sunday Editor of the Calgary Sun, that Rick took on the added role of wine writer for the paper when a search for a new wine columnist proved difficult (OK, he didn’t search that hard). He wrote a weekly wine column in the Calgary Sun for 10 years and added the Toronto Sun and Ottawa Sun later.

Rick has now turned his attention to focus on Niagara wines with weekly posts on this website from wineries in and around Niagara.. He also writes for Eat Drink London Magazine, Pro Shop Magazine on wine-related matters, www.travelinggolfer.net on wine travel destinations, and is a contributor Wine Tidings and Wine Access Magazine. He also writes other freelance articles on wine-related travel,  and features related to the wine industry.

Rick and his wife Maureen are avid collectors of wine, and attend as many charity auctions as they can.

Wines In Niagara does accept wine samples for review purposes but does guarantee that wines submitted will be reviewed on this website. For information on where to send unsolicited wine samples, send an email.

ABOUT MIKE LOWE

Mike Lowe was born and raised in the Niagara region.

During a 28 year career in automotive component manufacturing and design, Mike has dedicated his free time to the study of food and beverages. He is a  firm believer that, with the growth of the region’s wine industry, Niagara has become, and must remain, a prime culinary destination.

Mike began writing about the restaurants of Niagara in 2004 as a regular contributor to View Magazine (formerly Pulse Niagara).  In addition to many food, wine, beer and spirits related articles, his restaurant reviews have become a source for diners looking for Niagara’s best culinary experiences. The reviews are unsolicited, objective accounts of dining at all levels, from the best burger joint to top-tier fine dining establishments.

Mike attends many food and wine events looking for the best in local cuisine and is a frequent visitor to area wineries. An avid cook, Mike is often in the kitchen, a place he calls “a safe haven where I can relax and focus my attention on good eating.” One of his most treasured cookbooks is his copy of Larousse Gastronomique autographed by celebrated French chef Jacques Pépin.