At Hillier Creek Estates Winery, a ceremony beside the creek and dinner in a barn that has stood for some 160 years give a wedding real County character.
The 50-acre farm winery is in Hillier, Ontario, with about ten acres planted in Vidal, Gamay and Baco Noir. Its wines have won medals over the years, including a champion title at the Royal for a barrel aged Chardonnay.
The land's story reaches back to Loyalist times, when it was granted to a British army surgeon remembered for early smallpox inoculation. For generations it was known as the Stapleton farm, and a blue spruce beside the barn was planted by the Badgley children in memory of their father.
Amber and Kemp Stewart bought the property in 1999 and gave the old Landmark Barn a full restoration, lifting and suspending it to build a new foundation. Two underground streams found during the work now feed a large cistern beneath the deck, and the barn was finished in 2009.
Today the barn hosts ceremonies, receptions, rehearsal dinners and other celebrations, with the vineyards as a backdrop and a spacious patio overlooking the creek.
For smaller weddings, micro packages welcome up to 50 guests on weekdays and Sundays from June to early October. Guests are met with a glass of wine, the ceremony takes place by the creek among the winery gardens, and a casual family style or buffet dinner follows, with the barn ready if the weather turns.
Families can also stay at the winery's three-bedroom vacation home, with en suite bathrooms, a wood burning fireplace, a hot tub on the wraparound deck and nature trails close by.
For couples who picture vineyard views, a creekside ceremony and a barn steeped in local history, Hillier Creek Estates Winery offers a wedding rooted in the story of the County.
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