The Pontiac and Ottawa Valley’s Tap and Cork Route, featuring microbreweries, wineries and cider houses. By exploring it, you’ll discover exciting new tastes of le terroir—the land of our region.
Story originally written by Katharine Fletcher for Ottawa Road Trips. Republished here by permission of the author
Domaine de Pontiac Village: Wines and vintage cars
Just a six-minute (4.9 kilometre) drive west of the Quyon Ferry docks, you’ll discover Domaine de Pontiac Village, a winery run by Pavel Khol and his partner, Maude-Emmanuelle Lambert. Not only do they have a tasting room in their wine boutique, where you can sample their reds, whites and rosés; because of his longstanding passion for antique cars, Khol also invites visitors to enjoy his Antique Car Museum, located in the heritage barn-boutique. During a backpacking trip to the south of France in autumn 2002, the couple fell in love with wineries. “In 2005, we bought a 50-acre farm in the Pontiac and we decided to give it a new vocation,” says Khol. “We planted our first grapes in 2007 and produced our first vintage in 2015. In 2016, we opened our doors to the public.”
If you go: 1259, chemin du Cimetière, Quyon, Quebec
Little Red Wagon Winery: Wines and music
Immediately west of Shawville, you’ll find another stop on through undulating countryside, with farms and woodlands.
As well as tasting and buying red, white and rosé wines, you can have a meal or catch a show at this winery
Little Red Wagon Winery is a bright, airy spot for a lunch, dinner, live music and delicious wine.
If you go: C-165 Calumet Road West, Clarendon, Quebec.
Brauwerk Hoffman: Beer on tap
Todd Hoffman’s exciting microbrewery, Brauwerk Hoffman, opened in December 2018. He describes his establishment on the Tap and Cork Route as “Pontiac’s first microbrewery specializing in traditional German-style lagers and ales.”
Hoffman is always delighted to chat about all things beer, so ask for a tour of the beer-making premises. The beer malts are brought in from Germany, then transformed through the expertise of both Hoffman and Eric Mainville, another brewer. The hops, however, are Pontiac-grown.
If you go: 1298 Highway 148, Campbell’s Bay, Quebec
A few more stops along the way
- Coronation Hall Cider Mills, 206 Chemin River, Bristol: Traditional West Quebec-style cider and heritage foods, particularly “all things apple”
- L’Ancienne Banque, 76 Rue Saint-Jacques, Chapeau, Allumettes Island: Restaurant and microbrewery, with good hearty food and deliciously crisp beers.
