After visiting the Creemore Springs village brewery and sampling the unique maple mellowed warmth of Collingwood Canadian Whisky, it’s time to return a little closer to home for a visit the uniquely local wines and ciders available just down the road.

We’ve already introduced Thornbury Village Cidery and the delicious Thornbury Premium Cider.

And we’ve paid a few visits to Coffin Ridge, which brought home two double golds from the All Canadian Wine Championships a couple of months ago. Coffin Ridge also has a very delicious (your blogger can vouch for it), fairly dry and tart cider. Their website describes Forbidden Fruit Hard Cider tastily: “Made from 100 percent organic Grey County apples this artisanal cider is cold pressed and filtered to preserve the fresh, crisp, new harvest apple flavours. Robust with a pleasantly intense finish and complex flavours of juicy apple and lemon Forbidden Fruit embodies the essence of autumn harvest.”

But there’s another new winery in the Southern Georgian Bay area, and like Coffin Ridge, it’s less than 15 minutes from Meaford Haven.

Back in 1998, founding partners Robert Ketchin, Murray Puddicombe and John Ardiel began conducting tests at four sites in the area to determine the best locations for a vineyard and which viticultural methods and grape varieties would prosper in the Georgian Bay region. In 2004, they planted a five-acre commercial vineyard on John Ardiel’s farm on the west side of the Beaver Valley, and eight years later, the estate-managed vineyard is producing more than 12 tons of grapes a year. Three years after those first vines were put in, the team planted a little more than 12 acres of vinifera and hybrid vines at Victoria Corners, just southwest of Sideroad 21 and Grey Road 2 near Ravenna. They harvested the first full crop there in 2010.

Georgian Hills Vineyards winemaker Lindsay Puddicombe

Under the guidance of winemaker Lindsay Puddicombe, the winery is already reaping the fruits of their labours. In fact, this year, Georgian Hills Vineyards earned the Silver medal in the red hybrid category for its Marechal Foch 2010. This well-balanced, complex red has flavours of black current, plum, and spicy oak nuances balanced with soft tannins and refreshing acidity, says the website’s tasting notes. “It pairs perfectly with lamb, duck, game meats, and burgers!”

Vanessa McKean talks about a Georgian Hills white with a visitor.

Plan your visit for the afternoon any day except Monday and Tuesday. The cozy cottage tasting room at Victoria Corners is open from noon to 5 p.m., and you can sample the wines (and buy your favourite), while enjoying a view of the vineyard set among the rolling hills, with the glint of Georgian Bay in the distance.