From scenic wineries to delicious bites, Aventure Outaouais is the perfect tour to find out why the Petite-Nation can’t be missed for these wine and cider stops.
Aventure Outaouais
Operating solely in the Outaouais region outside the National Capital Region, Aventure Outaouais offers a variety of all-inclusive tours featuring the “hiddenest of gems”. With little research, you can be guaranteed a day exploring some of the phenomenal and less well-known attractions around Ottawa. You can also feel good about participating in this tour knowing that you’re supporting local economies.
Aventure Outaouis tours book up quickly, so don’t wait to get tickets.
Sit Back and Relax
Living in Ottawa, we are fortunate to be surrounded by beautiful areas to explore. However, it is easy to miss the attractions outside the city that are less well known or if you don’t have a car. Aventure Outaouais is here to overcome these barriers for you. The tours include pick up in Ottawa/Gatineau and transportation for the day, making these tours ideal if you don’t have your own vehicle. Aventure Outaouais takes care of everything including snacks on board between adventures.
Let the Adventure Begin
I was able to attend the Petite-Nation Wine and Cider Tour and I had a great time! Aventure Outaouais sent out excellent information packets before the tour so we knew exactly what to expect.
We were picked up at the Lord Elgin downtown by our guide and driver to head out to the Outaouais. On the drive, the guide shared the history of the Petite-Nation region, an overview of our day and some fun facts. Our guide for the day was Brandon and he also provided excellent dad jokes and great tunes throughout the day.
Aventure Outaouais Petite-Nation Wine and Cider Tour
The Petite-Nation Wine and Cider Tour is brand new this season. If you’ve already been on the Pontiac Wine and Cider Tour, you should know that this is a completely different experience. Each region has its own vibe, and the wines in each region taste completely different. Since the tours offer different experiences, I would recommend adding the Petite-Nation tour to your bucket list regardless of if you’ve already been on the Pontiac Tour. If you haven’t been on the Pontiac Tour yet, you can find more information on that here.
Stop 1: Domaine Mont-Vezeau
After about an hour of driving through the beautiful countryside, we arrived at our first stop. Domaine Mont-Vezeau is a beautiful winery owned by some of the most passionate people you will ever meet. The owners met us outside so we could see the vines and learn about some of the unique processes they are using to grow their grapes.
Inside, we had some of the best wine I’ve ever tasted. The owners talked excitedly about every sample and ended up giving us more tastings than we were promised. In addition to the good wine and enthusiasm, we were also treated to some homemade pizza, chips, nuts and olives to compliment our tastings.
In addition to traditional wine, Domaine Mont-Vézeau also grows its own strawberries and raspberries to make wine and jam. This was my first time trying strawberry wine, and it was my favorite tasting of the day! The owners suggest coming back later in June to enjoy their fresh strawberry harvest.
Domaine Mont-Vézeau. Photo by Torie Wotton.
Stop 2: Café des Orties
The second stop of the day was at Café des Orties, a non-profit café that uses only local ingredients in their menu. The menu changes weekly to accommodate what ingredients are available, so you’re guaranteed a unique experience every time you visit. We sat on the patio and ate a delicious meal. I can not emphasize enough how good this food was. Everything tasted so fresh, and we all worked hard to make sure we got every single bite off our plates.
Café des Orties also had amazing options for my gluten and dairy-free friend. She gave the food at this location a 9.5/10, which is the highest ranking I’ve ever heard her give. She even said that the food was to die for! With such high praise from such a harsh critic, you can rest assured that you can have a delicious meal here while respecting your dietary restrictions.
Cafe des Orties. Photo by Torie Wotton.
Stop 3: Fragments
The second winery we visited was called Fragments, and it was the most scenic location of the day. We had our first tasting under the shade of the trees before driving up to the vines. The difference in temperature between locations was surprising, and the owners talked about how the grapes are strategically planted to gain every degree of warmth possible. The wine here is all organic, and the bottles had the cutest labels.
Table settings at Fragments. Photo by Torie Wotton.
Stop 4: Les Pommes Perdues
The final stop of the day was Les Pommes Perdues micro cider mill. The mill is so micro that the entire operation is run out of the owner’s garage and doesn’t have its own orchard. Instead, the owners hand-pick wild apples around the Petite-Nation region. This gives their cider a very unique flavor. I’m not usually a big fan of cider, but I enjoyed the tastings we did from Les Pommes Perdues as the taste was very unique.
Due to issues with licensing, tastings can not be done on location at the mill. Instead, we did the tasting at Café des Orties during our lunch stop and then visited the mill at the end of our tour. That being said, you can purchase cider at the mill if you decide to visit.
The boutique at Les Pommes Perdu. Photo by Torie Wotton.
I hope this inspires you to take a tour with Aventure Outaouais this summer and expand your horizons around Ottawa! The full offering of tours can be viewed and booked here. Thank you to Aventure Outoauais for the invitation. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
Book your Aventure Outaouais Tour in advance here.
You might also be interested in:
Torie is a policy analyst who loves to write and travel. Recently graduated from the University of Ottawa, Torie is excited to invest some of her new free time into both of these hobbies by writing for Little Miss Ottawa!
Torie has loved adventures and trying new things for a long time. Family trips both close to home and abroad fostered this mentality and set the stage for future adventures both big and small. Moving to Ottawa from Manitoba gave Torie the opportunity to explore a new area in depth and emphasized the fact that every day can be an adventure if you bring the right mind set.
When she’s not out on an adventure, Torie can be found at the rink practicing with her synchronized skating team or coaching skating.
Find me on: Instagram
