A Culinary Stay on Lake Joseph
Enjoy a weekend of food and wine at historic Sherwood Inn
You might expect a quiet, restorative place surrounded by beautiful nature when you book a fine resort in Muskoka.
Sherwood Inn, tucked on the shores of Lake Joseph near Port Carling, certainly delivers on that front. The 49-room-and-cottage resort has been part of the Muskoka landscape since 1939.
But there is another reason people come here. Sherwood Inn has developed a culinary reputation that feels right at home in this old-school Muskoka setting, where a well-made dinner, a thoughtfully chosen bottle of wine and a long evening by the lake are part of the pleasure of being here.
On a recent visit, I sat down with the inn’s general manager, Dean MacNeil, to talk about his vision for the inn. Dean not only has years of experience in the hotel and hospitality business, but he also has his WSET (Wine & Spirit Education Trust) Level 2 credential for wine.
He can talk in detail about the best Italian and French varietals for this dish or that, yet he’s also approachable in the way you’d expect of someone born and raised on Cape Breton Island in Nova Scotia.
It’s always nice for a hotelier to know about wine. It’s a little more important when you work at a nice inn on Lake Joseph, where the wine cellar has become something of a destination in its own right.
“I like to think we have a nice mix of wines here,” Dean tells me as we sit in the inn’s main dining room, the aptly named Vintages. “The focus for me is on good food wines. We want a nice variety as the menus can be quite varied.”
He stops to smile. “After all, we’re not running a steakhouse.”
Dean started his own wine club years ago to get wines from importers you won’t find at LCBO. The wine list at Sherwood Inn reflects some of that interest, with a surprising range of wines from around the world, including lesser-known varietals such as Pecorino from Italy and Gruner-Veltliner from Austria.
The list (there are 150 in all) also contains pinot noir from New Zealand, Cabernet Franc from Ontario (great with food, Dean says), and complex Bordeaux blends from France. If you’re a wine person, you can explore the world from this little corner of Lake Joe.
“People are looking for very specific things, so we need that variety,” Dean tells me. “And we need different price points.”
I found nice wines for $12 a glass. But you can also opt for a bottle of legendary Opus One from the Napa Valley for $1,600.
If you’re a wine person, you can explore the world from this little corner of Lake Joe.
Of course, there’s no point having a great wine list if you don’t have menus to match. Sherwood prides itself on its inventive, quality cuisine at both its pub and main restaurant.
My wife and I opted for the pub on the first night and had a very good chicken sandwich with Korean kimchi slaw and a terrific green salad, as well as a nice, super-filling Montreal smoked meat brisket sandwich with fries.
They have their own smoker on site, which is used for the Montreal smoked meat, as well as for salmon, turkey and other goodies.
Jim Byers
Jim Byers
Jim Byers
Jim Byers
On our second night we dined on superb beef tenderloin with mashed and veggies. The rack of lamb with herbs and a dijon mustard crust was equally appealing, and we devoured the apple rhubarb crisp with lavender ice cream, which was more of a deconstructed pie. Ooh, la la.
Born in Portugal, Executive Chef José Caneira has honed his skills around the world, and his international experience shines through in every dish he creates. Chef Caneira is a Red Seal Chef with a deep passion for supporting local producers and suppliers. He also grows some of his own ingredients, both at the Inn and on his own farm.
The Inn is comprised of several charming, white wooden buildings with green trim scattered amongst groves of thick forest on Lake Joseph.
The property has roughly six kilometres of nature trails that take you past towering, sweet-smelling pines, deep green maple trees and white birch.
In winter you can try snowshoes, fat tire bikes on the snow, or a cross-country ski trip through the woods. Summer activities include canoeing, kayaking, paddle boarding, tennis, pickleball, shuffleboard and off-road bikes.
There are summer docking facilities if you wish to come by boat, and they also have an on-site spa and a fitness centre. There’s a bonfire outside the main building every day from 4 to 11 p.m., weather permitting.
On top of that, the rec room in the main building has table tennis, cards and other activities to keep you entertained.
There are 49 rooms in several buildings at a resort that dates back to 1929. They also boast several waterfront cottages if you’re looking for a more secluded getaway.
All rooms have a 32-inch TV, air conditioning, free WiFi, a mini-fridge, an iron and ironing board, a hairdryer, coffee maker, bathrobes, and more.
There really is something for every type of traveller. It’s ideal for culinary and romance, as well as rest and relaxation.
SPECIAL NIGHTS
Flavours Weekends at Sherwood Inn are weekends of curated experiences, typically featuring a cocktail class, live entertainment, a five-course wine pairing dinner, and a Sunday brunch.
Each experience is offered as an add-on, allowing you to tailor the weekend to your own style. They run a handful of them in spring and fall. October, for example, might be to celebrate local cranberry season.
They offer live music all summer, and for some of their specialty weekends, such as Murder Mystery Weekend, Culinary Weekends, or New Year’s Eve. Click here for a calendar of what’s going on.
WEDDINGS AND MEETINGS
Outdoor weddings are usually staged at the bottom of a dramatic, 24-step staircase that leads to a beautiful point of land. They also can do indoor weddings. The Inn has meeting rooms to accommodate a variety of needs.
GREAT GOLF
Sherwood Inn is owned and operated by ClubLink, which operates three courses in Muskoka; Grandview, Rocky Crest and the Lake Joseph Club. You would normally have to be a ClubLink member to play the courses, but guests at the Sherwood Inn have the option of booking tee times without being a club member.
They’re all excellent courses that this former golf writer highly recommends.
Great Escapes Magazine is a publication of Resorts of Ontario, a not-for-profit organization that advocates for resorts, lodges and inns of Ontario's tourism industry.
Find out more about becoming a Resort Member.
For partnership opportunities, please email us!
Gifting made easy!
Resorts of Ontario gift certificates open the door to amazing experiences at nearly 100 resorts, boutique hotels, waterfront lodges and cottages across Ontario.