Niagara on the Mic
Niagara on the Mic (NOTM) is a podcast that dives into the stories shaping Niagara’s wine, tourism, and creative community. From behind-the-scenes chats with winemakers to broader conversations about food, culture, and the people driving Niagara forward, NOTM brings you closer to the heart of the region.
Recorded at the beautiful Largos Loft in downtown St. Catharines, each episode offers a thoughtful and often surprising look at what makes Niagara such a dynamic place to live, work, and create.
Hosted by:
Craig Swanson
Craig has spent over a decade immersed in Ontario’s wine industry, starting out during university at tasting bars and on winery tours in Niagara-on-the-Lake and Beamsville. After graduating, he moved into wholesale sales and marketing, where he spent eight years collaborating with some of Canada’s largest wine brands and retailers.
Today, Craig serves as Senior Manager, Eastern Estates at Arterra Wines Canada, overseeing five of Ontario’s premier wineries: Jackson-Triggs, Inniskillin, Kew Vineyards, Domaine Le Clos Jordanne, and Sandbanks.
He’s also an active voice in Niagara’s tourism ecosystem, sitting on the boards of the Wineries of Niagara-on-the-Lake, Tourism Partnership of Niagara, and the Niagara Wine Festival — helping shape the region’s wine and tourism landscape from the ground up.
Katie MacCabe
Katie is a marketing strategist, storyteller, and entrepreneur working at the intersection of wine, tourism, and culture. As Marketing Manager for the Wineries of Niagara-on-the-Lake, she leads major festivals like the Icewine Festival and Taste the Season, while also driving brand partnerships, sponsorships, and digital campaigns that bring Niagara’s wine country to life for audiences across Canada and beyond.
She’s also the co-owner of Wandering Spirits, a coffee shop and cocktail lounge in downtown St. Catharines, where she blends her love of hospitality, design, and community-building into a new kind of gathering space.
Katie is deeply involved in Niagara’s creative and cultural life — serving on local boards, collaborating on projects in writing, podcasting, and brand development, and constantly finding new ways to connect people through story and shared experience.
Niagara on the Mic
Episode 3: Inside the World of Icewine with Klaus Reif | Niagara on the Mic
In this episode of Niagara on the Mic, we sit down with Klaus Reif, owner and winemaker at Reif Estate Winery, to explore the history, craft, and global impact of Icewine. With more than three decades in the industry, Klaus shares his journey from growing up in a multi-generation winemaking family to helping shape Niagara-on-the-Lake into one of the world’s most recognized Icewine regions.
We taste Reif’s Vidal Icewine and dive into what makes Icewine so unique, from frozen harvests at minus ten degrees to the balance of sweetness, acidity, and aromatics that define the style. Along the way, Klaus reflects on building the VQA framework, putting Canadian wine on the international stage, climate change, innovation, and what the next generation of winemakers means for the future of the region.
Recorded at the beautiful Largo’s Loft in downtown St. Catharines.