A dab of sand at the West End of Lake Erie, the island is also on latitude close to that of major European and Californian wine growing regions.

I’m no wine expert (calling into question the value of experience as a teacher), but I have enjoyed the island product available in Ontario liquor stores and often considered a visit to Pelee Island, a popular tourist spot.

A small ad in Toronto’s Globe and Mail offering Pelee Island Wine through the Internet caught my eye.

As a freelance writer and print broker working from my home, the opportunity to travel and indulge the social graces without moving beyond the glare of my computer screen seemed a step up in lifestyle.

Shots of the winery, the wine shop, people enjoying wine tours and the vineyards themselves graced several pages. I got that same sense of discovery that comes from a bodily trip to any estate winery.

One drawback to technology: pictures of the winery’s attractively designed labels, many with renderings of birds that visit the island, do not reproduce crisply on screen. Too bad.

The opening page has information about location, about awards, then an introduction to the winery itself. Buttons connect to more about the Winery, its Corporate Advantage Program (gift baskets), or About the Island (history and ornithology).

A Tours and Events page promotes the pleasures of a physical trip to Pelee. You can book bed and breakfast accommodations and a winery tour in coordination with a season of promised cultural events. Tourism winds down in fall.

Only a handful of September events were still listed in late October. It made me think how nice a virtual visit would be in mid February, following the progress of varietals from sunny vineyard to cellar on line, while the snow banks up my door.

The Food and Wine page offered some suggestions on what goes with what. It was fun. Winemaster Walter H. Schmoranz recommends the ’98 Baco Noir or the ’97 Cabernet Merlot with wild boar, for instance.

Wild boar don’t run our street much of late, at least not the type spelt with an "a," but perhaps the same wines will work well with a pork chop.

Recipe’s from island chefs are on the site, but not on the navigation button side-bar. It was worth the effort to find, however. These dishes will have me back to the site again, and looking forward to sampling the originals as well.

Or you can send the Pelee folks your own photograph. Either way you’ll get something special to help celebrate special events.

The Wine Store was my main reason for visiting this site. Pelee Island offers a good selection, but not enough to warrant the "tell us what you want from the pop-up menu" technology.

This is not the first time that the technology seemed a bit over-blown for the information provided. After a couple of searches with no hits, I went directly to the "red, white or desert" selections, and was amply rewarded with label illustrations, taste descriptions, sweetness guide, packaging and price.

Although it wasn't specified, prices must be in Canadian dollars, because Pelee Island is only licensed to deliver wine within the Province of Ontario. With Pelee Island wines already in Ontario liquor stores, why would anyone in the province, aside from a reclusive writer, order wine on the Internet?

"We have limited edition wines available for customers on-line and certain benefits for licensees ordering over the web site," says Sigrid Gertsen-Briand of the winery's marketing department.

"Otherwise the prices are the same as in provincial liquor stores, with the benefit of being able to order at home, make your own special label (minimum 6 bottles) and have delivery made to the most convenient location. Different services are therefore offered to different customers."

You will learn what shipping adds to the cost toward the end of the process; at about the same time out of province customers will learn they cannot purchase on-line. It might have been nice to have these limitations at the start. Well, cookbooks, accessories and winery labeled clothing can be purchased by anyone from the Gift Shop page.

Fulfillment, as always, is an issue. "Arranging delivery has been the most challenging part of the whole venture," Gertsen-Briand says, "because people work, run errands, and it is a little difficult to just slip wine through the mailbox. It does have to be coordinated properly."

You can pass a virtual half hour or more with things oenological and ornithological at the Pelee Island Winery site. The few problems I’ve mentioned are common to new sites, the result of a focus more on what site creators have to tell visitors, rather than on what visitors want to learn from the site, and when.

I don’t think I’ll buy any wine on line right now, but I may book a bodily visit to actually taste those select vintages and recipes. It looks like a good place to spend a summer weekend, and an even better place to dream about in winter.