Next stop: The Okanagan!  The Okanagan Valley is in south central BC and is a great producer of wines, and fruit (with names like Summerland and Peachland are you surprised?).  Cider is made here too -- a difficult drink to find in America or explain to an American..  Growers Cider in Oliver, was BC's First Cider Company, producing Cider since 1927 (I mention cider because it's one of my favorite drinks and I miss it a lot living in Houston).  Anyway, enough of that, back to the Okanagan.  The valley contains a beautiful, large long lake, Lake Okanagan -- home of Ogopogo!

The weather Gods decided to show their wrath on this leg of the road trip -- it rained and rained and rained.  We had bit of difficulty finding the highway to the Nanaimo ferry once we crossed from Saltspring to Cortez.  We pulled in just in time to roll right onto the ferry.  Lucky for us or we'd have had to wait another two hours.  As we were waiting in line for brunch on the ferry (at Triple O's -- a welcome new addition to the ferry cafeteria, from White Spot), we saw the "PacifiCats" -- the catamaran ferries project of the BC government that is (still?) for sale.  The whole project was of enormous cost to the BC taxpayer.  I could go on about the monumental waste of time, money and resources it was (thanks muchly Mr. Clark), but I won't.  Suffice it to say, it was both infuriating and sad to see them there.

Approximately 2 hours later we were on the road again from Horseshoe Bay via Highway 1 to the Okanagan Valley.  It rained all the way through the Fraser Valley and to Hope.  Then after lunch, we got back on the road again to Penticton.  We found the Empire Motel which the AAA book listed as "exceptionally clean and very well maintained".  Any motel that gets those kind of superlatives gets our business!  And it was just right.  Not too posh (and therefore expensive) not shabby at all.  Just right.  We got ourselves checked in and then, since it was getting kind of late and the owner had told us that we could order pizza in from Panagopolous Pizza we indulged.  We ordered our absolute favorite pizza in the world -- the Panagopolous (now Panago) "Tropical Hawaiian" pizza.  Ohhhhhhhhh, bliss.  Yum, yum.  Nothing like it anywhere.  We spent the evening planning our winery tours for the next day while munching pizza and catching a little TV (after none for the previous week).
  The next day we got up late -- this is a vacation after all...  It was a gorgeous sunny day for driving around the Okanagan, but cool in the morning (as you can tell by Joe's fleece in the picture on the right).  The absolute first this we had to do was stop at Tim Horton's for coffee and donuts!  Tim Horton's is Joe' s most favorite donut place in the whole world, don't even think that anyone comes close to a Tim Horton's Sour Cream Glaze.  For those of you who haven't had the pleasure of tasting a timbit or Canadian Maple or a Sour Cream Glaze or a Dutchie (those last two being Joe's favorites) you don't know what you're missing.  We keep wondering when we'll get a Tim Horton's in Houston, but with the arrival of Krispy Kreme a couple of years ago it could be a while.  Anyway, after the obligatory pictures ( with Joe giving me the "what are you doing??!" look) we set off on the road to the BC Wine Museum in Kelowna.  We thought we might get some advice on what not to miss as far as wineries went, but no such luck.  Just a recommendation to skip Summerhill since it's very busy.  As we'd already been there in 1997, we didn't mind missing it.

On our way to Mission Hill in Westbank (just across the floating bridge from Kelowna), we found Slamka Cellars.  I couldn't believe how much the Okanagan wineries have exploded in recent years.  The last time we were there, less than half of the wineries now established were there.  Slamka was a new one for us.  We found that they had an unusual Icewine -- an Auxerrois which we purchased.  Many of them have evolved from selling their grapes to larger wine makers to making their own wine from them.  We appeared to be a bit early for Slamka, but everyone was very busy with harvest at all the wineries we went to.
 Next stop: Mission Hill -- one of the largest wineries in BC and also one of the oldest.  We'd also been there before, but the wine is so good, we weren't going to skip it. As we arrived we found that there was a huge change since the last time we'd been there.  There certainly has been a building boom in the Okanagan, specifically in the wineries as they each try to build more unique and memorable tasting rooms and winery buildings (even a castle!).  Mission Hill was no exception. Where once there had been modest buildings, now there was grand architecture.  Don't get me wrong, it's beautiful -- just quite a change.  The bell tower (with real bells) is very grand and stands on the hill and was the first thing we noticed.  As we arrived we found that there was now a $5 charge for the tour, but that you were given a coupon redeemable at the wine shop for $5.  Hmmm, good thing we were planning on buying something anyway. The tour started by the bell tower and then we saw a video about the winery and owner in the Wine Education Centre.

Then we descended into the new underground barrel aging cellar and it was very impressive.  It was blasted right into the rock, can hold 800 barrels of wine (Wow!) and is kept at a constant 12°C (54°F) for ideal wine aging.  In the cellar there is a gated area that holds the owner's personal wines -- wow, to be invited for a tasting there!  We were told about the process of barrel aging and the difference between French Oak and American Oak.  French gives smoother and more vanilla-y flavour than that of the American Oak which gives a more peppery, spicy flavour. Our guide told us that sometimes wine is aged in one of the barrels, sometimes both and sometimes only a portion of the wine is aged in barrels and then added to the non barrel aged wine, depending on what flavours they were trying to get.  Also we learned that a single barrel can cost $500!

We also learned a lot about Icewine, a very popular, delicious and expensive Canadian wine product.  Did you know that today Canada is the worlds largest exporter of Icewines?  Our guide told us about the process of making Icewine .  The grapes are left on the vine until after the first frost.  This usually occurs in February -- and the grapes have shrunk and sweetened by this time.  They are harvested at at least -8°C (17°F), and usually in the middle of the night!  They need to be done before the sun comes up and warms the grapes.  Because at this temperature the grapes are frozen solid, when they are crushed they yield very little moisture, usually in the form of ice crystals and about two to three drops of juice.  At this rate it takes 15 pounds of grapes (a regular wine takes about 2.5-3 lbs.) to make a single bottle of Icewine!  Holy Guacamole!

After a question and answer period, we were guided back upstairs to the tasting room by the wine shop.  This area was still under construction when we were there (and under wraps) but when it is finished it'll have wine barrels stacked from floor to ceiling (and it's a high ceiling) on three sides.  That'll be pretty impressive!  We were offered a couple of wines, but I can't remember which ones now.  I know, next time I'll write them down!  Then we went into the wine shop where we picked up some small Vidal Icewine bottles for friends here, and I got my obligatory fridge magnet (I am addicted, you should see our fridge!).

Next stop Quail's Gate Winery.  Now this was one of our favorites from our previous trip in 1997.  Their icewine was the first we'd ever tasted and oooooh bliss!  Absolutely delectable!  So we got there and went into the wine tasting room only to find it jammed with a bus load of seniors!  So much for that.  It was about 1:45 in the afternoon and the next tour wasn't until three, so we decided to have so me lunch at at the Old Vines Patio.  I must say that my shrimp on my greek salad were the best I can remember eating, and Joe really liked his Turkey Wrap, but the highlight was the wine.  I had a lovely Pinot Noir and Joe had the Marichel Foch.  Marechal Foch was once grown extensively in the Okanagan Valley.  It's hardy and was named for a French General, Ferdinand Foch by the creator of the hybrid, Eugene Kuhlmann.  This is one of Joe's favorite wines, a bold flavorful wine.

As we sat on the Old Vines Patio terrace beside the vineyard, watching the play of light on the vines and the water of Okanagan Lake, I thought what could be better than this?  Then the waiter offered us dessert and although Joe declined although I had no such inhibitions and asked to see the menu.  When it came, an amazing surprise -- Quail's Gate made (in 1997) a port!!  On the menu was something listed as N.V. Select Tawny -- that sounds like a port to me!  So we ordered it and something chocolate but the port was the highlight.  So smooth and delicious.

Time for the tour!  We paid our tour fee ($5.00) and gathered with the others outside the tasting room.  The daughter of the owner, Llane, was our guide.  She is the daughter of the owner and so her knowledge was extensive.  The cabin behind her is the historic home (now converted) of the pioneer Allison family who settled in the area in the 1870's.  The trees shading Llane were planted by this family!  Quail's gate is one of the oldest vineyards in the valley, established in 1956.  According to Llane, it was a bit of an accident: the family were fruit growers and grapes were planted presuming them to be eating grapes, and it turned out that they were wine grapes.  Well, why not sell them for wine making?  The rest is history.  In the beginning Quails' Gate sold their grapes to winemakers (this seems to be how may wineries start in the area) but in 1989 they established their own winery.

Llane told us about growing up on the estate (a 115 acre lakefront property belonging to her grandfather, the founder of the winery -- lucky girl!).  She remembers doing her homework on the porch of the house and having to listen to the sound of tapes with the call of an osprey (it's 'found prey!' call) and then the cries of a starling in trouble over and over.  The birds can be something of a pest and many of the wineries set off cannons to scare them away (that's startling first thing in the morning when you're not used to it!) and some vineyards are draped in netting to keep them off the yummy grapes.  Now at Quail's gate, there are speakers all around the property playing the bird calls all the time to keep them away. 
The tour began right down in the vineyard.  As we walked among the grapes, Joe asked her about the Marichel Foch grape.  She said it is a hybrid of a native grape, the Labrusca and a reisling.  At one time it was planted all over the valley because it's such a hardy grape.  Later when the government wanted to rid the valley of non-classic varietals, they gave the growers money to rip up vines like the Marechal Foch and Okanagan Riesling and plant the more fashionable Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon etc.  The wines you've heard of!  Anyway, Quail's Gate kept some of theirs, thankfully.  The Marichel Foch is one of those wines that has a very devoted following, and the wine usually sells out quickly.  It's a wine crafted in the Shiraz style (another of Joe's favorites) and has complex and intense flavors.  The success of the Quails Gate Old Vines Foch has revived interest in the overlooked hybrids of the valley.

As we walked among the vines, Llane explained the way the vineyards are set up.  They are on a slope toward the water of Lake Okanagan so the water can run off -- you don't want the kind of plump grapes you'd see in a grocery store, that would dilute the sugars and not make a good wine.  The grapes are oriented north south so that the sun can travel over them all day, east to west.  In BC there is only one harvest a year, and all the grapes above the lowest level are cut off before they reach veraison.  This is the time when they change from hard little green marbles to the larger, softer purple of the red wine grape or golden of the white wine grape.  They also start to get sweet at this time.  The cut off grapes were at our feet, and will be used as fertilizer (this is also done with icewine grapes if it doesn't get to the required temperature, as at Quails' Gate in 1999).  The remaining grapes get all the sweetness and goodness.  Llane encouraged us all to have a taste of the grapes around us.  The Merlot was just about ready for harvest and was sweet and delicious.  The Cabernet Sauvignon was not yet ready and had what Llane called pucker power!  Very tart!

Next we went up to the winery where Llane told us about de-steming and processing.  There is a difference in the way White and Red wines are processed.  The whites are de-stemmed and processed without skins.  The reds are processed with skins, seeds and stems, called the 'must'.  The reds derive their colour from the must.  Interestingly, blush wines are reds that have been processed with the must for only 24 hours.  We saw where the chemist works and also the bottling and packing area, where they were packing some wines while we came through.

Then back up to the tasting room where we tasted a few wines (I don't remember which ones -- now that I have a PDA, I'd be able to keep track, but I didn't have one back then).  We coughed up for a taste of the icewine again.  Most wineries charge $2.00 for tasting icewine because of the cost of production of this wine.  We asked if they had any of the NV Tawny but they didn't.  When we asked if there was anywhere that we could get it, Llane suggested the store at the Wine museum in Kelowna.  We bought an Old Vines Foch and Icewine and then headed out on a hunt for Tawny.  We were severely disappointed when we got to the store and found they'd been sold out for a few days.  NOOooooooo!  We did find out that some wineries are calling this fortified Port-style wine "Pipe" since they can't really call it Port since it's not made in Portugal.

We headed back to Penticton with a stop at Sumac Ridge to try their wine.  It was late in the day and we were getting tired, so I don't know if it was us, but the wine, while good, wasn't great.  As we were heading into Penticton, we noticed a Tourist Information place with Wine Fest Info, so we stopped in to see if they could help us with our Tawny quest.  As soon as we walked in the door we spotted a wine shop in the back.  Well, I made a bee-line for the counter and asked the salesperson if they had any of the Quail's Gate Tawny.  She said they did and I literally gasped with glee!!!  We bought two.

Then back to the motel where we unloaded our booty.  What a fine day it was.  For dinner I had spotted an Earl's as we went through town and that was where we headed. Earl's is a chain out of Vancouver that has been around for at least 10 years or more with a menu ranging from standard to the unusual -- everything from Chicken Tenders burgers and steaks to Crispy Dry Ribs, Thai Green Chicken Curry and Cedar Planked Chinook Salmon.  Everything you could want to keep everyone happy and an extensive wine list. Earl's is one of my favorite restaurants that I really miss here in Houston.

It was a Thursday night in late September (were we missing Friends or something) and the place was almost deserted!  That's okay, more attention for us.  So far we haven't found anything like it here and so every time I go to Vancouver I stop in for the Thai Noodle Salad (with chicken) -- it's delicious!  I once craved it so bad when we were living in Vancouver that I made Joe take me out for dinner just so I could have it.  We started with Tandoori Satay and I had the Thai Green Chicken Curry (oh, God it was good!) and Joe had the Braised Hickory Back ribs.  It was all fabulous.  I wish they had a web site so you could see all the wonderful food they serve, but more than that I wish they'd open a place in Houston!  A perfect end to a perfect day.

Back to the motel for bedtime...

Iniskillin Winery was our first stop and we found the wine to be good (although I don't think our taste buds were quite up to the task at 10 am -- but someone had to be first) but Joe still thinks of Iniskillen as plonk (the early years in Ontario), same as I think of Calona Vineyards which used to be known for it's crappy wines (we used to call their Schloss Laderheim "Slosh Laderheim") , but now their signature series puts all that behind them.  We found an excellent book on wine making and bought that.  Then we headed out to Burrowing Owl Estate Winery which is named for the Burrowing Owl. The $2 tasting fee goes to support bur rowing owl, an endangered species.  The woman running the tasting room was very nice and knowledgeable.  The vines were planted in 1993 and in 1999(?) Burrowing Owl produced it's first wines under their own label.  They have also have very ecologically friendly policies.  We really liked the Chardonnay (not normally a favorite) and bought that.  As we were leaving we were serenaded by the cannons going off!

We next stopped by Black Hills Estate Winery, a very new winery which seemed pretty full of themselves.  They had only two wines, only one of which we could taste and we found it to be not that great, given the price they were charging.  Next!  We had completely forgotten that Golden Mile Cellars was housed in a castle until we got there!  The winery, in Oliver, is one of the many that have been using architecture to get attention.  As surprising as it was to go into a castle, the tasting room inside was very nice, and the person serving us was also knowledgeable.  We really liked their Kerner, so bought a bottle of that.

  Then we crossed the highway to Hester Creek Winery and Gehringer Brothers.  They are both situated "just south of Oliver on a spectacular piece of benchland  referred to as the Golden Mile. This benchland is considered to be the best grape growing area in the Okanagan Valley."  We went into Hester Creek first -- their tasting room was very impressive and they had medals up all over the place from their winning wines.  We tried their Pinot Blanc Icewine but they weren't tasting their Cabernet Franc since they only had 9 bottles left.  A note here, Icewine has in the past been a white wine based product.  I don't know who decided to try making it with red wine grapes, but kudos! As far as I can tell it's been produced since at least 1999, but we had not encountered it until this trip.  We stepped next door (literally) to Gehringer Brothers where they did have Cabernet Franc icewine to taste.  We did and it was gooooood.  Mmmmmmmm....  We bought a bottle.  As we were trying wines (Joe and I usually don't try the same wines since he likes very strong, oaky almost chewy wines and I like a lighter wine) the lady performing the tasting suggested that Joe try the wines of Fairview Cellars if he likes a "big" red wine.  Okay. But first back to Hester Creek to buy their Pinot Blanc Icewine.

Then off to Fairview Cellars.  We drove in to the property and parked in the small parking area in front of a small cabin.  We could see one fellow climbing around on some machinery as we were reading the sign, "Honk if you need help".  Ummm okay.  We went into the cabin, to find that the man on the machinery, Bill Eggert, was the owner/wine maker.  Yep, a one man operation.  He asked how we'd heard of him and so we told him about his wine being recommended by Gehringer Brothers.  He was only tasting one of his three wines since one must have at least 30 cases of each wine to do tastings at the Fall Wine Festival.  Since he's such a small operation, he doesn't have that much more available!  He was a really great guy and we liked his wine and bought the Cabernet Merlot.  We all got a good laugh over our use of "nose" and "finish" -- we'd been to too many tasting rooms, picking up the winespeak!

Our next stop was at Tinhorn Creek.  Another impressive tasting room structure (as most others did, it also had a restaurant) with a great map just inside the door that showed an aerial view of the vineyards and what was grown on each of them.  I really liked that.  When we got into the tasting room it was very busy.  The staff seemed a little overwhelmed by all the people can came off a little snooty.  Oh well, I bought a jar or wine mustard for my mom and we headed out.

After a quick lunch in Oliver, we headed north again.  We were going to stop at Wild Goose in Okanagan Falls but missed the turnoff.  Oh well, next time.  We did stop at Tickleberry's for a little ice-cream and fudge for later.  Mmmmm.  Once we got to Naramata, we stopped at Hillside Estates Winery which had changed ownership since the last time Joe had tried their wine.  The wine we tasted was fine, just not what he remembered, so he was a little disappointed.  I think we were also reaching burn-out stage.  The next time we come, we'll do a week including the actually Wine Festival, so we don't have to pack so many wineries into such a short period of time.  That way we can give each of them our full attention.  We left there in search of Paradise Ranch Winery which we somehow managed to miss.  Another on the list for the next visit.

Our last stop of the day was one of the best.   Red Rooster Winery, so named because of the Rhode Island Red chickens raised on the property, had a lovely view of the lake and chickens still on the property.  In fact they still had eggs for sale!  As we pulled into the tasting room area the parking lot was very full, and so was the tasting room.  The man behind the counter acknowledged us promptly and told us he'd be with us as soon as he could (some of the other wineries we went to could learn from them!).  As we were waiting we had to restrain ourselves from laughing out loud when we heard one man ask, "Nar-a-ma-ta, is that Japanese?"  The man behind the counter answered patiently that it's an aboriginal word and  turned out to be one of the owner/winemakers, Beat Mahrer.  We tried both their Pinot Gris and Pinot Noir (Yum!) and asked about their Foch.  He told us that because there's such a following, it gets snapped up quickly.  The first year they made 60 cases and they sold out in 19 days!  The following year they made 100 cases and sold out in 16 days!  So none for us.  He was very knowledgeable and nice and we complimented his wine and bought a bottle of both.  It was a great way to end the day.
 We went back to Penticton and walked around town a little, taking in the bottom tip of Okanagan Lake before going back to the motel and unloading more of our booty.  Penticton is a lovely little town, ideally situated between two lakes, Okanagan Lake and Skaha Lake (our motel was down by Skaha), and I would definitely want to stay there again.  The next time we come for a week and take our time and most importantly, we'll come for Wine Festival (which started the day we left!).  We enjoyed another delicious dinner at Earl's -- Joe had the ribs again, he so enjoyed them the first night.  Again, they did not disappoint.  I had the Chorizo and Tomato Linguini which was very good, but suffered by comparison to the amazingly good Thai dinner I had the previous night.
 

The following morning we got an early start back to Vancouver, after the Tim Hortons stop of course!  We took Highway 3 back and it was a gorgeous drive.  The weather was sunny and cool and the views were outstanding.  After a stop at Lynda's parent's home to say good-bye, we headed back out to Tsawwassen to visit with our friends again and do all our packing (I had left some stuff there while we were on the road).  Neil's wondered how we'd fit everything in our suitcases and carryons, but Joe is the world's best packer.  We got it all in, including all our wine.  We had a wonderful dinner with them (homemade pirogies!) then off to the hotel for a little sleep before our 7 am flight back to Houston.  It was such a great trip it was a shame it had to end.  One thing for sure, we could totally do that again, but with more time at all our destinations.  Maybe 2004??
 

More Wine Links.......

These are a few links that aren't in the body of this page that I thought would be useful to the wine lover reading my page.

• The Okanagan Wine Festival Society has a listing of all the wineries in the Okanagan Valley.
• VQA:  The Vintners Quality Alliance makes sure that wines meet high standards in order to be labeled VQA
• International Wine and Spirit Competition, the 2002 winners -- check out Chardonnay du Monde 1994 in the past winners section.
• BC Wine.com is a great resource for information on BC wines.
• Off the Vine - a Globe and Mail series on wine
• An excellent page on the wine making process can be found at the Hawthorne Mountain page.  They also have a great page on wines and health.
• Heart of Wine - BC Wines and Beyond
• Wine Lover's Page
• For some history of the towns in the area, go to The Ogopogo Country.
• Vernon Tourism Guide