My Canada - US Travels
BC - Winnipeg
Winnipeg - Quebec
Quebec - Winnipeg
Winnipeg - BC
Epilogue
North West Drive
Washington
Oregon
California
Nevada
Utah
Colorado
Utah again
Idaho & Montana
Alberta
BC
Epilogue
BC Interior
Langley Detour
Okanagan
Cariboo
Prince George to Prince Rupert
Return to Vancouver
Epilogue
British Columbia
Sunday 12th
We set off early, 2 hours to Lake Louise, a further 2 to
Golden and Kicking Horse Pass. The visibility is zero and
it's supposed to rain later. We haven't seen any rain in the 4 weeks
away, while the BC coast is being pelted with some of the
worst storms in the past 50 years, I love our timing. We decide it's not worthwhile stopping at Kicking Horse Pass Ski Resort, even though they have an astounding view. We wouldn't see anything. As expected Rogers Pass is not to be seen. Anyway, the Pass itself isn't where the views are, that's between Lake Louise and Kicking Horse Pass. We head on to Revelstoke in the same conditions. We stop looking for our old coffee house haunt, it's closed down, and so we press on for Kelowna. There we stay at the Manteo Hotel, it's great: good value, neat one bedroom suites and the best service we have encountered on the trip BY FAR.
Monday 13th
What the hell, lets go taste some more wine, we haven't been to the Okanagan for 3 years. We expect most places to be closed because it's out of season. Also, unlike many of the Okanagan's counterpart wine regions in the US, the wineries are much smaller and many of them just plain run out of wine before the year is up. Then you just have to wait until Spring for the new releases! As a result we call around to make sure the wineries we want to visit are open before we drive down the valley.
Quick Okanagan wine geography lesson (at least as I view it): the
main region starts at Kelowna, (though a few can be found around
Vernon) all the way south to Osoyoos. The north is cooler
and damper, usually the gewurtztraminers, cabernet francs and "blancs"
do well here. As you head further south the wineries seem to thin
out around Summerland and Peachland, probably 'cause
all the land is still orchard. They restart around Penticton
and then down to Osoyoos. By the time you reach Osoyoos it's a
desert. Usually the best wineries are situated in the southern part,
or at least they get grapes from vineyards down here. This area is
where you'll find the likes of Burrowing Owl and Black
Hills. Both Mission Hills and Iniskillin produce
some specialty wines from single vineyards here. The best cabernet
sauvignons and meritage blends seem to come from here.We start with the most renowned - Burrowing Owl which by Okanagan standards is a pretty big winery, at 120 acres (They now have nothing to do with Sandhill). They have almost finished building 8 gorgeous accommodation units, all with stunning views, which they proudly want to show off to nosy visitors. Read: "Us". Across from the wine tasting room and the accommodation is their restaurant. Here you can have glasses of the wine that you can't try in the tasting room along with beautiful food and a great view, all for the price of a burger in Napa. Maybe I exaggerate, but you get the idea.
Just down the road is Desert Hills (24 acres). In fact they only recently started their own label, before which, they used to sell their grapes to Burrowing Owl. As it's end of season, they have little stock left. The wine obviously came from good grapes, but the lack of wine making experience shows in the structure and balance of the wine (No, I definitely couldn't do better). Give it a few years though, it could become interesting.
Next we visit the most southerly vineyard, Nk'Mip (pronounced Inkmeep). The winery and all the land is owned by the local Osoyoos Indian band and is operated in conjunction with mega wine owner Vincor, soon to be Constellation. Vincor own several wineries in the Okanagan. Nk'Mip, North America’s first aboriginal owned winery, was only started in 2003 but they probably have some of the oldest vines in the valley. I wonder though if the vines have been trained or pruned properly for more than 3 years? They boast that they have 25% of the valley's 4,000 acres of grapes. They use about 20% for their own wines, the other 80% being sold to other wineries in the Okanagan.
In the tasting room, the server seems more concerned that you agree with how great their wines are, as opposed to what you, the buyer actually think. For a new winery, a little humility might go a long way. Despite awards being won by some of their wines, for us the wines we taste are prosaic, and definitely not worth the price. It is the only winery where we don't buy anything.
The Band intend to buyout Vincor. For me this is unfortunate, their (large) selection of wine we tasted was disappointing, and only just starting to get going. As for their yet to be finished hotel and restaurant, I'd stick with Burrowing Owl any day. The restaurant menu was uninspiring and the hotel Front of House service was certainly not the Manteo.
The Osoyoos Band brought Vincor in as a partner to help them in the wine and hospitality industry. With everything so new and, for me, a long way from its true potential, it seems unfortunate to end the partnership. Unless of course there is an issue with the partnership and a replacement in the wings.
Tuesday 14th
Today we hit two wineries nearer to our hotel. First Mount Boucherie, just across the bridge from Kelowna in Westbank. The tasting is mainly of the cheaper, lesser known wines. We have always liked their Summit, so we buy some of the old vintage. Two of the dessert wines we tasted were ok, but we got the pinot noir icewine and pinot noir desert wine.
Next, just a little further down the road, Quails Gate. Always known for their Chenin Blanc, the rest we try unfortunately are nothing amazing. Maybe I'm comparing them with $100 Napa wines, maybe their best are already sold for this year. They have nearly finished building a new restaurant, it's going to have an amazing view. They also sell lots of goods from local artisans.
Then we drive north towards Vernon and go to The Jammery. Great selection, and if you can't take glucose, they use malitol to make jams that are sugar free. Back to the hotel to relax. Dinner is at Fresco. The chef is Rodney Butters, who started the restaurant at the Wikanninish Inn in Tofino. The place lives up to expectations, service, room ambience, wine list and most importantly food. The best meal of the trip and half the price of having it in Vancouver.
Wednesday 15th
Time to return, back to Vancouver and the Sunshine Coast . . .