Wine books celebrate our coastal wineries

The tidal wave of publicity about Okanagan wineries in the past decade must have seemed like a tsunami sweeping aside the wineries on Vancouver Island, the Gulf Islands and the Fraser Valley.

It is ironic, then, that two books dealing with this “forgotten” region are in bookstores this spring.

One is my newest book: John Schreiner’s BC Coastal Wine Tour Guide (Whitecap Books, $20). The other is Island Wineries of British Columbia (TouchWood Editions, $30).

The purpose of this blog is to promote my book. But I have no hesitation in recommending the other book as well. While the books overlap somewhat, the differences are so substantial that, in fact, these are complementary volumes.

Island Wineries, written by contributors of EAT Magazine, devotes itself only to Vancouver Island and Gulf Islands producers. While missing some producers, it does include craft brewers and artisan distillers. It also includes recipes and some listings of restaurants and bed and breakfast accommodation. The book, with 232 pages, is illustrated with such beautiful photographs that it will appeal as a gift book.

BC Coastal Wine Tour Guide is laid out to be a practical tool for touring wineries. It is 234 pages but is in a handy pocket-sized format ideal for the wine tourist’s glove compartment or the saddle bags of the bike or motorcycle. The text covers the history of wine growing in the coastal regions (surprisingly interesting) and profiles 70 producers – wineries, cideries, meaderies and sake houses) from Chilliwack to Port Alberni, and points in between. Some of these producers are opening this summer or are under development. I include them to ensure that this book is as up to date as possible, and stays that way for a year or two.

The guide is a companion to my Okanagan Wine Tour Guide, now in its third edition. I persuaded my publishers that the coastal wineries needed a separate guidebook to help them raise their profiles. It has always struck me how few Vancouver consumers go wine touring in the Fraser Valley or on Vancouver Island. Perhaps they don’t know there are at least a dozen wineries to visit in the valley. An Island tour can fill a happy week, starting in the Saanich Peninsula and ending on Quadra Island. My book includes helpful maps.

The coastal producers are every bit as colourful as wine producers elsewhere in the province. Because the wineries are small, there is always a good chance that the owners will be hand to welcome visitors.

What is so interesting about coastal producers? Consider these examples.

* There are doctors in the house at three wineries. Averill Creek north of Duncan is owned by Andy Johnston who practised in Alberta for 27 years before setting out to make great Pinot Noir. Devlin and Joanne McIntyre, who took over Salt Spring Vineyards a few years ago, were long-time practitioners in Abbotsford. John Wrinch, the winemaker at Starling Lane, is a radiologist in Victoria. Four if you include veterinarian Hans Kiltz, owner of Blue Grouse Estate Winery.

* Former economists run several wineries. Elaine Kozak’s mother was upset when Elaine left her profession to make the wine at Garry Oaks Winery. Xavier Bonilla, who owns Cherry Point Estate Wines, was an economist in Colombia for three presidents. Rolf de Bruin and Heleen Pannekoek, the owners of Lillooet’s Fort Berens Estate Winery, trained and worked in economics in Holland before coming to Canada to start a winery.

* Of course, there are lawyers: Kim Pullen, the owner of Church & State; Eugene Kwan, one of the owners of Domaine de Chaberton; and Larry Pierce, who plans to open Little Tribune Farm and Winery this year on Hornby Island.

* Former oil industry managers Jeff and Susan Vandermolen have a unique guardian figure in the Comox Valley vineyard of their Beaufort Vineyard & Estate Winery. Carved from a massive cedar log, it is a Moai inspired by the stone carvings of Easter Island.

* An active towboat captain, Wade Bauck, owns The Fort Winery while a former operator of a towboat company, Bill Montgomery, plans to open 40 Knots Estate Winery this year at Comox.

* Many wineries offer unusual and unique products. Kermode Wild Berry Winery at Mission relies almost totally on wild berries as its raw material. At the Saskatoon Berry Farm south of Duncan, the sparkling wine is a blend of red table wine and saskatoon berry wine. Nearby, Damali Winery & Vinegary has a lavender-Gewürztraminer blend. Venturi-Schulze Vineyards is renowned for its balsamic vinegar (to say nothing of the fine wines). Vista D’oro Farms in the Fraser Valley makes a remarkable walnut wine, among other wines.

* Bird watcher Vaughan Chase, owner of Chase & Warren Estate Winery in Port Alberni, has a rare hummingbird nest on display in the wine shop.

My subjects all have engaging stories, generously shared with me for this book.

Obviously, I discuss and recommend wines as well, but always within the context of vivid personalities that make the coastal wine regions so special.

No surprise: Herder releases more Big Reds

Photo: Lawrence and Sharon Herder

If you want big red wines, Lawrence Herder is your man.

He is the winemaker and co-proprietor, with his wife Sharon, of Herder Winery and Vineyards in the Similkameen Valley.

Once the owner of a winery in Paso Robles in California, he chose the Similkameen for the re-launch of his brand in Canada because he wanted to make big reds here. While his initial vineyard choice proved to have some issues with frost, the current location on a hillside near Keremeos is a sun-drenched, south-facing slope with great air drainage and with a heat-reflecting cliff.

The fruit he gets from this vineyard and from others in the valley is exactly what the doctor would order for ripe, muscular wines. (He also gets fruit from the Okanagan, since some of his vines are still young.)

The winery opened May 1 for the season with three new releases. As well, the winery has allowed an early look at the 2008 Josephine, the flagship red which will not be released until this fall.

Here are my notes.



Herder 2009 Chardonnay ($20). Bold and rich, this wine has wrapped subtle oak (but not too much) around the flavours of apricots, apples and peaches. The wine was fermented half in stainless steel, half in French oak. The label says the alcohol is 13.4%; the impression on the palate is that it may be a trifle higher. I make that comment because the reds all have significantly more alcohol but, as red wines often do, carry it better. 88.




Herder 2008 Merlot ($35). This delicious wine is concentrated and juicy, beginning with aromas of spice, iodine, blueberry and cassis, leading to flavours of cassis and blackberry. The tannins are ripe and long, giving the wine a texture that is full and almost chewy. This wine was re-tasted a day later to see how it was developing, a test it passed with flying colours. This is a fine, generous Merlot, with 14% alcohol. 91.




Herder 2008 Cabernet Franc ($35). Here is a powerhouse, the Similkameen’s answer to Zinfandel, with 15.1% alcohol. The big ripe wine is so packed with extract and flavour that the alcohol is never an issue, providing you stop at two glasses. The wine has brambly aromas of blackberries and raspberries, with generous flavours of plum, fig and chocolate and with a spicy finish. If you like reds that make a statement, this is a real orator. 91.



Herder Josephine 2008 ($40 with a production of 3,180 bottles). That price is a bit of a guess on my part: it is the price for the 2007 Josephine, which is still in the market. Few wineries are raising prices this year and I have not seen Herder raise prices either. This is a blend of 81% Merlot, 15% Cabernet Sauvignon and 6% Cabernet Franc. Stated alcohol is 14.8%, again not an issue, given the fullness of the fruit and texture. The wine begins with dramatic aromas of spicy blackberries. On the palate, there are flavours of blackberry and black currant, with the cedar notes often found in a Bordeaux-style red that has been aged in good oak. Collectors of previous vintages will recognize that, even with vintage differences, Herder has achieved a consistent house style. This wine can be aged for seven to 10 more years before hitting its peak. 92.

A world-beating Pinot Blanc from Kruger-Rumpf

Photo: Peter Schleicher

That fine German wines are available in Western Canada is due, at least in part, to the diligent salesmanship of Peter Schleicher, under his banner, German Estate Wines.

He understands the territory from an earlier time. Between 1967 and 1969, he lived in Regina and worked as a salesman for a firm that sold spin driers.

I learned that in a brief conversation with him last week and, unfortunately, neglected to clarify whether he was selling washing machines or industrial equipment for wheat farms.

Nor did I ask how he moved from that to selling wine. Perhaps it had something to do with the notorious taste of Regina water at the time. German wine would have tasted a lot better. In fact, almost anything tasted better,

At British Columbia’s Liquor Distribution Branch, the veteran staff remember Peter’s sales calls when he was getting established in the business. He would travel out to the LDB head office by bus from his downtown hotel, carefully husbanding the transfer. If the visit was short enough, he could travel back downtown on the same ticket.

Hard work has paid off. During the past decade or so, German Estate Wines has been welcomed regularly to the Vancouver Playhouse International Wine Festival. The festival’s selection committee knew that Peter would always bring four or five outstanding wines from some of the top German producers he represents.

Last week, he was back in Vancouver to call on the LDB (probably arriving by taxi this time) and to host several trade tastings. I attended one of those events and tasted one of the greatest Pinot Blancs that I have ever tasted.

The flagship grape in Germany, of course, is Riesling and Peter had four Rieslings as well. They were all excellent; the Pinot Blanc, however, took many of us by surprise.

I am not sure why it should have. In Germany, the variety is called Weissburgunder and is fairly widely grown because it adapts well to many German terroirs. It was one of the varieties that Dr. Helmut Becker introduced to British Columbia in the late 1970s for a trial of vinifera grapes. Pinot Blanc was arguably the most successful variety in those trials. It is now grown widely here and turned into very appealing white wines by numerous B.C. producers.

The one that Peter showed last week is from Weingut Kruger-Rumpf, a very fine family winery in the Nahe. The family has been growing grapes since 1708. Since 1992, the winery has been a member of VDP, the consortium of top German wine producers.

 

Photo: Stefan Rumpf

The winery is well worth visiting. It is in a small community called Münster-Sarmsheim. Stefan and Cornelia Rumpf, the owners, also operate a first-rate tavern as part of the winery.

Three of the five wines Peter presented last week were from Kruger-Rumpf. Two of them, according to Trialto, Peter’s Vancouver agency, are of “limited availability.” If this post stirs your interest, call Kenn Lymer at Trialto (604-367-5670).

Here are notes on Peter’s wines.

Dr. Pauly-Bergweiler Riesling QBA 2009 ($18.99 and a specialty store listing). This wine is fresh and appealing. Light on the palate, it tastes of limes and grapefruit with a tangy, dry finish. 90.

Rappenhof Alsheimer Fischerpfad Riesling Kabinett 2007 ($22; a speculative offering). This wine has a lovely, juicy balance, with honeyed flavours of lime and apple. The flavours are deceptively fresh and bright for a four-year-old white, a reminder of how well German Rieslings age. 91.

Weingut Kruger-Rumpf Schiefer Riesling Feinberb 2009 ($24.99 and a specialty listing). This elegant dry Riesling shows a complexing touch of petrol on the nose, with flavours of peach and citrus and a honeyed note on the finish. 90.

Weingut Kruger-Rumpf Munsterer Kapellenberg Kabinett 2009 ($25.99 and a speculative offering). Another elegant wine, this has aromas and flavours of lime and grapefruit with a lingering finish that does not want to quit. 91.



Weingut Kruger-Rumpf “Silvercap” Pinot Blanc Dry ($33 and a speculative offering). Both rich and juicy on the palate, this wine has lovely, clean aromas and flavours of apples and melons, with a spine of minerality. The finish is long and immensely satisfying. 95.

Okanagan Crush Pad brings concrete fermenters to the Okanagan

Photo: Egg-shaped concrete fermenter

When the Okanagan Crush Pad winery is completed this summer just north of Summerland, it will include six egg-shaped concrete fermenters – the first time that such fermenters have been installed anywhere in the Okanagan.

This is an indication of the cutting edge winemaking that we can expect from this winery.

Okanagan Crush Pad is owned by Christine Coletta and Steve Lornie, her husband. The senior winemaker is Michael Bartier, formerly the winemaker at Road 13 Vineyards.

The major label produced here is Coletta’s Haywire Winery, which is releasing two new wines, a Pinot Gris and a Gamay rosé.

Because Okanagan Crush Pad is set up as custom crush winery – making wine with other vintners who do not have their own wineries yet – there will also be other labels. In mid-June, it will release three wines under the Bartier-Scholefield label. That is the label of Michael Bartier and David Scholefield. David is what one would call a wine personality: a former portfolio manager with the Liquor Distributions Branch, he is now a teacher, consultant, wine judge and a wine representative with a major Vancouver wine agency.

The concrete fermenters are made in California by Sonoma Cast Stone, a company with a history in making a range of unusual concrete products.

“This is a very new concept to an Okanagan winemaker,” Michael says. “The irony there is that this is not a new concept at all, this is a very old concept.”

Wineries in France and elsewhere have used concrete tanks for at least a century, drawing the inspiration for such vessels from antiquity, when clay or ceramic containers were used for wine Over the past half century, stainless steel tanks have pushed out both concrete and wood fermenters (although wood is making a comeback for premium wines).



Photo: Alberto Antonini

The impetus for the use of the concrete tanks at Okanagan Crush Pad came from Alberto Antonini, their Italian winemaking consultant.

“Last summer we were looking over the winery plans with Alberto,” Michael remembers. “He is very quiet as he looks through the blueprints and he says, ‘These round things, what are those?’ I said: ‘Those are the tanks’. He asks what are they made of. Of course, I say, they are made of stainless steel. He said ‘I have an idea’.”

When Alberto began making wine years ago in his family winery, he was an advocate of stainless steel, having accepted that concrete tanks are not sanitary. After strenuous argument, he talked his father into replacing the winery’s concrete tanks.

“My father passed away a few years ago but if he could listen to me now, he would say I told you so,” Alberto says. His professional experience had turned him against stainless steel for the production of anything but “industrial” wine.

“Concrete is a nice environment,” he argues. “When you smell an empty concrete tank, you smell life. You smell something which is important for making a premium wine. If you do the same with a stainless steel tank, you smell nothing. You smell death. To me, the making of premium wine is about life, it is not about death.”

The egg-shaped fermenters have heating and cooling coils inside the four-inch thick walls for precise and even temperature control. The shape improves the contact between the wine and the lees while the production of carbon dioxide during ferment keeps the fermenting must moving gently.

“There are divine geometries, whether it is the Roman arch or the pyramid,” Michael believes. “The egg is a divine geometry. The movement of the wine against the lees is very important.”

Alberto also contends that fermenting with wild yeast succeeds better in concrete. As for sanitizing concrete, he believes that hot water is sufficient.

“I don’t want to kill anything” he says. “What you kill is what you lose. Premium fruit only brings good little animals into the facility. I want to keep them inside the facility and I want to create a natural environment. Concrete helps a lot to do that.”

The two 2010 vintage Haywire wines, which will be released next week, were made in stainless steel, of course, since Okanagan Crush Pad is still under construction. The experience does not seem to have hurt them. Here are my notes.




Haywire Pinot Gris 2010 ($23 with a production of 855 cases). A single vineyard wine (Switchback Vineyard, owned by Christine and Steve), this is crisp and focused white with a spine of good minerality and bright acidity. It tastes of lime and lemon, with notes of pear and apple. The finish is dry, tangy and refreshing. 90.




Haywire Gamay Noir Rosé 2010 ($21 with a production of 1,078 cases). This wine presents a lovely salmon pink hue, with aromas of raspberry and flavours of raspberry and cranberry. It has a crisply dry and tangy finish, thanks to its bright acidity. As much as I liked the wine, I think a touch of residual sugar would have put flesh on the lean texture. 88.

Orofino releases 2010 whites, 2009 reds

Photo: John and Virginia Weber, courtesy Orofino Vineyards

John and Virginia Weber, the owners of Orofino Vineyards, celebrate the 10th anniversary this year of their arrival in the Similkameen Valley to operate a six-acre vineyard.

Both from Swift Current in Saskatchewan, John had been a teacher and Virginia was (and still is) a nurse. There was not even a great deal of farming in their backgrounds, let alone growing grapes. Yet they have succeeded brilliantly as wine growers, making small volumes of excellent wine that sells out quickly after its release.

They are original thinkers. The winery they opened in 2005 is housed in a building made of straw bales. Unique among Canadian wineries, it was built at moderate cost. The natural insulating quality of the bales minimizes the winery’s energy consumption and its environmental footprint.

It is hard to say whether that motivates consumers with a green sensibility to buy Orofino wines. The Webers do not make a big deal about their values, largely preferring to let the wines speak for themselves.

The wines are good, as I found during a tasting with John of the recent releases from Orofino. These included two whites from the 2010 vintage. That year, John says, was “fantastic for whites – and for reds if the work was done properly in the vineyard.” The white varieties matured at slightly lower sugar levels than in the previous year; alcohol levels are a little more moderate but the flavours of the wines are not compromised.

Here are my notes.




Pinot Gris 2010 ($19.90 with a production of 165 cases). Orofino drew grapes for this wine from two Similkameen growers not far from the winery. The juice remained on the skins for several hours after crushing, picking up more flavour and the slightest of bronze hues before being fermented in stainless steel. The result is a cleanly focussed wine with flavours of citrus, pear and apple and with a crisply dry finish. John believes it is the best Pinot Gris he has made. 90.





Riesling 2010 ($19.90 with a production of 710 cases). John did not say so, but I think this the best Orofino Riesling yet. He drew on three Similkameen vineyards for the fruit, including the 21-year-old vines at Orofino, which give the wine a fine mineral backbone. While the aroma is still restrained (time in the bottle will develop that fully), the wine is packed with flavours of grapefruit and lime. The wine fermented to natural dryness, ending up with a tangy, refreshing finish and 12.3% alcohol. 90




Pinot Noir 2009 ($31.90 with a production of 70 cases). This wine is made entirely with estate-grown grapes. John has four clones of Pinot Noir in four different blocks, one of which is 22 years old. The volume amounts to about three barrels, one of which was new French oak. The wine, which is unfiltered and unfined, spent 16 months in barrel before being bottled. It begins with appealing aromas of spice and strawberries. On the palate there is more raspberry and strawberry, with toast and spice from the underlying barrel notes. It has an attractive silky texture. 90.




Red Bridge Merlot 2009 ($25 with a production of 650 cases). Five vintages ago, John began buying Merlot grapes from Chris Scott’s five-acre Oak Knoll Vineyard at Kaleden. He likes the grapes so much that this remains the permanent exception to his sourcing only Similkameen fruit. Ironically, the wine is named after the red bridge across the Similkameen River at Keremeos. This is an appealing wine, with aromas and flavours of blackberry, blueberry and plum. The dense, chewy texture of the wines reflects that Scott cropped the vines about 2 ½ tons an acre – when Merlot is often cropped nearly double that. This big, ripe wine has 14.7% alcohol but has so much substance that the alcohol is not hot. 91.

Beleza 2008 ($33.90). This wine was already released last year, winning several awards. It is a blend of 60% Merlot, 20% Cabernet Sauvignon and 10% each of Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot. Unfiltered and unfined again, it spent 16 months in a combination of French and American oak. It begins with aromas of currants and chocolate, continuing to flavours of plum, black cherry, vanilla and spice. It has substantial weight on the palate and ripe tannins that will allow it to age well for another five years. 92.

Orofino has two other 2009 reds not yet released, a Syrah and a Cabernet Sauvignon from a nearby vineyard called Passion Pit. You can imagine what the local teenagers did there before vines were planted.

Quails' Gate wines reprise three vintages

Photo: Vineyard at Quails' Gate

In each of the last three Okanagan vintages, nature has thrown curves at the vintners. It has taken careful grape growing by experienced viticulturists to produce good wines.

There are few Okanagan families with more vineyard experience than the Stewarts, the owners of Quails’ Gate Estate Winery. The vineyard on a slope of Mt. Boucherie overlooking Okanagan Lake was established in 1956. It has been replanted several times as better wine-growing varieties came available; some of the oldest vines date from the early 1960s. However, the emphasis in the last decade has been on increasing the Pinot Noir plantings. The winery grows eight or nine clones now and makes its flagship wine from that variety.

The recent vintages have tested the acumen of the Quails’ Gate team.

The 2008 season began with a cool spring and late bud break. Then a spell of fine warm weather caused the vines to put on a heavy crop which had to be thinned considerable to ensure good ripening. Cool weeks in autumn delayed ripening. The season ended two weeks late but with a blast of warm weather. The harvest started in mid-October, was short and intense – and produced good quality grapes.

The 2009 season, coming off a long and cold winter, also saw late bud break. That was followed by warm, sometimes hot weather for much of the growing season, with an early harvest beginning in the third week of September and finishing about the same time the 2008 harvest had started. The harvest ended a month ahead of previous vintages. Again, intensely flavoured grapes were produced.

The 2010 season began with very late bud burst. A cooler than average spring required aggressive crop thinning so that the vines would ripen what crop remained. Quails’ Gate had a much smaller harvest than in previous years. The rainy September threatened the vines with mildew, combated by removing leaves so that the natural air flow kept the grapes healthy. The weather turned for the better late in September. Quails’ Gate began its harvest October 4th and only finished with an early icewine harvest on November 23. In spite of all the challenges of the year, the grapes came in with the intensity of flavour and the vibrant acidity that yields good wines from a cool year.

The recent releases from the winery show that Quails’ Gate’s vineyard and winemaking crew can hit the curves, sometimes out of the park.

Here are notes on those wines.



Quails’ Gate Pinot Noir 2008 ($24.99 with a production of 7,424 cases). This wine, with 14% alcohol, has the big, ripe flavours of that vintage. The winemakers extracted additional flavour by macerating the juice on the skins for about 20 days. The wine was aged entirely in French oak (15% new) for about 11 months. It is a dark wine with aromas of cherries, raspberries and with bright but also savoury berry flavours, along with a touch of mocha. It has the velvet texture of a classic Pinot Noir. 90.

Quails’ Gate Stewart Family Reserve Pinot Noir 2009 ($45 with a production of 3,112 six-bottle cases). It is a seductive wine, beginning with a rush of spicy berry aromas in the glass. There are concentrated flavours of black cherry, plum and spice. The velvet texture adds to the wine’s seduction. This elegant wine is so good that it should be in a one-litre bottle because every glass tastes like more. 93.




Quails’ Gate Chardonnay 2009 ($19.99). The winery made 4,420 cases. The wine was fermented 50% in barrel, 50% in stainless steel, leaving the spotlight on the fruit flavours and keeping the oak flavours quite subtle. It begins with citrus aromas. The flavours are clean and focussed – tangerine, a note of honey and buttered brioche, with lingering clove notes on the finish. This is a very appealing wine. 90.

Quails’ Gate Stewart Family Reserve Chardonnay 2009 ($29.99). Fermented entirely in French oak barrels, this wine presents with a disciplined elegance, reflecting the intensity of flavours and minerals from mature vines. There are aromas and flavours of citrus over subtle oak, with a lingering finish that includes notes of cloves. This wine should be cellared a few years to achieve all of its complex potential. 91.




Quails’ Gate Dry Riesling 2010 ($16.99 with a production of 4,800 cases). This wine begins with aromas of honeyed citrus fruits, leading to intense flavours of lime and grapefruit. There is a good backbone of minerals and bright acidity. Recently, I had a 2006 Quails’ Gate Dry Riesling; the age had rounded the acidity and increased the intensity of the aromas and fruit. I would recommend putting the 2010 away for a few years as well. 91.




Quails’ Gate Chenin Blanc 2010 ($18.99 with a production of 4,400 cases). This wine actually is 90% Chenin Blanc, fermented in steel. The rest is Sauvignon Blanc which was barrel-fermented with a little Chenin Blanc, a technique to achieve a little more weight, according the winemaker Grant Stanley’s notes. It worked – “good weight” appears in my notes. This is a crisp, tangy white with aromas and flavours of green apples and lime. 90.

Quails’ Gate Gewürztraminer 2010 ($16.99 with a production of 3,700 cases). This is a restrained reading on the variety, with delicate aromas of rose petals and cinnamon, flavours of lychee and grapefruit and a crisp finish. 88.




Quails’ Gate Chasselas Pinot Blanc Pinot Gris 2010 ($17.99 with a production of 9,000 cases). This one brand alone is bigger in volume than most of the wineries British Columbia; that is testimony to the popularity of this slightly off-dry white. Chasselas is a Swiss variety that the Stewarts planted by accident in the 1970s when their vine supplier screwed up their order for a labrusca white. Recognizing their good fortune, they never pulled it out. On its own, Chasselas makes a rather neutral wine. The winemaker transformed the wine by adding 30% Pinot Blanc and 10% Pinot Gris to the blend. This is a juicy wine with flavours of melons, apples and lime and with a vibrant acidity that adds to the refreshing finish. 90.




Quails’ Gate Rosé 2010 ($14.99 with a production of 3,500 cases). Made with 90% Gamay and 10% Pinot Noir, this is a fine dry rosé just begging for a hot summer. There are aromas and flavours of raspberry, strawberry and red currant, with a refreshing tangy finish. 89.

The Okanagan through a travel writer's eye

Photo: Quails' Gate's Tony Stewart

After visiting Okanagan wineries frequently since 1976, you might expect I have a serious case of “Déjà vu” when I go back now.

The cure for the affliction of taking the region for granted is to see it through someone else’s eyes. Recently, courtesy of the Thompson Okanagan Tourism Association, I had the benefit of whipping around the Okanagan and Similkameen in four days in the company of three travel writers.

Wine writers have are a bit single-minded in their interests. Travel writers are interested in far more than wine. They must tell their readers about the total experience of a region, not just where the good wines are. Total experience includes the best dining places, the comfortable and unique accommodations, the region’s vivid personalities and, of course, the visual splendour. It is all there in the Okanagan and seeing it from someone else’s perspective is eye opening.

Tony Stewart, the chief executive at Quails’ Gate Estate Winery, persuaded his partners – a brother and two sisters – to add a restaurant to this West Kelowna winery so that visitors would get what he terms a “total winery experience.” In fact, the Stewart family even considered building a hotel before deciding that line of business is just too far removed from their primarily business – making and selling wine.

“On an administrative basis, the restaurant takes up more time than the entire winery,” Tony admits. The Old Vines Restaurant, a showcase for Quails’ Gate and other Okanagan wines as well as regional cuisine, is open year-round for lunch and dinner under the creative hand of Chef Roger Sleimen, who has been there for five years.

The challenge is the seasonality of the business. “We get 10 times the traffic in August that we get in January,” Tony laments. “We have never marketed ourselves [meaning the Okanagan] as a culinary region.”

That is surely due to change, given the explosion in fine dining throughout the valley this decade. The wineries with restaurants – some seasonal, some year round – now include Gray Monk, Summerhill, CedarCreek, Quails’ Gate, Mission Hill, Little Straw, Sumac Ridge, Hillside, Lake Breeze, Hester Creek, Tinhorn Creek, Burrowing Owl, Nk’Mip Vineyards and, in the Similkameen, Crowsnest Vineyards.

Tinhorn’s Miradoro restaurant, operated in partnership with Manuel Ferreira who also runs Le Gavroche in Vancouver, opened last month, with 65 seats indoors and another 65 on a deck with a grand view of the valley. Hester Creek’s intimate 45-seat Terrafina opens this month.

Hester Creek also has a separate demonstration kitchen in its winery and offers cooking workshops for guests. Several winery restaurants offer cooking classes as way to bring in business in the shoulder season.

There are good dining choices beyond the wineries, of course. One evening, our little group was hosted at Bogner’s of Penticton. Darin Paterson, the owner and chef, bought the restaurant in 2006 shortly after running a Stockholm catering company for four years and, before that, working four years for the King of Saudi Arabia. A graduate of the North Alberta Institute of Technology, he had returned to Edmonton to open a restaurant. Frustrated by zoning issues, he and his Swedish wife were on their way to Vancouver, with time out for some Okanagan wine touring. Granny Bogner’s, as the restaurant was then called, had come on the market two days earlier and the Patersons snapped it up.

The restaurant is in a heritage building circa 1915 in the heart of Penticton and, is said to be haunted. No one is quite sure what the origin of the ghost is; however, it was the long-time home and office of one of Penticton’s first doctors.

If ghosts need food, Paterson’s kitchen must make this a very happy spirit. He sources local ingredients, including salad greens grown on the property and vegetables from his own farm. Local sourcing is a point of pride among many of the Okanagan restaurants. Staff at Tinhorn Creek’s restaurant like to point out the feedlot across the valley, even if it is a bit of an eyesore, as the source of their beef.

Accommodation choices have also come a long way in the Okanagan. A number of very good apartment resorts have been developed this decade, including at least three in Osoyoos - Watermark, Spirit Ridge and Walnut Beach.



Photo: Red Rooster Winery

Those who prefer more intimate accommodations must revel in the astonishing array of quality bed and breakfasts the length and breadth of the valley. Just behind Munson Mountain at Naramata, former hoteliers Michael and Linda Newton operate their luxurious Serenata Guesthouse Retreat on grounds so elegant (there is even a vineyard) that weddings as hosted here. It is a excellent base from which to explore the Naramata Bench wineries (Red Rooster Winery, among others, is in walking distance) and to hike on the nearby Kettle Valley Trail.



Photo: God;s Mountain proprietor Sara Allan

For character B&Bs, it would be hard to beat God’s Mountain Estate, a short distance south of Penticton on Eastside Road. It is located on a cliffside bench with breathtaking views to the west over Skaha Lake. There is an air of almost spiritual serenity to the sprawling white Tuscan-style villa and the 115-acre property. The owners, Sara Allan and Richard Goodall, keep it that way by not providing television sets and by asking guests not to play radios in their rooms.

“When you take away the mechanical devices,” she says, “people make their own entertainment.” In other words, bring your own guitar and involve other guests.

The former operator of a Bowen Island restaurant, she chanced upon God’s Mountain six or seven years ago when she was passing through the Okanagan and needed a place to stay overnight. The beauty of the property led her to buy it. She and Richard have been renovating it since, carefully maintaining its patina of age by furnishing much of it with antiques and art.

“I like old things and I don’t mind if they are broken,” she says. “And I like art. I don’t collect art for money; I collect it because I like it.”

The estate is used by Joy Road Catering for its wine maker dinners and Sunday evening “family” dinners on the newly renovated porch at the villa (and sometimes on the grass). In the past five years, chefs Cameron Smith and Dana Ewart have established their catering firm as, arguably, the Okanagan’s best caterer. Their dinners at God’s Mountain are among the hottest tickets for guests who come to discover the valley’s full experience.

Those who never stay at God’s Mountain can enjoy it vicariously. The grapes from the Riesling vineyard here are sold to Wild Goose Vineyards for the production of God’s Mountain Riesling. It is a very fine bottle of wine.



Photo: God's Mountain Vineyard