Though still relatively young as a wine region, British Columbia’s Okanagan Valley has come into its own and firmly established itself on the world wine stage. We recently visited the region for the third time in two years and we continue to be surprised and delighted by both new finds and old favourites. On this trip, we explored Mission Hill Estate winery, Checkmate Artisanal winery, Martin’s Lane and CedarCreek Estate winery, along with the new District Wine Village – all of which provide fantastic wine tasting experiences. Here’s a taste of what we experienced:
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CedarCreek Winery [source: CedarCreek]
Once you visit a couple of Anthony von Mandl’s half dozen wineries, your expectations rise quickly in anticipation of the next. His portfolio includes Flagship Mission Hill Family Estate, Checkmate Artisanal Winery (producer of Canada’s first 100-pt wine) and the ultra-premium Martin’s Lane. Right next door to the latter is CedarCreek Estate Winery, one of the Okanagan Valley’s ‘original 8’, and an excellent stop in its own right for any wine enthusiast.
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The Bell Tower at Mission Hill.
The Bell Tower in the distance is unmistakable. As soon as you turn onto Boucherie Road in West Kelowna and drive alongside Okanagan Lake, you see it perched atop a ridge, beckoning you to come have a taste. Head straight for that wine beacon and you’ll arrive at Mission Hill Family Estate, one of the most renown wineries in BC’s Okanagan Valley, and a five-time Canadian winery of the year.
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This month the #Winophiles are taking a look at French varieties made into wines around the world. While we could think of many examples from various regions we have visited, we want to shine a spotlight on our own backyard where the Okanagan Valley is making some truly world-class Chardonnay. (To read the other articles related to this month’s topic, please refer to the links at the end).
The beautiful vineyards at BC’s Blasted Church Winery.
Chardonnay has an association with Burgundy that is an unbreakable bond. That is simply because so many of the world’s most profound Chardonnay wines come from that region. The great wines of Puligny Montrachet, Chassagne Montrachet, Meursault and Chablis, among other Burgundy sub-regions, make the reference-point wines from the Chardonnay grape. But Chardonnay is a chameleon-like grape that has been successfully planted all over the world and shown its ability to adapt to new terroirs with the potential to make great wine outside of Burgundy as well as within. One of those regions that is rapidly gaining notice is the Okanagan Valley in British Columbia, Canada.
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BC grapes almost ready for Harvest.
The Okanagan Wine Initiative (OWI) is a collaboration of some of the top wineries in BC, who got together with the purpose of promoting the region’s wines to the international marketplace. Their purpose statement on their website states it well: “The Okanagan Wine Initiative was formalized in 2018 by a group of winery owners seeking to elevate the region’s rich and diverse narrative through business excellence and the promotion of quality Okanagan wines outside of British Columbia, Canada.” This summer we met with three of the 5 wineries that currently make up the OWI and asked them to tell us more about their project.
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