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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The view from Poplar Grove’s winery in Penticton.
Our first visit to Poplar Grove was back in 2002, when we went up to the Okanagan Valley for a weekend of winetasting with another couple. Our friends knew then proprietors, Ian and Gita Sutherland, and knew they had a guest house on the back of the property that they rented out. We arrived early and went to a local wine store to buy a bunch of bottles of Okanagan wines to try, as at that time we didn’t know a lot about the region and their wines. It was a beautiful afternoon, so we took about 6 bottles out on to the deck of the guest house along with a couple of glasses and opened them all up and started tasting.
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Delicious lunch and view at Kismet’s Masala Bistro.
One of the pleasures of visiting a wine region is that wine country is farm country. Farm-to-table eating is the norm and there is always a good array of choices ready to provide the very best that the season has to offer. British Columbia’s wine country is no different. From high end winery restaurants to casual lunch spots, we found something to please every palate, all paired with a stunning view of the Okanagan Valley.
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The original OMG Sparkling label.
When Blasted Church Vineyards first burst onto the Canadian wine scene in 2002, the BC winery instantly turned heads with the colourful and irreverent labels that adorned its bottles. From the “OMG” Sparkling Wine to the “Unorthodox” Chardonnay, it was clear from the start that the winery was willing to poke a little fun at themselves. Their wine on the other hand, is no laughing matter.
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