A Week Wine Tasting Through the Okanagan: Day 2
By Erin
As you will remember from Day 1, we’ve got a lot to see, eat and drink and not a lot of time to do it in. As a guest of the Okanagan Wine Festivals, Erin was invited to spend a week discovering the Valley.
So get your game face on, we’re tasting our way through BC’s Okanagan Valley and neither rain nor rattlesnake is going to stop us.
Day 2 – Oliver, Okanagan Fall and Osoyoos
Waking at the pre-dawn hour of 4:30 – excellent, still on Eastern time – I made the first of several coffees and watched the sun come up over the foothills – like so:
But there wasn’t much time to enjoy it as our happy little caravan hit the road for another full day of eating, drinking and eating and drinking some more.
First stop of the day was at the combined Jackson-Triggs and Inniskillin wineries. Both owned by Constellation, they’ve recently redone the wine boutique and have put an even greater emphasis on making it a true hospitality destination.
The Perfect Pairing ($20 per person, offered daily at 12:30), guests to the hospitality centre experience signature JT and Inniskillin wines paired to unique and tasty tapas. I really like the cognac peppercorn pate paired to the 2012 Jackson Triggs Grand Reserve Meritage. (for all wine reviews, click here).
The winery has also launched an experiential tour focused on Icewine. Extreme Winemaking ($30 per person, offered daily at 3:30), takes visitors into the vineyard to understand what must go into making the premium Canadian product. Next, guests get to the good part – the tasting – back in the hospitality centre. Pairing rich Icewines to sweet, savoury, salty and spicy foods, the intent is to show wine lovers how versatile Icewine truly can be.
Really interesting is Jackson Triggs Tempranillo Icewine. Tempranillo, the main grape of Rioja, Spain, isn’t really seen in Canada very much (Pentâge Winery in Okanagan Falls makes a straight Tempranillo, but I’m not aware of anyone else). But JT’s former winemaker thought the Okanagan’s dry and arid dessert climate would suit the red grape well. It’s delicious as a sweet wine, and the pairing of an Icewine macerated strawberry was lovely.
Next we took the scenic route to See Ya Later Ranch – a sprawling winery that’s one of the oldest in the Okanagan. Making our way through winding, hilly backroads lined by ditches filled with wild asparagus (we were told bears are particularly fond of the spring time vegetable and can often be spotted foraging for them), we spotted SYL’s vineyards before we saw the tasting room. Vineyards stretched on forever.
See Ya Later Ranch has a neat story. As the saying goes Major Hugh Fraser bought the remote piece of land in 1919. Bringing his fashionable London wife with him, she lasted one winter before the seclusion did her in. The Major came home to find a note that simply read, “See ya later” and his wife never to be heard from again.
Keeping the desertion light hearted, Major Fraser signed all his correspondence with his wife’s final words for the rest of his days.
However, dogs proved to be more loyal than wives, so the Major stuck to canines as his companions. When they passed, he buried them in his pet cemetery. It’s touching, and a bit quirky, but it’s just one more story that makes the Okanagan what it is.
Grabbing a glass of wine a going for a stroll through the vineyards, we first heard about rattlesnakes. We were going to hear a whole lot more over the rest of the trip, but if you are planning to make a trip to Okanagan wine country – and you certainly should – be aware, rattlesnakes hang out in vineyards, so closed-toe shoes may be your best option.
This year, See Ya Later Ranch has opened a small kitchen for casual lunches. Coming back in from our short vineyard tour (the intermittent weather and the threat of rattlesnakes wasn’t conducive to me staying in the vineyard longer than necessary), we sat down to lunch.
The winery has just opened a small, casual kitchen, but like everyone in the Okanagan the chef focuses on fresh, local ingredients (many of which he grows himself), and organic as much as possible.
Enjoying our first course of organic tomato and smoked garlic soup, talk drifted back to the rattlesnakes. The vineyard manager, Jordan, shrugged the threat off. Rattlesnakes are so common, he told us, his uncle Henry keeps a bull snake in his root cellar to eat the rattlesnakes. And Uncle Henry feeds his bull snake milk. So, there’s that.
Finishing lunch, we made our way to Black Hills Winery – the winery of which Jason Priestly is part owner.
Black Hills’ wines can be found on great wine lists in Ontario. It’s known for its exceptional Bordeaux blend Nota Bene (and seeing it for $60 at the winery, it make me wonder why I’ve seen it for nearly $200 in fine Ontario establishments), but I really took a shine to its Rhone styled Syrah and the spicy Carmenere. A word to the wine shopping wise, most of the portfolio is out of stock – even for current vintages – so either show up in person (not a bad idea), or join Black Hills’ wine club.
So what’s a city girl to do after visiting three wineries in five hours and sampling about 15 different wines? Well, hop on a bike and go speeding through the vineyards, of course! (Calm down, I spit at these tastings. I’m a professional, you know.)
Taking the easy route from Black Hills back to Oliver, our guide, knowing I really wanted to see a bear, was kind enough to point out all the bear “scat.” And coyote scat, too. It was an informative bike ride.
Finally, we checked into the Watermark Hotel – a beautiful resort property in Osoyoos, did a quick change and headed to Tinhorn Creek for a tasting and dinner at the stunning Miradoro restaurant.
Tinhorn Creek is perched on the Golden Mile (BC’s first sub appellation), so high above Oliver, my ears actually popped as our car made the slow climb to the top. But it was worth it. After a brief tasting at the wine bar (see reviews of my favourites here), we sat down for Miradoro’s hugely popular communal dinner.
This meal was themed on Sicily, and against the steep hills and plunging valleys of the south Okanagan, we stuffed ourselves silly on polenta squares covered in briny olives paired to Tinhorn’s Pinot Gris, fresh pasta with sardines with the bright rosé, and a melt-in-your-mouth meatloaf smothered in cheese paired with the Oldfield Series Pinot Noir. De-lish. I’m already making plans to go back.