A Week Wine Tasting Through the Okanagan: Day 3
By Erin
As Day 3 rolls around I was finally getting a little more adjusted to the time difference. Either that, or the massive quantities of food and wine I was consuming was working better than Real Housewives’ barbiturates for knocking me out at night.
Day 3 – Similkameen & Summerland
Today we woke up bright and early to make the 45 minutes drive from Osoyoos to the Similkameen for a morning touring fruit wineries.
No – wait! Don’t stop reading! This is a story worth that’s worth sticking around. And don’t be so close-minded.
No where was I? Ah yes, the Similkameen Valley.
Well for starters, it’s worth the drive, even if you aren’t interested in the wines (which you should be after reading this eye-opening and entertaining piece of non-fiction). The hills of the Similkameen seem to triple in size, taller, wider, more dense with trees and also more streaks of cascading dirt, sections of hillside scraped clean from yesteryear’s landslides.
The whole of the Okanagan is so stuffed with breathtaking scenery it almost gets annoying after awhile, but Similkameen, in my mind, takes the gold for seriously stunning landscapes. My friend and fellow traveller Rick Van Sickle from Wines in Niagara has a stunning panoramic pic on his Twitter and Instagram feeds. If you’re not already following it’s worth a look-see. After you’re done reading this.
Anyway, Highway 3 winds and snakes through these mountainous hills. We were surrounded on all sides in what was truly one of the most magical and wondrous sites I had seen in a very long time.
In pastures at the base of the hills, cattle and horses grazed… where they came from I have no idea as farm houses were nowhere to be seen from the winding highway.
We passed Spotted Lake – a saline endorheic alkali lake, which really means nothing to me except to say that it was exceptionally beautiful … and a tiny bit spooky in a fascinating kind of way. The circles change colour with the weather, and become more apparent in the hot summer months when the evaporation rate drops lake levels to reveal the salt circles. The high concentration of minerals are thought to have healing properties and the Okanagan First Nations consider it sacred.
Our car turned a sharp corner and then carefully made its way down a steep gravel road towards Forbidden Fruit Winery, our first winery stop of the day. In order to visit you really have to seek it out as it’s way down below the highway on the banks of the Similkameen River.
Steve Venables bought the 142 acre farm 40 years ago, growing 100% it’s certified organic tree fruit. While he has a robust business selling his organic fruit across the country, about 10 years ago he decide to start making fruit wine, using apples, pears, plums, cherries and apricots.
“It was hard to get traction,” Steve admitted talking of the early days and consumers’ reluctance to try fruit wines.
“But we won them over. The pendulum is swinging back to the fruit,” he said, standing beneath a thick row of medals his wine has won over the years.
Noting that his crop is “way ahead” (as is every farm in the Okanagan. While Ontario was shivering through the worst winter in decades, BC’s interior experienced one of the warmest) it’s also very dry. Walking through his property, in the valley of enormous hills, Steve points to one across the lake still scarred red from a previous forest fire.
“Water bombers were going over head,” he remembered, “and we had a bus load of visitors so we just kept trying wine. I told them, ‘don’t worry, if the fire gets too close, you’ll be safe if we all take off our clothes and jump in the lake!'”
So what do you do when 142 acres of your life’s work is threatened by fire? “Well, we just sit on the porch and have another glass of wine.”
After trying Steve’s fruit wines (he also makes traditional grape wines including a refreshing and tropical Sauvignon Blanc and a robust Merlot – see my reviews of all the wines we tried here) it was time to load back up and make our way 30 minutes down the highway to Rustic Roots.
For five generations the Harker family has been growing fruit on about 30 acres of land, and they also pack, sell and ship produce for about 30 other local organic farmers.
In 2008, Sara Harker decided to expand the family business into wine making. Making a fresh and crisp white from apple and pear, a Pinot Noir-like red from cherries, and an elegant sparkling wine made from Fameuse apples.
In fact, you could argue the Fameuse apple is the heart of Rustic Roots business. The 99-year-old apple tree on the family’s property is the source of their apples for wine (3-thousand pounds of them), and it’s the symbol on their labels. Next year, they will celebrate its 100th birthday with a party for 100 people.
It sounds stupid to say, but Rustic Roots fruit wine, tastes … like wine. Balanced and dry with great structure and complex flavours, you would be forgiven for trying these wines blind and not realizing they were from fruit other than wine grapes.
(For all wine reviews click here)
“Making fruit wines are definitely not easy to make clean and fault free,” Sara stated firmly. But she’s doing something right. Like Steve, Sara also has a host of awards to show for her efforts.
Keeping with the organic, farm-y theme of the Similkameen, we had a picnic style lunch in the tasting room. Proving entertaining doesn’t have to be an arduous effort, this simple, but delicious lunch of cheese, charcuterie, homemade soup and pickled vegetables paired to a nice glass of wine hit the spot? I was a happy girl.
Stopping for a quick coffee in the town of Keremeos, which is a town sort of like a cross between Gilmour Girls, X-Files and Twin Peaks, we were on our way to Clos du Soleil, a strangely sophisticated winery in the midst of charming, arcadian operations.
Michael Clark, a handsome and refined man, was once a financier in Switzerland, before finding his true calling of wine making. Upon coming home to Canada, he opened Clos du Soleil, an organic winery specializing in Bordeaux blends. You can read my thoughts on his wines here, but with some bright and quaffable Sauvignon Blanc-based whites and thoughtful, complex Cab-dominated reds, Michael and his team are out to impress. Interestingly, Ann Sperling, acclaimed winemaker at Southbrook in Ontario, Sperling Vineyards in BC, and Versado in Argentina, has taken a roll as a consulting viticulturist and winemaker here.
Bidding adieu to Clos du Soleil and the Similkameen Valley we made the hour long, scenic drive back to Summerland Resort. Checking into my new suite, which was nearly wall to wall windows, I could fully appreciate the beauty of my surroundings. Check out the video of the view from my balcony here.
Dinner was on the Summerland site at the Local – a modern and stylish restaurant on the waterfront, that, sticking to Okanagan Law, focuses on fresh, regional ingredients.
Owned and operated by Christa-Lee McWatters Bond (the daughter of BC wine guru Harry McWatters), she expertly paired wines from the McWatters family’s latest project, Time Estate Winery.
New chef Brad Clease was last in the Caribbean, and has only been on board for a number of weeks, but seems right at home in his new digs as the four-course dinner was as inspired as the surroundings.
We started with panko-crusted oyster with Diver scallops and house-cured bacon paired to a lightly tropical white Meritage. We moved to a vanilla bean butter-poached black cod with wild spinach gomae and tempura egg with a creamy and elegant Chardonnay. Next up (take a deep breath, we’re not done yet) duck confit and braised pork belly with a jicama fry and tomatillo in butterscotch miso which was excellent with a spicy and robust Syrah. Finally, a light selection of local cheeses, roasted nuts and homemade preserves capped the meal. The McWatters Collection Meritage – an elegant, yet powerful, Cab Sauv-dominated Bordeaux blend was the pairing.
Luckily, Local is on the same grounds as the hotel, as it was easy enough for me to roll away from the table and waddle back to my suite, for a food and wine induced comma that would finally shake off the jet lag.