The Okanagan
Canadian Wine Region on the Rise!!
Be Among the First!!
Where
There have been countless articles about the traditional wine regions of the world – Napa, Tuscany, Rioja, Bordeaux and Burgundy to name just a few. But, if you want to experience a wine region in its infancy, then you need to consider the Okanagan!!
The Okanagan is a region located in the Canadian province of British Columbia about 200 miles from the Pacific Ocean. The long narrow Okanagan Valley runs from the 49th Parallel – its southernmost border with the state of Washington – north for about a hundred miles to roughly the 50th parallel. The region takes its name from the aboriginal people, known as the Okanagan Nation, which lived off the land for thousands of years before the first settlers arrived in the early 1800’s. Fur trading, missions, ranchers, gold mining and agriculture, primarily fruit, drove the development of the valley. Today, fruit is still grown but the new gold being mined is grapes for wine making!!
This writer had barely heard of the Okanagan until the summer of ’05 when visiting Oregon’s Willamette Valley, he ran into two California winemakers who were on their way to visit the Okanagan to investigate establishing a winery there. The thought occurred that with all the rush to visit the traditional wine regions of the world, wouldn’t it be nice to visit one that was a bit off the beaten path and was still in its youth but whose wines were being recognized internationally?
Today, the Okanagan has about 5000 acres under vine and that supports over 70 wineries.
History
Although the first vineyards were planted with the early missions in the mid 1800’s, it was the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) which, in 1988, opened the market and put pressure on wine growers to focus on quality. Grants incentivized growers to replace undesirable varietals with premium vinifera vines in order to compete. Shortly after, BC adopted the Canadian VQA (Vintners Quality Alliance) as its wine ‘law’ standard. Among other requirements, VQA wines must be produced from 100% BC grapes and are screened by professional tasters for any faults. The VQA standard is BC’s answer to the European ‘Appellation of Origin’.
Like any ‘terroir’ driven wine region, soil types, rainfall and sunshine define a ‘terroir’ and determine the type of grapes grown; and, it is those differences that determined the five Okanagan grape growing regions. On its west, The Okanagan is bordered by the coastal mountain ranges and on its eastern side by the Rockies. Like the Voges Mountains which shelter France’s Alsace Region, the coastal mountain range keeps the Okanagan relatively dry with rainfall from about eight inches in the south valley to about 12 inches in its north. Similarly, the ‘degree days’ vary from 1200 in the north to 1500 in the south. And, with such a northern parallel, daybreak can start as early as 5AM and nightfall can be as late as 1030PM; thus, enhancing grape riping. Cooler climate varietals – Chardonnay, Riesling – dominate the northern end of the valley and warmer climate varietals – Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Syrah – the southern end.
Also, the region is dominated with several lakes that run its length and help to moderate the winter temperatures; thus, allowing vinifera to flourish this far north.
Okanagan Black Sage Wineries
The Pacific Agri-food Research Centre (PARC) has identified five sub-regions in the Okanagan which run from the northern end of the valley to its southern end. Because the ‘degree day’s are higher in the Black Sage, Bordeaux varietals predominate. This writer visited five wineries over two days in the Okanagan’s southern end which is referred to as the Black Sage. What is uniquely unique about this sub-region is that it contains what is referred to as a ‘pocket desert’! The area that lies between the towns of Oliver in the north and Osooyos in the south is the northernmost tip of the Sonora Desert which begins on the Baja Peninsula in Mexico!
Day one started at Jackson-Triggs, Oliver, BC. www.jacksontriggswinery.com J-T is just one of several international wineries owned by Vincor International, Ontario, Canada which was recently aquired by Constellation Brands, Fairport, NY, for $1.52B. Our host, Tim Martiniuk, a college student whose own family raises grapes, led us thru our J-T tasting in their brand new state of the art tasting room which generously reflected its corporate statue. We tasted J-T’s Proprietors’ Reserve, Proprietors’ Grand Reserve and Sun Rock Vineyard wines which included Riesling, Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay, Viognier, Merlot, Shiraz, Cabernet Sauvignon, several red blends and Icewines. Although J-T places a lot of resources on its red varietals, this writer was impressed with its Proprietors’ Reserve ’05 dry Riesling which exhibited refreshing crispness, green apple and citrus aromas. A nice refreshing wine. J-T’s ’03 Sun Rock Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon was the big dog of the tasting. Made from the best Sun Rock Vineyard fruit and aged for 18 months in oak barriques, it exhibited a big tannic backbone and nice fruit. This wine will reward with a few years in the cellar.
Tinhorn Creek, Oliver, BC. www.tinhorn.com We were met by Sandra Oldfield, the winemaker, who runs and operates the winery and vineyard with her husband, Kenn. The winery sits up on a high hillside below a former mining creek and offers an unparalleled view of the valley. Visitors come in on the second floor and can look down into the galleries below to see the stainless steel fermentation tanks, oak barrel cellars and the crush pad. They can also take a self guided tour of a vineyard planted with the various varietals to see the fruit firsthand as well as observe the different types of vine pruning. Sandra is originally from California’s Sonoma area and has a Master’s from UC Davis – which is noted for its oenology curriculum. With an annual production of about 3500 cases, Tinhorn Creek produces Gewurztraminer, Pinot Gris, Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Cabernet Franc, Merlot and Kerner Icewine. Of particular note were the Oldfield’s Collection Merlots from ’02 and ’03 which contain a bit of cabernet franc and syrah. The big bad tannins that seem to rule the south Okanagan reds were showing some nice integration on the ’02 allowing the fruit aromas and flavors of red berries to show through. Both are very nice wines that will drink handsomely with a few years of age.
The first of three wineries on day two started with Nk’Mip (INK-a-MEEP) Cellars, Osooyos, BC, www.nkimipcellars.com, which is North America’s first aboriginal owned and operated winery making premium VQA wines. Nk’Mip is a joint venture between the Osoyoos Indian Band and Vincor International. The winery, build in 2002 with a capacity of 18,000 cases, is situated on a bench which overlooksits vineyards and beautiful Osooyos Lake. The winery building has been designed to blend into the desert surroundings reflecting a distinct southwest look of architecture and color rather than what you would expect in Bristish Columbia! Coming to Nk’Mip Cellars truly crystallizes the Okanagan desert experience. Our host was Nk’Mip’s winemaker, Randy Picton. Randy left the Canadian bush to become a winemaker and his wines have been his benefactor. After speaking to Randy, it became clear that in addition to being the winemaker he is mentoring several of tribal members in the wine making process. Randy lead us through tastings of Nk’Mip’s Pinot blanc, Riesling, chardonnay, merlot, pinot noir, Meritage (the international Bordeaux style red) and its Ice Wine. The ’05 Pinot Blanc had nice aromas and flavors of pear and apple and showed a nice streak of acidity. Of particular note, was Nk’Mik’s reserve wines which they designate as ‘Qwam Qwmt’ (sometimes referred to as QQ or Q square) which is a tribal reference ‘to achieve excellence’. The ’03 QQ Merlot and Meritage (55/45 Cab/Merlot blend) were showing nice fruit on a solid tannic backbone. Both will evolve with some bottle age.
Our next stop was Burrowing Owl Estate Winery, Oliver, BC. www.bovwine.com. Burrowing Owl makes about 25,000 cases of estates wines from about 143 acres of vines producing Pinot Gris, Chardonnay, Cabernet Franc, Syrah, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and a Meritage. Burrowing Owl’s winery, restaurant and, soon to be opened, ten room guest house, sits in the middle of their vineyards. The day we visited, we were shown an article from a local BC paper listing the ‘Top 100 Things to Do’ in British Columbia and ‘Visiting Burrowing Owl’ was number 3 on the list! Our host was Chris Wyse, the son of Jim and Midge Wyse who founded the winery. Because their wines are so much in demand, we were only able to taste their Pinot Gris, Merlot, Syrah and Chardonnay which were all very good. But, of note to this taster, was their ’04 Syrah. It had a fairly intense nose of dark red fruit and on the palate exhibited good acidity, body, a solid backbone of tannins and dark fruit flavors. And, typically of the Okanagan reds, cellaring will reward the patient wine lover! The view from the deck of the restaurant, the Sonora Room, is ‘to die for’ and its a great way to end the day with a perfect combination of wine, food and ambience! The night my wife and I had dinner in the Sonora Room, we watched from the patio of the Sonora Room as a troupe of young quail marched up the road in front of the winery while we sipped a ’99 chardonnay from the Burrowing Owl wine library. All this was in the foreground of the vineyard, the valley floor, the mountain range across the valley and the sun setting behind the hills!! It’s hard to imagine it getting much better than this! Oh, the food is excellent – we ate there twice!
Our last stop was at the Black Hills Estate Winery, Oliver, BC, www.blackhillswinery.com. This winery is owned by two couples who left Vancouver to pursue their dreams to make world class wine. Their estate comprises 34 acres of prime vinifera grapes - Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc – and they produce three wines. Our host was Senka Tennnant and her husband, Bob. We visited Senka in the new winery which is being built in the middle of the vineyard and was about 80% complete. Although their wines sell out very, very quickly (Bob told us that in some cases they sold out within about a day of becoming available), Senka bought a bottle of each wine they make for us to taste – from her home – along with one glass each which we ceremoniously went into the winery to rinse them with big hoses because the tasting room was not plumbed. In fact, Senkat curled up on an unfinished countertop and we tasted and discussed her wines! Their white wine is called Alibi which is an 83/17 blend of Sauvignon Blanc and Semillon which are the two varietals that are typically used in Bordeaux whites. On the nose, the ’05 Alibi had nice aromas of ripe peaches and soft stone fruits. On the palate there was a good balance of acidity and grip contributed by the Sauvignon Blanc and Semillon respectively. The red wine is called Nota Bene which Senka says means, ‘to be noted’ or ‘to take account’ which turned out to be apropos. Nota Bene is a 46/36/18 blend of Cabernet sauvignon/Merlot/Cabernet Franc. Aged for about a year in a blend of French and American oak barriques with about 1/3 new, the wine had a nice nose of sweet red fruit but not a big fruit bomb. On the palate, the ’04 Nota Bene had smooth and silky tannins and both black and red fruit flavors coming through. As we tasted the wine, we continued to talk about all things wine going back to the Nota Bene and retasting. the wine continued to morph and toward the end was giving flavors of coffee and chocolate. Its length seemed to go on and on. A very nice wine – if you are lucky enough to find it! The last wine tasted was her late harvest dessert wine which is called Sequentia and is a blend of 54/46 Sauvignon Blanc/Semillon. Sequentia is not an ice wine which is so prevalent here but is a late harvest style. The writer is not a fan of desert wines – this is something he needs to work on – but I was quite taken with this wine due to its nice balance of acidity and sweetness. What I liked the most was its nose which reminded me of early morning spring walks to school when the honeysuckle was just starting to open. This wine begs to be matched with ripe, poached pears!
While You’re in the Neighborhood
Very seldom have I visited a wine region without stopping at other sights along the way. Visiting the Okanagan presents two options. You may either fly into Calgary and spend a few days there before heading west to the Okanagan and then continue on to Vancouver and Victoria on Vancouver Island, or fly into Vancouver and then loop out to the Okanagan and return for as above. The ferry ride alone from Vancouver to Victoria is breath taking!
The Very Best Part!
Without exception or exaggeration, my wife and I have never met or experienced the level of friendliness or helpfulness from everyone we met on this trip to the Okanagan and the cities of Vancouver and Victoria!
So, if you want to visit an exciting new wine region before the rest of the wine crowd discovers it and see some breath taking scenery along the way, then, head on out to the Okanagan Valley in Canada’s British Columbia!!
Places to Stay in the south Okanagan
Burrowing Owl’s Guest House www.bovwine.com
Spirit Ridge Vineyard Resort & Spa www.spiritridge.ca
Naramata Heritage Inn & spa www.naramatainn.com
Places to Eat in the south Okanagan
Spirit Ridge Vineyard Resort www.spiritridge.ca
Burrowing Owl’s Sonora Room www.bovwine.com
Campo Marina, Osoyoos
Sol Grill Room & Lounge, Osoyoos
Jacques Wine Country Inn, Oliver
Toasted Oak Wine Bar & Grill, Oliver
Okanagan Web Sites
British Columbia Wine Institute www.winebc.com
The Okanaga Wine Guide www.okanaganwineguide.com
Vancouver Visitor’s Web Site
http://www.tourismvancouver.com/visitors/
C. L. Corpening, CSW
leecorp@optonline.net
