Spending time in Kelowna just wouldn’t be right without a wine tour. I signed up for the Westside Bench Winery Tour with Distinctly Kelwona Tours. We visited 4 wineries – Little Straw Vineyards, Mission Hill Wineries, Quails Gate Wineries and Kalala Winery.
I was joined with a Calgary couple who were celebrating their one year wedding anniversary. I’m sorry (I’ve forgotten their names already.) Dieter was our guide. I haven’t drunk much wine from British Columbia so I was excited to try potential new favourites.
I’ve taken a wine tasting course in Ottawa. Plus I have taken vineyard tours in Australia and New Zealand. I simply love wine. I wish I could afford to stock my cellar with hundreds of bottles. I am not a white wine drinker so I am always on the hunt for a bottle of white that does the trick. Above a lady pours some red from Little Straw Wineries. Read more here about the vineyard.
Visiting multiple wineries in one day can a real challenge. Should you choose not to spit it becomes more difficult to differentiate between the wines. Often there’s crackers or water available to clear your palate.
Mission Hill Estates was the most recognizable and largest winery in our tour. They produce about 150,000 cases a year. The vineyard is simply gorgeous. Read for yourself the story behind the architecture. I would have liked to spend the entire day walking the grounds and marvelling at the buildings. (Oh the wine was good too.)
Kalala Wineries was our final wine destination. The small operation has been open since 2006. They produce between 7,000 and 8,000 cases of wine each year. It’s one of the few organic wineries in the Okanagan. Proprietor Karnail Singh Sidhu is pictured. Read more here.
Quails’ Gate has this great restaurant, Old Vines Restaurant, overlooking the vineyard and the Okanagan Valley. We stopped for lunch and took in the scenery. Again I would have liked to have stayed longer. But it was awkward with a couple and the tour guide. More about Quails’ Gate.
Great day overall. I didn’t buy any wine because I already had 2 bottles carefully wrapped in my luggage. (I bought 2 more at the airport). Let this be a lesson to you…. if you can drive to the Okanagan, do it. You can bring a lot more wine back to Alberta!
Hi Crystal! This is Jen and Andrew from Calgary. We went on the wine tour with you. This is a really great blog! The photos are super great! We had a great time on the tour with you, and it is fun to see the photos from your marathon. Awesome job! We can't wait to see what other adventures you find yourself in. Best of luck! =)
Hey Jen! Ha ha that's so funny! I was thinking about you! I knew your name was Jen but I forget Andrew's name! Ha ha What's your blog address? It was so nice meeting you two!
Haha. My blog address is http://www.eyeforinspire.wordpress.com. Hope Red Deer is treating you well. Let me know if you're ever heading in Calgary's way. =)