You might not have heard of or tasted wine from the Okanagan Valley. Canadians, wisely, drink pretty much all of it themselves, exporting only 5 per cent, but it deserves to be more widely enjoyed. More than 80 per cent of British Columbia’s vineyards are in the valley, making a visit there every bit as rewarding (and delicious) as a trip to Napa.
Pre-pandemic, my partner and I were lucky enough to go — and we kicked off our trip in style, with elegant fizz at Waterfront Wines, the top dining spot in Kelowna, the valley’s largest city. We had spread out in front of us a map of the region with which to plot our six-day visit.
Kelowna is roughly midway between Vancouver and Calgary, and it’s here that most of the valley’s population of more than 350,000 live, sandwiched between two mountain ranges and in one of the country’s sunniest spots. Unsurprisingly, the region attracts pensioners, who move from the neighbouring Alberta and Saskatchewan provinces in search of a more forgiving climate. Winemakers and wine lovers are drawn for the same reasons.
It’s a four-and-a-half-hour drive from Vancouver — we bookended our trip with a stay in the city at the foodie-focused Rosewood Georgia — but it’s a thrilling journey. Even leaving the suburbs over the Port Mann Bridge — the second longest cable-tied bridge in the western hemisphere — made us gasp. Then it was a blissful meander on empty roads through fertile valleys before we reached the pretty little town of Hope, which sits on a sweeping curve of the mighty Fraser River.
From there we made our way slowly over the 4,080ft-high Coquihalla Pass (not something you would attempt in winter), noticing the many avalanche chutes that scar the snowcapped mountain sides. Then it was on to the city of Merritt, where we stopped for coffee and cinnamon buns at Brambles Bakery, a local favourite.
Advertisement
During the ear-popping final descent into Kelowna we got our first glimpse of the Okanagan Valley and its glittering string of lakes, which ripple southwards for 84 miles. Kelowna is astride Okanagan Lake, and the region officially ends in Osoyoos (our final destination), 62 miles or so further south, nudging America’s Washington state border.
Of course, fewer tourists have arrived in the past year, but with its emphasis on hiking, camping and waterside loafing it’s the perfect outdoorsy destination for the Covid era. Wineries have adjusted to the restrictions too, with many tastings by reservation only. Yet even more fundamental changes had occurred since my previous visit to Kelowna 20 years ago. Back then it was a sedate kind of place. These days it’s populated by hipsters. Add a number of artisanal coffee shops, a serious chocolatier (Karat), a gin distillery (Okanagan Spirits) and more than seven craft breweries, and you get the picture. Also, the Okanagan campus of the University of British Columbia was established here more than a decade ago, bringing with it nearly 10,000 students.
The grapes seem happy here too. The combination of extreme heat and cold — often in the same day, which might start as a fresh 10C and go up by as much as 30 degrees in the southern part of the valley — results in pure, intense, fruit-driven wines with a sought-after natural acidity.
You won’t see much of the ice wine (made by leaving the grapes on the vine into the winter so that they are frozen when picked and pressed) for which Canada used to be best known. In 2000 there were just 30 wineries, all busily working out what should grow where and relying too much on oak. Today there are 284, as well as a number of emerging sub-appellations.
Things are getting serious — and that goes for the food too. Waterfront Wines (named best Okanagan restaurant for several years), with its emphasis on local produce and unstuffy style, is a case in point. We tried an imaginative menu of poached halibut cheek with a carrot and sunflower miso puree, then green pea and pine mushroom dumplings paired with a thrilling line-up of Kelowna’s wines.
Advertisement
Here you can have your pick of the wine producers, from Quails’ Gate winery — an early pioneer that is opening an additional winery in Kelowna soon — to Mission Hill, which in 2013 was the first Canadian wine to win an international trophy at the Decanter World Wine awards and has continued to blaze a trail; its open- sided Terrace Restaurant overlooking the lake is a glorious spot to dine too.
It was also good to see that the curious pyramid-shaped ageing cellar at Summerhill and Stephen Cipes, its charismatic owner, continue to charm visitors, who linger in the bistro to enjoy organic wines (it’s the country’s largest organic wine producer) with a plate of vegan calamari (really) or a Wagyu beef burger.
One morning we cycled about ten miles over the restored 1912-built trestles of the dramatic Myra Canyon section of the Kettle Valley Railway (from £51pp, myracanyonrental.com). We looked down through the dense tree canopy to the sparkling lake below before taking a courtesy bus driven by a former Ice Road trucker to the 50th Parallel Estate Winery and its Block One restaurant.
It took guts for Curtis Krouzel and Sheri-Lee Turner-Krouzel (the most glamorous couple in BC wine) to create such an architectural showpiece in this remote region and install a cutting-edge chef in Kai Koroll, but it has paid off. After a welcome glass of riesling we ate Dungeness crab cakes with shiso tartare and squid ink tapioca crackers followed by Haida Gwaii halibut, nasturtiums, morels and parmesan foam with silky pinot noir.
The next day we drove 28 miles south to the town of Summerland, weaving our way along the lake’s western shore, through country lanes, and past orchards of softfruit trees and grapes ripening in the sun (Okanagan is the fruit bowl of Canada). The odd bald eagle flew overhead.
Advertisement
We were in Summerland to visit Okanagan Crush Pad, the first place of its kind in the valley, where the owners, Christine Coletta and Steve Lornie, and the New Zealand-born winemaker Matt Dumayne have a natural approach to things, achieving a purity of flavour that has led to their status as one of the most exciting wine producers in Canada.
Lunch was a five-minute drive away at Time, a three-year-old winery in downtown Penticton. Its buzzy on-site restaurant is the perfect spot for burgers slathered in bacon jam, with a slick of cabernet/merlot ketchup and a glass of syrah.
The scenery changed markedly as we travelled further south, with more grassland and fewer trees, plus craggy rocks that wouldn’t look out of place in a western. Southern Okanagan is Canada’s answer to Mexico, with proper sagebrush and cacti-filled desert, and plenty of partying during normal summers in its many lakeside resorts and campsites. We stopped in the small town of Oliver, the self-styled Wine Capital of Canada (there’s the new Coast Hotel here if you’re staying), with evocatively named wineries such as Blasted Church and Pipe Dreams.
At the classy Culmina we enjoyed a grüner veltliner grown in the highest vineyard in the region, and at Tinhorn Creek we attempted a hike on the Golden Mile Trail, accessed from its vineyards, but had to give up when the gradient got too steep and the bears too near for comfort. Less taxing was browsing the cavernous Saturday indoor flea market down the road and eating grilled paninis at Oliver Eats, the warehouse-style café opposite.
We continued on to Osoyoos, where the lake of the same name is apparently Canada’s warmest, reaching 24C. Road signs urged us to “slow for snakes crossing” — they are fiercely protected here, one of the few places in Canada where you will find rattlesnakes.
Advertisement
We stomped and clapped our way loudly around the Nk’Mp Desert Cultural Centre’s one-mile trail to learn more about how this enterprising First Nation community used to live. Pronounced in-ka-meep, it also has the first winery owned by aboriginal people in North America. You can stay, as we did, in its neighbouring, stylish Spirit Ridge Vineyard Resort & Spa, part of Hyatt’s Unbound Collection. Its restaurant — the Bear, the Fish, the Root and the Berry, overseen by the chef Murray McDonald — is inspired by indigenous cuisine with dishes such as white bean sumac spread, roasted hot pepper corn succotash and bison tartare.
Far too soon it was time to return to Vancouver. This time we took the more southerly but no less dramatic route through the increasingly vineyard-filled Similkameen Valley (“Turn right in 200 miles,” squawked our GPS), which everyone says will be the next big thing. This pocket of small-town charm follows a namesake river and is the country’s organic farming capital. I look forward to seeing — and tasting — how it develops over the next 20 years, but if the Okanagan Valley is anything to go by, I’m sure it will age well.
Fiona Sims was a guest of Cox & Kings and Destination British Columbia. Six nights’ B&B from £1,800pp, including flights, two nights in Kelowna and two nights in Osoyoos, car hire, some guided wine tours, tastings and lunches. B&B doubles at the Rosewood Georgia from £260 Fly to Vancouver
Three more British Columbia adventures
Katie Gatens
Family fun around Vancouver
With its outdoorsy lifestyle and acres of room to roam, Canada is the perfect place to let off some steam. This family-focused tour begins in Vancouver following the bike trails that weave through Stanley Park, which is not your bog-standard city green space as it has nine beaches. The fun escalates with a seaplane ride to the luxurious Clayoquot Wilderness Resort on the west coast of Vancouver Island, where you might be lucky enough to spot pods of orcas while kayaking, and your bed is in a swanky forest tent with a cast-iron heated stove and an en suite.
Details Eight nights’ room only from £5,425pp, including flights and excursions (abercrombiekent.co.uk)
Advertisement
Rocky Mountain train ride
Shuttle past dense pine forests, powder-blue glacial lakes and ice-capped peaks on the Journey Through The Clouds train tour, which takes you through the Rocky Mountains, starting from the town of Jasper. You’ll chunter through one of the most spectacular national parks in Canada, stop off at Kamloops (visit the wonderful Kamloops Art Gallery while you’re there) and finish in Vancouver, a city regularly voted among the world’s best places to live. The route is only accessible by train, so you’ll see sights (including majestic Mount Robson) that road-trippers will miss.
Details Seven nights from £3,152pp, including flights, some meals and two days on the Rocky Mountaineer (canadianaffair.com)
Riding in the wilderness
Saddle up for a riding holiday in the Cariboo wilderness in British Columbia’s interior, from the Cariboo Mountains, west across the Fraser River plateau to the Coast Mountains. Your base is the 160-acre Echo Valley Ranch and Spa, between Calgary and Vancouver. The luxury ranch hosts just 20 guests and you can end a day’s riding with a Thai steam treatment or a massage (the hotel has one of the best-regarded wellness centres in the country). Other activities include fly fishing, guided hikes and a spiritual tree-carving walk.
Details Six nights’ full board from £1,654pp, including riding every day (ranchrider.com). Fly to Vancouver
International travel restrictions are in place. Check gov.uk
Follow Times Travel on Instagram and Twitter and sign up for our weekly Travel newsletter for all the latest articles, expert advice and inspiration for your next trip
