I had the opportunity to do a little wine touring with friends way back in late May and am finally able to get the article posted!We decided to head down to some wineries in the Okanagan Falls area, as well as in Naramata. I’m happy to report that we did find a lot of great wine on our excursion.

Jackson Triggs - Our first stop was at Jackson-Triggs, one of Canada’s biggest wineries, owned by Canada’s largest wine producer (Vincor), which is in turn owned the world’s largest wine company, Constellation Brands. I know it’s really easy to hate the big guys, and root for the little guys, but anyone who can’t admit that Jackson-Triggs makes some excellent wines is only deluding themselves. Red wine grapes are generally more difficult to grow than those for white wine. You can certainly see that not only in the prices of Okanagan wines, but also the quality. Most Okanagan Reds (at least those under $25/bottle) are very light bodied and don’t stand up to similarly priced offerings from places like Australia and France. Jackson-Triggs is one of the very few wineries in the area that can legitimately say they offer full-bodied red wines at a moderate price.

2007 Proprietor’s Reserve Viognier - For $13.99 / bottle, this wine is a very good value. It has soft tropical notes on the nose and the palate. It doesn’t have the smoothest finish, but it is still very good value at that price.

2007 Proprietor’s Grand Reserve Semillon - Mmmmm…. this wine was very nice. It had a hint of honey on the palate with a refreshing and crisp finish. A great summer wine, but at $21.99 / bottle it isn’t cheap.

2006 Proprietor’s Reserve Meritage - Jackson-Triggs has three levels of wines, Proprietor’s Reserve at the low end, the Proprietor’s Grand Reserve, followed by Sun Rock Vineyards at the top end. This “low end” blended red was far better than many of the “high end” reds from other area wineries. It had bright berry notes on the nose, followed by flavours of black cherry and tobacco on the palate. It also had a beautiful full body. It didn’t have a particularly smooth finish, but a year or two of bottle aging should do wonders for this wine. At $19.99 / bottle, this is one of the best values you will find in an Okanagan Red.

2006 Sunrock Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon - This wine was the runner up for best Cabernet Sauvignon at the Spring Wine Festival, losing out to its little brother, the more moderately priced 2006 Proprietor’s Grand Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon from Jackson-Triggs. This wine was absolutely delicious and so silky smooth. It had great flavours of black cherry and cocoa. I would recommend this to anyone who can afford to drink $35.00 / bottle wines.

After leaving Jackson-Triggs we decided to stop for some lunch before we got too much wine into our systems. We opted for Ye Olde Welcome Inn, a classic country pub near Vaseux Lake between Oliver and OK Falls. It has an old European style with lots of stone and wood. It reminded me very much of a mini-Gasthaus. The menu was extensive and very reasonably priced. I had a buffalo burger that was good, and could have been great if it had had some BBQ sauce on it. Aside from regular sides like fries, soup, and salad, Ye Olde Welcome Inn also offered perogies, which everyone in the group thought was great. The food and the service were both quite good. If you’re looking for casual pub fare I would recommend Ye Olde Welcome Inn.

Stag’s Hollow - The winery is located on a dusty little road that runs along the top of a ridge near Okanagan Falls. I didn’t know much about the winery when we arrived and was eager to see what they had to offer.

2008 Sauvignon Blanc - According to their website, this is the wine that Stag’s Hollow is known for. It had some very nice tropical flavours like Lychee Fruit and Grapefruit. It actually really reminded me of a Gewurztraminer. A nice white, but not outstanding.

2007 Simply Noir - This blend of 65% Pinot Noir and 35% Gamay Noir didn’t have much of a nose. It did have a good peppery flavour, but was extremely light bodied (especially considering how much Gamay was in the blend).

2006 Cabernet Sauvignon - This Cabernet Sauvignon was actually a blend of 87% Cabernet Sauvignon, 9% Merlot, and 4% Cabernet Franc. It was way too light for what is supposed to be a full bodied red, but it did have very nice flavours of berry, pepper, and tobacco.

2005 Harmony Vineyard Merlot - This wine was very smooth and had good body. It was much fuller than any of the other offerings we tried from Stag’s Hollow. Definitely the best wine we tried here.

2005 Renaissance Meritage - A blend of 40% Cabernet Sauvignon, 40% Merlot, and 20% Cabernet Franc this wine had a bright berry nose. I was disappointed though, because it could have been a lot smoother for an ‘05 and had a lot more flavour.

Wild Goose Vineyards - Just a stone’s throw down the same gravel road from Stag’s Hollow, Wild Goose Vineyards was one of the major draws that brought us to the Okanagan Falls area. None of us had been to Wild Goose, but were intrigued by the fact that they had won golds for three of their whites at the Spring Wine Festival. Wild Goose Vineyards also won the 2009 Pacific Northwest Winery of the Year, just the second time the award has been given to a B.C. winery.

2008 Mystic River Pinot Blanc - This wine was FANTASTIC! It was bright and crisp and was bursting with fresh fruit flavours like lychee and apricot. At $18.99 / bottle a pretty darn good deal.

2007 Stoney Slope Riesling - The wine was good, but definitely not my favourite. It was very smooth, with notes of honey and minerals. $19.99 / bottle isn’t a bad price for this wine, but there are others I would choose first.

2008 Autumn Gold - This gold medal winning blend of Gewurztramine, Riesling, and Pinot Blanc was fantastic. It had a beautiful nose and a great flavour of granny smith apples. It was crisp and effervescent. At $18.99 /bottle there aren’t too many whites that are a better buy.

La Frenz - Our next stop is one of the first wineries you’ll come across as you head into Naramata. If you read my columns regularly, you will know that La Frenz is one of my favourite wineries. I was very excited to share the La Frenz experience with some more of my friends.

2008 Semillon - This wine smells like heaven!!! It has incredible fruit flavours like grapefruit, pear, and lemon. It is bright, fruity, and very fresh tasting. The perfect wine for a hot summer day! This is my favourite white wine that I have ever tried. Unfortunately for everyone our there who hasn’t tried it, I picked up the last three bottles of the vintage from the winery last weekend. There are some wine shops and restaurants in the lower mainland that may still have some. Good Luck!

2008 Riesling - Very much like the Wild Goose Vineyards Riesling, I found this offering to be good, but not outstanding. It had a nose of fresh flowers and flavours of honey and minerals.

2008 Viognier - This wine had nice flavours of caramel, honey, and tree fruits. Not my favourite, but not bad.

2008 Alexandria - This wine is absolutely delicious. It is a very sweet Muscat blend, but even if you don’t generally like sweet wines you should give it a try, because I’m not a huge fan of sweet wines and I love this offering. It has flavours of peach, lychee and honey. Head down to the winery and buy some before they sell out!

Elephant Island - Elephant Island was our last stop of the day and I’ll say I’m very glad we decided to do one more winery. It would have been a shame to miss out on this gem. Elephant Island is a fruit winery, making all of their wine from fruits other than grapes. The winery itself is beautiful, albeit a little rustic and I don’t think any winery can beat their drive in. You enter on a narrow dirt road right through the middle of a cherry orchard. Their tasting room was jam packed with visitors when we arrived, but they were prepared and were also offering tastings on their patio. I wasn’t a big fan of a lot of their wines, but I was definitely in the majority as most of my group loved it. Tasting wine outdoors, surrounded by orchards, on a beautiful Okanagan day - I couldn’t imagine a better way to cap off a great day!

Pear Wine - This wine was very delicate and fairly dry, but was not my favourite.

Cherry Wine - This wine was pretty good. It was a little too light, but I liked that it wasn’t sickly sweet.

Blackberry Wine - Despite being made of blackberries it actually tasted of sour cherry and strawberry. It was quite good.

Crab Apple Wine - This wine was very sour, but also very good. Just a warning - it will really make your face pucker up!

Apricot Wine - This wine was sweet and sour, with rhubard notes.

Cassis Dessert Wine - This wine had a great nose and an unbelievable flavour. It was slightly sour, with a thick syrupy body. It would be great with chocolate or as a syrup for crepes or ice cream.

Framboise Dessert Wine - This raspberry dessert wine was absolutely amazing. The server actually made a small mistake and took a wine glass straight from the dishwasher without letting it cool. This made my wine quite warm, but it was unbelievably good that way. It really brought out the nose on what may have been the best smelling wine of all time. I would highly recommend warming this wine a little before drinking.