Winery finery!

Last weekend, we went to the Okanagan. This is an area of BC east of Vancouver containing a huge river valley. The climate is hotter and much drier than on the west coast, which makes it ideal for wine growing. Most of BC's wines are produced from grapes grown in the Okanagan. It is also a major fruit producer for the province, growing apples, peaches, plums and cherries.

We hired a car, and the drive took about 5 hours on the way there, and 6 on the way back. We stayed in a fantastic little B&B just outside Kelowna called Accounting For Taste. We'd definitely recommend this place; it was very clean and comfortable, and the breakfasts were amazing. Thanks again Rosemary! The weather was hot all weekend (31C and higher), although visibilty was not great. Forest fires are burning in Washington, south of the US border, and the smoke was causing a haze for hundreds of kilometres north into BC.

On the Saturday we went on an all-day wine tour, visiting Sumac Ridge, Hawthorne Mountain, Inniskillin, Nk'Mip and Jackson Triggs. We had free tastings at every winery, and they had some great wines. We came away with 9 bottles at the end of the day, but it was hard not to buy quite a bit more. It was a long and fairly tiring trip, but well worth it - we saw a lot more of the valley south of Kelowna than we otherwise would have, and the scenery was great.

Sunday was a day of relaxation on the beach. In the evening we went for a meal at the restaurant at Quail's Gate winery. The food was fantastic, and they served wine by the glass to accompany each dish of each course. Lovely. We were stuffed and drunk by the end, but very happy :)

Monday was our last day. We checked out a couple of local wineries in the morning - Mission Hill and Quail's Gate. We took a tour at Quail's Gate too which was really good. They taught us a lot about the basics of grape growing and winemaking which was fascinating. After that we headed back to Vancouver along the slower but more scenic route. We were so glad we did too - the scenery was beautiful and well worth an extra hour or so.

All in all, it was a great weekend and we are looking forward to going back at some point. In the meantime we have 9 great bottles of wine to enjoy, and our photos. Check them out here.