bats

Never
Sony tablet actcheawlly

Never seen BC wines here.

Oink

(Adapted from the Monty Python sketch, feel free to make amendments because this pretty crap)

A thought on Canadian Wines.

A lot of people in the rest of the world pooh-pooh Canadian
wines. This is a pity, as many fine Canadian
wines appeal not only to the Canadian palette, but
also to the cognoscenti of the world.

"Black Stump Bordeaux" is rightly praised as a
peppermint flavored Burgundy, whilst a good "Similkameen
Syrup" can rank with any of the world's best sugary
wines.

"Chateau Bleu", too, has won many prizes; not least for
its taste, and its lingering afterburn.

"Old Smokey, 1998" has been compared favorably to a
Welsh claret, whilst the Canadian wino society
thoroughly recommends a 2012 "Coq du Bryan Adams",
which, believe me, has a kick on it like a mule: 8
bottles of this, and you're really finished -- at the
opening of the Okanagan Bridge Club, they were fishing
them out of the main sewers every half an hour.

Of the sparkling wines, the most famous is "Penticton
Pink". This is a bottle with a message in, and the
message is BEWARE!. This is not a wine for drinking --
this is a wine for laying down and avoiding.

Another good fighting wine is "Kelowna Old-and-
Yellow", which is particularly heavy, and should be
used only for hand-to-hand combat.

Quite the reverse is true of "Chateau Niagara Gift Shop", which
is an Appelachian controle, specially grown for those
keen on regurgitation -- a fine wine which really opens
up the sluices at both ends.

Real emetic fans will also go for a "Kamloops Stinky", and
a prize winning "Cuiver Reserve Chateau Bottled, I'll Kick You In The Head With One Punch", which has a bouquet like an native’s
armpit.

geedee

Ice wine is delish. But expensive. Anyone tried it?

Shard

Not bad, but the sketch is so familiar that I can only read it with an Ozzie accent (in my head) which undoes it a bit.

caretaker

I've tried it a few times but can't see myself buying it. I like wine, but it's sooo sweet! It takes 10x the amount of grapes, 10x the labour, so the price is 10x normal wine, and the makers have to time it perfectly, bringing the press right into the vinyard for the crushing or quality suffers. Even though it's not for me I think it's great that they make it because that money used to all be lost - the better growers in the pre ice-wine days would give away all the grapes to their workers after the first frost because they had no market, (and my great-uncle Roman would make five or six hundred gallons of very strong sweet wine).

Theoldfields

A great map for us as we move to Kelowna soon. Apart from the obvious temptation to try them all any suggestions on where to start?

caretaker

The obvious answer is of course the enlistment of a designated driver, but there are so many! I don't like to go to more than 3 or 4 in a day and it's usually in conjunction with another activity, (a trip to the border or Pentiction or the summer flea market at OK Falls). Once you arrive you'll have access to all the current events via a newsletter the grower's association puts out - some wineries put on specal dinners, some have bbq's you can just go to, and some need reservations. The big Vincor winery north of Oliver(Jackson-Triggs) is worth seeing (great eagle in the main room!) but lacks the folksy appeal of the small independants. For a list of events in the south look up Wine Capital of Canada / festivals. I'd just say plan a bit but don't over think it; the point is to have fun. If you start touring at the far end of your day's destinations and head north then you don't have a long drive home when you're done. A day's drive for you willl be rewarded in wine, food, and sightseeing and I don't think you'll be disappointed.

jossie

Good question! Our eldest son works for Sumac Ridge in the summer which is great because we get 50% off any case of wine at each Vincor winery (Sumac is owned by Vincor) Anyway, all of the wineries I have visited are very good but if I had to pick a few favourites it would probably be:

See Ya Later Ranch (Okanagan Falls)
Nk'Mip (Osoyoos)
Poplar Grove (Naramata Bench)
Tinhorn Creek (Oliver) they also do great outdoor concerts here!

The best thing to do is arrange someone to drive you around. We use this guy http://www.ambrosiatours.ca/ And he will take you to as many wineries as you wish. If you don't want to choose then he will pick a selection for you - he is a great guy and pretty laid back. Many of the wineries tend to have great restaurants as well so it's worth visiting them for dinner.

jossie

Never tried Wild Goose winery yet - I will add it to my list of wineries to visit this summer!

jossie

Yes - tastes very sweet almost syrup like! Jackson Triggs had it on sale from $60 to $40 per bottle and then because our son get's 50% off there in the summer we got a case of 12 for $20 per bottle which is a bargain for ice wine. The one we tried won the gold award at the 2012 some world wine awards held in London in the UK. Some people drizzle it on various deserts.

BristolUK

Yes. Not bad as a dessert wine. (not sure about it going on the dessert though.)

Goes quite nicely with xmas pud and cream. If you have a good xmas pud, that is.

bats

Yeah but it's dessert innit? Try a glass for pud and dunk biscotti.

caretaker

I think I had it once at someone's house with dessert, once in a liquor store tasting stand, and once or twice in winery tastes. I wouldn't turn it down, and the concentrated flavour is really unique along with the sweetness but $70 (or even $40) for a small bottle isn't on. The most expensive wine I buy is usually the Gewurztraminer when I go up to Wild Goose @ 18 - 22 depending if they have a sale on. I like biscotti.

cjones

If you're a connoisseur of Thunderbird or Night train Express you'll love it.

nldfc

I think Ice Wine tastes like shit but most people wont admit that due to the fact they have just wasted 70 bucks on a small bottle of cack