Jenise
Posts: 1324
Joined: 3/20/2013
From: The Pacific Northest Westest
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Ryan,
I've spent some time in the Okanagan. The wine areas are quite spread out but the best concentration of higher quality wineries is along the Naramata Bench. Your best experience would be to headquarter yourself in or around nearby Penticton and spread out from there on day trips. The distances between each of the little subregions means you'd be spreading yourself too thin to experience more than one on the same day. Kelowna's one area, Oliver at the opposite end another, and the rest in between. There are a lot of boutique wineries that aren't open for tasting and most often these days appointments are required at the rest.
It's hard to make recommendations. What I love and what you love might be different. But a few comments: Mission Hill is a big corporate winery. The Gallo of the OK, as an American might look at it. I wouldn't bother. Ditto Summa Ridge. Dirty Laundry is a tourist winery. Wines (and their fun labels) are made for mass appeal. I used to like Quails Gate but haven't been impressed with anything from them in years.
Of the more serious wineries: Le Vieux Pin (Oliver), but the wines are mostly north of $50, produces outstanding Northern Rhone style syrahs and a few other things. La Stella (Oliver) is also excellent, same owner as Le Vieux Pin but with an Italian slant. Tinhorn Creek would be an excellent winery to visit while in Oliver, and also their restaurant Miradora. The winery and restaurant (mediterranean) are high up the side of an east facing slope with spectacular Valley views and the restaurant was designed and built to take advantage of every inch of it. On a hot day, like you'll have in July, it's an oasis for a midday break.
La Frenz on the Bench excels with white wines and has few equals. I also highly recommend Daydreamer (where the three giant pet sheep waddle out to meet you), Poplar Grove and Da Silva (which also has an excellent restaurant).
There are a lot of great new wineries in the Smilkaneen Valley west of Oliver, like Orofino and Vanessa.
I adore the wines of Blue Mountain, particularly the single vineyard pinots. But they're made for fairly serious, experienced palates (nuance and acidity vs. big fruit and oak). They make pinot noirs that Burgundy-philes appreciate. Cedar Creek and Black Swift also do well with pinots.
Find and drink anything made by Black Hills. Ditto Tantalus. I don't know where they're physically located but the wines are stellar.
One thing you might do when you get into BC is go to one of the LCB (Liquor Control Board) stores and note the producers of all the sub-$20 wines. Whoever those are, don't go to those wineries. Jackson-Triggs, Mission Hill and Grey Monk (Kelowna) will be among them. Instead go to the VQA store in Penticton (there's probably one in Kelowna too) and note the label names in the price range you prefer to spend. That will help you weed out the industrial stuff as well as those in too high a price range, if you have that limitation.
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Okanagan Wineries - which to visit in 2024 if you have ... - 
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