Anthony Gismondi: Okanagan fall harvest begs for a wine-tasting tour

Your late summer and early fall visits through Thanksgiving could significantly boost wineries' financial reserves for the upcoming winter and spring

Published Sep 21, 2024  •  Last updated 0 minutes ago  •  8 minute read

Photo by Ekaterina Molchanova /Getty Images

It’s a testament to the resilience of the wineries in the Okanagan Valley, which are weathering the aftermath of two challenging winter events. Despite the lack of fruit on the vines, wineries are in full operation, and your late summer and early fall visits through Thanksgiving could significantly boost their financial reserves for the upcoming winter and spring. Today, we list some of the star properties to visit.

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The selection is based on wine quality and visitor amenities. You can decide if the price is worthwhile before or after you go. Now, precious few wineries offer free tastings; it is just a sign of the times. You can complain and choose not to visit any of them, or experience what they offer and decide whether it was worth it after your visit.

Mission Hill Family Estate has been a leader in hospitality for more than two decades. Despite numerous personnel changes, including winemakers and general managers, it remains one of the best wineries to visit. It offers a wide range of cellar tours and tastings, some of which include highly nuanced bites prepared by a brigade of onsite chefs. The views, the art, and the architecture are worth a visit alone, but wiens remain the stars.

At Phantom Creek Estates, owner Richter Bai has spared no expense to create a top-notch facility and vineyards. The private two-hour tasting is a comprehensive journey through Phantom Creek, its vineyards, and its wines. The experience can be enhanced with a reservation at The Restaurant, which offers stunning vineyard and desert views and menus designed by celebrated chef Alessa Valdez featuring hyper-local ingredients. If you think you have seen it all, think again.

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O’Rourke Family Vineyards has been flying under the radar for several years in Lake Country and, for good reason, is not yet open to the public. Still, the Carrs Landing winery is making some spectacular early wines, and the winery is the equal of anything built in the wine world. Winemaker Nikki Callaway (ex-Mission Hill) is focused on Chardonnay and Pinot Noir and, even with young vineyards, is turning heads with each release. The visitor amenities are off the charts, including a spectacular multi-use outdoor amphitheatre, another one inside, multiple Board Rooms available for corporate meetings, and luxurious onsite accommodations. A big-time hotel is also in the works that will set a global standard for wine country accommodations. All in all, the $100 million-plus investment of Alberta businessman Dennis O’Rourke rivals that of two other well-heeled, reclusive B.C. winery owners, Anthony von Mandl (Mission Hill) and Richter Bai (Phantom Creek).

Smaller but no less exciting is the hospitality at Black Hills, where seated tastings of serious wines can be accompanied by lunch should you decide to linger, and you will once you experience the view and the show pool. Across the Valley, on the Golden Mile Bench, the luxurious Checkmate Artisanal Winery offers multiple tasting experiences and tours built around its Merlot and Chardonnay offerings. The Grandmaster’s Table Experience is one of the valley’s most sophisticated tasting experiences paired with exquisite canapés crafted by the in-house chef. Again, the view and design of the tasting room are second to none.

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Narmata and Summerland are full of small wineries where you can immerse yourself in the total winery/vineyard experience. Summerland’s best bets include Haywire, Garnet Valley Ranch, Solera, and Lightning Rock. On the Naramata Bench, Da Silva, Three Sisters, Hillside, Lake Breeze,
In the Kelowna area, Tantalus, CedarCreek, Martin’s Lane and Spearhead all offer unique opportunities to experience their wines with plenty of Talk about vineyards, clones, regenerative, organic and bio-dynamic farming and compelling, well-organized, entertaining tastings.

You can check out and sign up for all these offerings online, as well as many more from many other wineries we could have listed. It may be your best opportunity in years to be so well entertained during the key harvest period.

Weekend wine picks

Fort Berens Blanc de Blanc 2021, Lillooet

$34.99 I 88/100

UPC: 696852158930

I like this Lillooet sparkling Chardonnay wine that has spent 18 months on its lees. The nose is an inviting mix of almonds and early morning bakery notes with just a hint of lemon grass. The palate is a lively, clean, and ripe apple with some leesy under notes, fresh and bright with a pleasing soft five g/L dosage. It is a fun bubble right now. Next time out, I would love to see more aging time in the bottle and complexity to take advantage of the pristine freshness of the Lillooet sub-GI. This was delicious with crab cakes.

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Château Pesquié Ventoux Terrasses Rosé 2023, Ventoux, France

$24.95 I 91/100

UPC: 3760149590639

The 2020 was a solid rosé, but this 2023 is another step up. Grown up the side of Mont Ventoux this biodynamically grown 50-40-10 Cinsault, Grenache, and Syrah blend pitches the perfect, wild strawberry fruit nose dusted in tarragon that leaves you wondering if you should only nose this wine and skip the drinking. That would be a mistake because the palate is even better. Barely pink, it sets you up for an ethereal palate of citrus, mineral, strawberry and dried herbs streaked with tangerine and spice. Fresh, dry and vibrant, this bottle will disappear in minutes. We enjoyed it with deep-fried Asian vegetable rolls and spicy squid.

Umani Ronchi CaSal di Serra Verdicchio dei Castelli di Jesi Classico Superiore, Marche, Italy

$19.99 I 89/100

UPC: 8032853721124

Northern Italian white wines tend to be painted bland by the ocean of average Pinot Grigio that floods wine shops, but this category has been climbing the charts in recent years, led by wines like the CaSal di Serra. The engine of this wine is an organically grown verdicchio, and vines up to 30 years old sitting on calcareous, clay, loamy hillsides. The fruit shines, mixing citrus, pear, and toasted almonds, all supported by a stony fresh mineral undercurrent with a surprising amount of weight. Most shellfish selections work here, raw or cooked. Fine value

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Santa Rita Cabernet Sauvignon Medalla Real Gran Reserva 2021, Buin, Valle del Maipo, Chile

$26.28 I 88/100

UPC: 089419007176

The 2021 mixes 93/4/3 Cabernet Sauvignon/Petit Verdot/Cabernet Franc from the famed Alto Jahuel, Maipo. Cooler-than-normal February and March have yielded a richly flavoured black and blue fruit cabernet with a stylish, minty, bay leaf savoury aroma. The palate is a soupy mix of red and black fruits with a lovely savoury undercurrent, announcing an impressive modern example of where Chilean cabernet is in 2021. Cabernet drinkers should love the value here.

Alvear Fino N/V, Montilla-Moriles, Spain

$22.99 I 88/100

UPC: 766238111375

Perhaps the least understood and appreciated of international wine styles, Fino Sherry can inspire your wine journey from the moment it hits your palate. Its pale, barely straw colour precedes a fresh, yeasty, saline nose with a background of crushed almonds. The attack is bone dry, with more salty nutty notes interspersed with citrus and earthy flor. Clean, complex, and inviting, this is a drink for grown-ups. The Spanish love to serve this style of wine well chilled with olives, shellfish, ham, cheeses, or sushi. Perfect for a tapas party. Technically, it has had a biological birth (under a blanket of flor) for more than four years in American oak casks using a solera system; it is not fortified because it reaches 15 C alcohol through fermentation using Pedro Ximenez must.

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B.C. Wine of the week

Burrowing Owl Meritage 2020, Oliver, Okanagan Valley

$53 I 94/100

UPC: 688229007200

Wow, what an enticing nose of fresh, savoury, ripe fruit, damp earth, and umami. The 2020 blend is 38/24/23/8.5/6.5 Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Malbec, and Petit Verdot, which already melts in your mouth. There is cabernet firmness, but all the grapes seem to smooth out the blend and add complexity and finesse, which I am not used to seeing at BOV. I love the mix of damp earth, blackcurrant, raspberries, and savoury desert brush. All rinsed with mineral wet stones that leave them vibrant and succulent. A classic Bordeaux peppercorn steak works here.

Value wine of the week

Domaine Montmartel Côtes du Rhône 2022, Côtes du Rhône, France

$16.99 I 88/100

UPC: 3432700000016

Domaine Montmartel has been family-owned and operated since 1919, working with hillside vineyards farmed organically. This blend of Grenache, Syrah, and Carignan averages 20 years of vine age and comes off the calcareous clays of the southern Rhône. It is pretty linear on the nose and palate. The attack is a spicy, fresh mix of plums and raspberries, dried with spicy, savoury garrigue dusting. It’s a gastronomic wine, perfect with creamy chicken and mushrooms, barbecued hamburgers, or a classic fall stew. Back up the truck.

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