TOUR 5 - The Okanagan Tour
2 days/1 night
Day 1
We'll fly out of Vancouver International Airport arriving in Kelowna mid-morning after an hour's flight. Once aboard our waiting SUV limo, complete with informed guide, we'll embark on the first leg of our Okanagan wine tour.
Your guide is well versed in the region, its wines, food, restaurants, and history of the area, so feel free to ask plenty of questions. Chef & Chauffeur guides are keen professionals and foodies (some are chefs), and your key to inside information about B.C.'s wine country.
- Mission Hill Family Estate Winery Our first stop is landmark Mission Hill, perched atop Mount Boucherie, overlooking the Lake Okanagan and nearby Kelowna. On his first visit to Mission Hill, Robert Mondavi remarked to proprietor Anthony von Mandl that he'd "out-Mondavied" him, referring to the stunning architecturally significant winery. We'll tour this outstanding winery and taste award-winning wines.
- Quails' Gate Estate Winery And our second stop. This family-owned winery's vineyards slope gently down to Lake Okanagan. After our tour, we'll step into the tasting room and shop, a quaint old log and stone house built in 1873 by the property's original settlers, and enjoy Quails' Gate's hospitality and some excellent pinot noirs, marechal foch and more.
- Lunch. We'll enjoy a leisurely Okanagan-style lunch paired with fine wines al fresco at Mission Hill's outdoor Terrace (weather dependent), at Quails' Gate Old Vines Restaurant overlooking the vineyards and lake, or at the Cellar Door Bistro at Sumac Ridge Estate Winery.
- Sumac Ridge Estate Winery. After lunch, we'll head south to Summerland and Sumac Ridge Estate Winery, the first of the Okanagan estate wineries. Our stop here includes a sit-down tutored tasting plus a celebratory glass of award-winning Steller's Jay Brut.
- Naramata Bench. We head south along the shores of Okanagan Lake to the Naramata Bench where we'll find a concentration of excellent B.C. farm gate wineries stitched together by quality and community. This area boast some of the best wineries, close enough together that its common to see wine-touring cyclists along the road and in tasting rooms. We'll visit the best-of-the-best wineries including Laughing Stock Vineyards, Hillside Estate Winery, Lake Breeze Vineyards, Poplar Grove Winery, and Elephant Island Orchard Wines.
Spirit Ridge Vineyard Resort and Spa. We'll continue south to Osoyoos and Spirit Ridge and check into our luxurious hotel, freshen up and drive to nearby Burrowing Owl Estate Winery where we'll taste a few wines before sitting down to a relaxing regional dinner paired with outstanding Burrowing Owl wines. Outstanding views are a given. Then it's back to Spirit Ridge for a well-earned sleep.
Day 2
After breakfast at Passatempo, the restaurant at Spirit Ridge, we'll check out of our hotel.
- Nk'Mip Heritage & Interpretive Centre, mere steps away, affords a fascinating look at the history of the region and the Osoyoos Indian Band who also own nearby Nk'Mip (ink-a-meep) Cellars, North America's first aboriginal-owned winery.
- Nk'Mip Cellars. Ready for the first wines of the day? His striking winery is a joint project between the Oysoyoos Indian Band and Vincor Canada.
- Golden Mile. Next we'll drive south to an area called the Golden Mile, just outside of Oliver, "the wine capital of Canada." Our stops include Tinhorn Creek Vineyards and Golden Mile Cellars.
- Toasted Oak Wine Bar and Grill. This happening restaurant is the go-to spot n the area for good food and a huge selection of Okanagan wines. Well enjoy a hearty lunch and a few more luscious wines.
- Jackson-Triggs Vintners. This is one of Canada's most awarded wineries. We'll taste some of them in the sleekly designed tasting room or on the adjoining patio, weather permitting.
- B.C. Wine Information Centre. Get out your wallets. We'll make a short stop here where you can pick up more information about Okanagan Wine Country, plus stock up on some of those wines you'd wished you bought. The Centre's large VQA Wine Shop has an enormous selection of B.C. wines. And if you're up for tasting, there's always a few bottles uncorked, waiting to be poured.
We return to Vancouver at 4:45 p.m. via air from Penticton. Flying time is approximately one hour.
Alternatively our return drive to Vancouver is along the scenic Hope-Princeton Highway, winding through the rugged Cascade Mountains, arriving in Vancouver at 10 p.m. A deluxe, gourmet boxed dinner will be provided to eat en route.
For more information please contact Diana Becker by email diana@chefandchauffeur.com
