This article is part of the FT Globetrotter Guide to Vancouver
Western Canada expects mountains, lakes and stunning views, but vineyards?
I will introduce this welcome discovery at my local winery, drinking some delicious Chardonnay and researching the hills that covered the vine. After sampling several varieties complemented by local cheese and salami, my companions and I climbed on e-bikes and pedals, slowly climbing into another vineyard, gazing at the vast, sparkling lake views.
Welcome to the wine tasting in Okanagan Valley, British Columbia.
The 4-5 hour drive (or quick flight) north of Vancouver is ideal for weekend getaways, centered around Okanagan Lake, 135km long. Surrounded by mountains and dotted across four cities and towns, its coast has been one of Canada’s leading soft fruit production areas for decades and has been an important center for wine production since the 1990s.
There are around 200 real estate wineries here, and their output is one of the most maintained secrets in the wine world. Small-scale production means rarely seen elsewhere. However, the short, hot growing seasons and diverse soil types mean that local producers have built a reputation that excites experts like Robinson.
The wine producers here are happy to point out that they enjoy two hours of sunlight per day in the summer than Napa. The region also has 11 officially designated subgeographic adaptations, or GIS, each with a unique climate, soil type, and wine style. The area is known especially for Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Riesling and Merlot.
The vast area is dotted with numerous wineries, but around the lake there are three loose groups ideal for bike visits. Considering the hilly area and wine sampling, the e-bike is the best option. This is not to strengthen the strava feed. Penticton’s epic cycling allows you to rent bikes and create custom itineraries on the Naramata bench (see below). Kelowna Bike Rentals in Lakeshore has a good selection of e-bikes and regular bikes, a social enterprise that supports youth and accessibility projects. Many wineries have restaurants and several accommodations and spas.
Naramata bench
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Starting in the resort town of Penticton, where 1960s-style motels line the popular beaches, the effortless pedals on the town’s main roads lead to a wide gravel cycle path that tracks along the Naramata bench with its own sub-GI running along the lake’s east coast. The wine-covered hills that rim the lake offer stunning views.
At Little Engine Wine, owner Stephen French talks about how he moved his family from nearby Alberta after finding the opportunity to make high-quality wines that compete with things like Napa Valley in a place that was “very gorgeous.” Like many dwarf owners in Benches and other parts of Okanagan, French is ambitious and focuses on creating “complicated” wines.
A little more along the cycle path is the Dangello Estate Winery. Sal D’Angelo opened its first winery in Ontario in the 1980s, and now only eight acres on the bench, specializing in Tempranillo and Montepulciano. The tasting takes place on a porch overlooking the vines, with picnic tables and nearby food trucks offering improvised outdoor meals of hearty fresh sandwiches.
The cycle path will wind between the wineries before crossing the main road and leading above the vineyards. Between the roads and trails, there are commander views and impressive buildings, and Hillside Winery has been producing wine for 40 years. Its blended mosaic red is a delicious result with a focus on sustainability. There is also a farm-to-table bistro, a popular lunch spot.
Eventually, the cycle pass leaves the bench and links with the Kettle Valley Rail Trail. The Kettle Valley Rail Trail is a dramatic gravel road on an unused railway line that once linked the towns of Penticton and Kelowna. One return on days other than wine.
West Kelowna
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The West Kelowna Wine Trail is about 55 km away from the Naramata bench. Although there are no designated sub-GIs, many of the wineries are located on the slopes of Mount Boucherry.
Here, the cycling is less protected than the gravel trails on the Naramata Bench, but is still completely safe.
On the mountain slopes are some of Okanagan’s most established wineries. Located above Vine, it has its distinctive tower and large restaurant, and Mission Hill has been producing award-winning wines since 1981. Some of them can be found in the US and Europe.
Near the lake at the bottom of the hill, the gate of Uzraz is the quailaz. The grapes were first planted by the Stewart family in 1961 and are now dotted with vineyards around the valley, but the main estate is in West Kelowna. In the fields of what we are saying, there are merlot grapes that are diagonally slanted in the water. We sample delicious, award-winning Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, and trellis that protect the trellis from the sun.
Mount Boucherry Estate Winery has been pedaling through the gates of Quazles and has been making wine on mountain slopes since 1968. Winners of the Vivid Winners, Chardonnay and Geurtztraminer. In 2020, we opened a modern new tasting centre and restaurant with stunning views.
Climbing further up the hills (our e-bikes have come into their own again), a new generation of wine producers are developing Asian export markets at Grizzly Winery. The Chan family moved from Taiwan in the 1990s with a dream of making wine, and their daughter Amy oversees the development of both the export and the winery’s large cedar-surrounded visitor center, with a restaurant serving delicious local cuisine.
Slopes of Kelowna to the south and east
Mostly in the vibrant town of Kelowna, across from the lake from the suburbs West Kelowna, the lakeside beaches and parks, and around 40 wineries, most offer spectacular lake views. This area has two sub-GI designations: the slopes of Kelowna to the south and the east.
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Rounding the two wheels is aided by an extensive network of bike lanes in town. E-bikes make the terrain easier for those here for wine, not exercise. On the gentle hills where many wineries are located, the roads are rarely busy, and the main traffic hazard often grazes deer.
A few minutes after the Lakeshore Route hill overlooking the water and town, Tantalus in South Kelowna is located in one of British Columbia’s oldest vineyards, famous for its award-winning rice rings. Eric Savics, a former Latvian restaurant owner, bought the winery in 2004 and spread offerings that included Chardonnay and Pinot Noir.
Lakeshore Road is my favourite scenic cycling route starting in the town centre and heading southeast towards Cedar Mountain Regional Park and Cedar Creek Estate Winery. One of the oldest wineries in the state, it is known for its delicious Pinot Noir and Shiraz.
Pinot Noir enthusiasts can pedal further up the hill just behind Cedar Creek, with Shane Mann turning “radical” low intervention and crisp Riesling from a six-storey gravity winery that has Eiley-like heights down the hillsides, heading towards Martin’s lane. Lakeshore Road will end in a few more kilometres, and the hill valley means that cyclists will need to follow the stairs to return to town.
Siona Jenkins was a guest of the Thompson Okanagan Tourism Association
Have you explored the wine region of British Columbia? Please let me know in the comments below. Follow FT Globetrotter on Instagram at @ftglobetrotter
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