Canadian Okanagan Wines - eh

[rsundstrom]

In early October, we took a road trip across the beautiful North Cascades highway to enjoy the fall leaves. Our original plan was to stay in the Winthrop area for a few days, but a 14000 acre forest fire inspired us to mosey on after a nice evening at the Sun Mountain lodge.

At loose ends, we decided to turn north to the Canadian Okanagan - an area of glacially carved lakes, and - believe it or not - the northern terminus of the Sonoran desert.

We crossed the border at Osoyoos, and by happenstance, arrived on the first day of the annual Okanagan Wine Festival, a 10 day event held annually in October.

Many years ago, we would drink Okanagan wine while skiing in the eastern British Columbia mountains. It had two outstanding attributes - it was just about the only wine available in BC, and it was awful. It was, however, available for sale from the expat-euro shop owners to us underage drinkers up in the mountains.

I had largely forgotten about BC wines in much the same way as I have forgotten the details of my last root canal - an expedient but not especially pleasant experience.

Fast forward about 20 years and the game has changed dramatically for the better. There are now over 60 wineries in the valley stretching from Osoyoos in the south to Salmon Arm 250 km to the north. Over a 4 day period we sampled wines from about 20 wineries in a half-dozen distinct regions. We were pleasantly surprised that the notions of terrior and intelligent wine production techniques have become firmly rooted in the Great White North.

Nobody will mistake BC wines for those produced in Napa, Bordeaux, or the other great regions (at least until global warming trashes the traditional environments and make the regions above the 55th parallel the world's premier vinicultural area), but there is no small effort being put into producing quality wines from local grape production.

Most of the wines we tasted ranged from pleasant if unremarkable to actually quite good.

In the south end of the region there were modest cabernets, merlots, and the ubiquitous chardonnays, also fair to middling. Somewhat more interesting were cabernet franc, sauvignon Blanc and Riesling offerings.

Throughout the region gewürztraminer was in evidence. The gewürz from this area takes on a distinctive character that shows through irrespective of the style of production. It is likely to appeal to some and not others.

The long dry fall and early winter seasons allow for the production of late-harvest and ice style wines. There were offerings in abundance throughout the valley. (We tasted a late-harvest Riesling that was made from fruit harvested in March, 2000!)

The tasting got more interesting when we happened upon lesser-known varieties that seem well suited to the region. Varietals like the Swiss white Chasselas grape, the Austrian Zweigelt, and Marchal Foch (a Burgundy type hybrid), made good showings at several wineries in the valley.

Another surprise was a small winery in the Upper Bench area that produces a respectable Sarah - the only one in the valley as far as I know.

We plan on returning to do a bit more exploring in this region. The area is beautiful, the weather pleasant, the people outgoing and friendly. Most of the winemakers are happy to discuss their efforts, and seem genuinely pleased to have people stop by for a visit.

Ray

[MGLloyd]

I can second the fact that this region is producing some very, very nice late harvest and ice wines.