Oliver wineries

[Wojo]

I'm flying into Oliver for a business meeting next Wednesday. I will be renting a car and have about six hours to kill before the meeting. I'd like to visit a few wineries in the area and perhaps have lunch at one of them. Any recommendations?

Thanks.

[*Deborah*]

Burrowing Owl ...not sure if the Sonora Room is still open for lunch?

Black Hills

[Daddy-A]

I'm flying into Oliver for a business meeting next Wednesday. I will be renting a car and have about six hours to kill before the meeting. I'd like to visit a few wineries in the area and perhaps have lunch at one of them. Any recommendations?

Thanks.

←

We spent a week in the Okanagan last summer ... 3 days of that in Oliver. (My account of that trip is HERE)

I'd have lunch at Burrowing Owl. No question. We also liked Silver Sage (not brilliant, but unique wines) and Tinhorn Creek. Black Hills is between Silver Sage & Burrowing Owl. Not much to see at the winery, but the Note Bene & Alibi are amazing (if they have any left!). Tinhorn is on the other side of the valley ... not too far, but if you linger at lunch at BOV you'll be pressed to fit a lot in in just 6 hours.

Have fun and let us know where you went!

Arne

[winegeek]

I'd check out Inniskillin, as well as BOV. The is NOTHING to see at Black Hills as they have NO WINE (as usual) .

If you want to try some great Pinot Noir, head over to Golden Mile Cellars. They were taken over 2 years ago and are producing some fantastic pinot, very "burgandy style".

[Foodie in Vancouver]

Oliver wineries you have to hit:

Burrowing Owl for lunch is a great recommendation. I am drinking a 2000 Cab Franc from BOV as I type this. Hope they have some Syrah and Meritage left. But almost anything they produce should suit your tastes.

Inniskillin for sure. If you are lucky they may still have some Zinfandel left. Any of their single vineyard reds are well worth tasting. They also have a Vigonier (I know - I spelt it wrong)

Golden Mile: Absolutely on the Pinot Noirs. We bought a lot of the Black Arts Pinot Noir. Very impressive but the regular PN is well worth it.

Fairview Cellars: Haven't tasted the 2003 but Bill usually has good reds. Some of his earlier vintages faded early but we had a 2000 Meritage the other night that was tasting well.

Tinhorn: a bigger winery but has a varied lineup. The Oldfield Merlot is worth tasting and many of the others are extremely reliable. Several can be purchased at the LCB.

But here is the secret - go to the Toasted Oak Grill and Bar (it is on Highway 97 and 350th - the only traffic light in town). There are 2 great things about this place - neither have to do with food. The first is the flights of wine. They always have a red and a white flight of 3 2-oz pours of BC wines. Many you have never heard of before. They literally have at least 1 wine for sale in the bar from every winery (97) in the province. The second great thing about the TO is the VQA store. Excellent selection and winery pricing. And, the third great thing is the washrooms downstairs. Worth a visit.

I don't know how much wine you can bring back from Oliver if you are flying in. It is a very small runway. Hard to call it an airport.

Other places if you have the time - Geringher Brothers have some interesting whites. Personally I have never been able to see the appeal of Domaine Combret but there are those who swear by their wines. Hester Creek has produced some good Merlots and Merlot/Cabs in the past. We didn't have time to get there last visit. These 2 wineries are side/side.

Where ever you do go, try anything red from 2003. It was a very warm year. We have tasted some great red wines, even this early.

I strongly recommend you call any winery you hope to visit ahead of time to see if they are going to be open. Many wineries have limited tasting room hours at this time of year.

I would love to know which wineries you do get to and what you think.

[paul mitchell]

......well here's one guy who swears by Domaine Combret wines! - what I like about them is their commitment to aging their wines - I think it is their 1994 Reisling that was aged for 9 years before being released last year - not for everyone but a beautiful amber colour reeking of seville oranges and good old diesel - I like that they focus on crafting beautiful Cab Franc's instead of the typical merlot, pinot, cabernet that most BC wineries rely on as staples - I believe the 2001 meritage is their innagural blend and it is interesting as most BC meritage's rely on a typical blend of 50% Cabernet, 40% Merlot and 10% Cab Franc - Combret's is reveresed with 50% Cab Franc and I think equal parts of the others - If you haven't tried their Cab Franc's your missing a gorgeous, silky, white pepper spice filled violet fruit bomb!

Edited October 29, 2005 by paul mitchell (log)

[kurtisk]

Oliver wineries you have to hit:

...

I would love to know which wineries you do get to and what you think.

←

I was about to write a big Oliver manifesto, but Karole summed it up perfectly. She knows her stuff and you should do as she says!

k.

Edited October 29, 2005 by kurtisk (log)

[Foodie in Vancouver]

Thanks Kurtisk. I don't think I know much about wine other than I love to drink wine. Practice, practice, pratice.

[McTee]

Oliver wineries you have to hit:

...

I would love to know which wineries you do get to and what you think.

←

I was about to write a big Oliver manifesto, but Karole summed it up perfectly. She knows her stuff and you should do as she says!

k.

←

I agree. Toasted Oak is the place to go in Oliver, as Burrowing Owl is the only other restaurant and it is too out of the way and may not even be open. When I was there in mid-August, the only wines that BOV had were the Merlot and the P. Gris. Black Hills - nothing. Inniskillin had lots to taste, and Tinhorn was nice as well, but their food offering is strictly deli meats, cheeses, bread etc. for you to create your own picnic and figure the rest out yourself.

My recommendation is to just get in the car and drive. See what you can see, get a map and figure it out. End up at Toasted Oak and work your way back.

At Inniskillin, try the Zinfandel, the first BC winery to make a true Zin. Great stuff. And hit Desert Hills. If they have any Syrah left (doubt it) then BUY IT! Rich, full, velvety Vanilla and Chocolate flavours just caress your mouth like dessert. Very interesting and unique wine.

I gotta stop now........getting myself too worked up.

[Wojo]

I want to thank you all for your suggestions. I returned from Oliver last night. I was only able to visit one winery ... Tinhorn, one of the few that was open and offering wine tastings. (I called a few wineries before leaving Vancouver and was told that you have to make an appointment before dropping by to purchase wine and there would be no product sampling.) I selected Tinhorn because I wanted to walk along the Golden Mile Trail, in the hills behind the winery. The trail is 10-kilometres, but I only walked a small section of it. Lovely views of the valley. The Tinhorn wine was pleasant. I tried the Oldfield Merlot, but it needed to spend a bit more time in the bottle. I asked about 2003 wines, but they won't be out till the spring. A staff person in the Tinhorn shop said the 2003 wines are fantastic.

Burrowing Owl's Sonora Room was closed for the winter so I went to the Toasted Oak Wine Bar and Grill. Lunch was satisfactory, although the chicken I ate could have been a bit more tender. It was soaked in buttermilk, dipped in a batter and fried. I had hoped to try the flight of wines ($12 for three wines, I believe, with a choice of 25 different wines), but ended up having a business luncheon so I had to stay away from the wine.

I visited the adjacent BC VQA Wine Store & Gift Shoppe and bought two wines recommended by the store manager ... Hester Creek 2003 Merlot and Arrowleaf 2004 Pinot Gris. Interestingly, although the store has an amazing selection of BC wines, it does not carry any wines by Burrowing Owl.

[bigdaddy]