limited lots of wine, literally handcrafting each and every bottle. This wine is truly unique to this area of Vancouver Island. Well known for their Gold Medal Ortega, their wines are only available at Vancouver Island outlets and are served at many of the local restaurants.
The other wine growing region on the Island is the Cowichan Valley, about 45 minutes from downtown Victoria. Blue Grouse Winery is located in Cobble Hill and overlooks the valley. It is family owned and operated and is one of the founding Estate wineries on the Island. They are open Wednesday thru Saturday from 11 am to 5 pm from October through December. Originally from Germany, the Kiltz family has lived all around the world. They moved to the Cowichan Valley in 1989 and started the winery as a hobby. Today this hobby has grown into a well respected winery that uses only Vitis Vinifera, true wine grapes introduced from Europe, which are primarily in cool climate varieties such as Bacchus, Ortega, Pinot Gris, Pinot Noir and Müller-Thurgau. WestJet offers daily non-stop service to Victoria.
You can experience some of these wines at the Kelowna International Airport. Okanagan Estate Wine Cellars is open 5:30 am to 8 pm. Tastings are done two or three times a month usually on Wednesdays or Thursdays between 9:30 am and 1:00 pm. They only carry Okanagan wine with the exception of one from Vancouver Island. Their wide selection will satisfy every wine enthusiast with prices ranging from $12 for a simple dinner wine to $195 for that exceptional bottle of ice wine.
And speaking of ice wine – there are two festivals in Canada coming up in January 2011. The Niagara Ice Wine Festival runs from January 14th to 30th on weekends only (
www.niagarawinefestival.com). The annual Winter Okanagan Wine Festival is set in the alpine setting of Sun Peaks Resort and runs from January 19th through the 23rd (
www.thewinefestivals. com/
winterfestival.htm).
There’s just no end to the celebrations of fine wine here in Canada. And it’s easy to get there with daily non-stop services from YLW with WestJet and Air Canada.
Okanagan Estate Wine Cellars, Kelowna International Airport
Nk’Mip Cellars, Osoyoos, BC
Starling Lane Winery, Victoria, BC
Blue Grouse Winery, Cowichan Valley, BC
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