Okanagan Wine Tour 2011 Day 2

Day 2 of The Travel Group Annual Wine Tour. Mike from Unveil picked us up in his excellent bus and headed out for Jackson-Triggs. Mike works hard to make sure your every need is met, he sets his bus up with 2 coolers and lots of ice and water.

Jackson-Triggs has a great tasting room with friendly staff who know how to share wine. They do so much right; good wine related gifts, crackers and chocolate to enhance the tasting. They started with a 08 Sparkling Chardonnay that was a big hit. The Sunrock vineyards Merlot and Syrah are wonderful wines. Jackson-Triggs are famous for winning best Syrah in the world for the Sunrock series, wine from a vineyard right behind the tasting room in Oliver. Obviously that is a subjective claim but the wine speaks for itself. It would be hard not to like.

Our next stop was Stoneboat Vineyards, a family operation with lots of heart and lots of Pinot. Pinot Gris, Pinot Noir and Pinotage are my favourites. I discovered the Pinotage grape thanks to Leah at Kensingston Square Wines recommending I try Stoneboat Pinotage. She knows my wine taste and she was right. I do love this wine. With family members often in the tasting room, this winery is well worth a visit if you are a Pinot fam.

Church and State was our next stop. WOW. My favourite tasting room so far. There is a long beautiful bar of stained glass with stools welcoming you to stay and a comfy patio where we enjoyed our lunch. The patio overlooks Coyote Bowl, the name on some of their best wines. Try a bottle of C & S Coyote Bowl Syrah. If you like Syrah I guarantee it won't be your last.

Next we stopped at Burrowing Owl. Perfect in so many ways but this is my second visit for tasting and I haven't enjoyed either one. Not very welcoming or approachable, I have to wonder if the staff attitude is a trickle down from the top. As much as I love their wine, no purchases by me. I like my wine offered up with happiness and love and there's lots of it out there. One interesting character we talked to referred to them as Furrowing Brow. Well said.

Our final stop was at LaStella and the good vibes were back instantly. The small room has a lush feeling to match their Italian style wines. They have a beautiful patio with long lovely wooden tables and benches and a great view of the lake below. An then the wine is blow you away good. Jeff lead the most amazing tour and taught us so much. He "made" the day. Treat yourself, if you can lay your hands on a glass or bottle of any of the wines from La Stella, jump at the chance.

We finished the day with dinner at Hester Creek Winery. They prepared a special menu for our group and everyone raved about the food. This was the best meal we have eaten in the Okanagan to date.

We had our best meal at Hester Creek's Terrafina Restaurant. A small incident with the menus was smoothly dealt with and a couple of bottles of an excellent neighbourhood wineries bubbles started the meal beautifully. The scallop appetizer was generous, fresh and perfectly prepared. A choice of steak, chicken or puttanesca pasta were all well received.





The dessert pushed the boundaries with a milk chocolate pannecote with a truffle whipped cream. The aroma of the whipped cream was arresting and not a huge success but everything else was so good it didn't seem to matter. This would be my current first choice to return to in the South Okanagan. I'd love to stay at the villas. Hester Creek is doing so much right, it's a delight. Very impressive handling of a large table.