Wine Tasting in the North Okanagan in Spring means Rose and Pinot Gris.

On a weekend to Vernon we visited some of the North Okanagan wineries.  In West Kelowna we visited Volcanic Hills and Quail’s Gate.  Volcanic Hills won the Lieutenant Governer’s award for it’s small production of 2010 Rose.  It sold out in a blink.  We were keen to try the 2011, but were told that the wine had just been bottled and they weren’t releasing it yet.  A bit more chat and tasting and we were treated to a little of the rose that had been taken straight from the barrel.  It was bright and fresh and exciting.  We promised not to open it for a couple of months if they’d sell us some and they agreed because we were the 1^st customers of the day.  We tired, liked and bought some of the Pinot Gris and Pinot Noir too.   Volcanic Hills makes good wine for a very good price. 

Quail’s Gate restaurant was our destination for lunch.  I was hoping to get another couple of bottles of their Pinot Noir Dijon Clone but  2010 wasn’t a good year to make the single vineyard Dijon Clone so the grapes were blended into their 2010 Pinot Noir.   They have a Pinot Noir not yet released called something like “858” but there was none to see, taste or buy.  It will be available at an equally mysterious date.  I like a challenge though and I love Pinot Noir.  Quail’s Gate makes some of the best in BC so I have a quest.  We had lunch at  their Old Vines Restaurant.  They claim their Chenin Blanc is perfect with oysters.  That got my attention.  But then the restaurant didn’t have any, so I tried the mussels.  Good but oysters would have been better.  I’ll be watching for that match in local restaurants. 

Day 2 we were planning lunch at Gray Monk.  Their patio is a great for a leisurely lunch and I remember that last year the menu matched up beautifully with their wines. That lunch will have to be for another trip because on the drive up I noticed that Ex Nihilo was nearby and we changed our focus from lunch to wine tasting. I’m a Rolling Stones fan and Ex Nihilo makes Rolling Stones Sympathy for the Devil Icewines.  At $10 a taste or $125 a bottle you’d best be an icewine lover.  I’m not a big fan so tasted through their other features.   They had a special offer.  Buy 5 bottles, 1 each of the wines we  tasted  and  get a  free bottle of the Gris or Pinot Noir. This is their first vintage of Pinot Noir and I wanted to try more than the tasting, the 08 Merlot and Night are big reads from OK Falls grapes that I knew would be a hit at our house.  The Riesling and Pinot Gris were also good so it was a deal I appreciated.  I’m looking forward to a revisit with more time to hear the Rolling Stones story and see some of their art.   Watch for Ex Nihilo in restaurants. 

We planned lunch at CedarCreek on the way home.  I wanted to pick up a supply of their Rose.  Sadly the terrace restaurant doesn’t open until June but I still wanted the rose  so we did the drive .  This is when it’s good to be just mom and daughter tasting wine.  We both love a drive so it doesn’t seem like a bad idea to drive almost 30k out of the way for delicious, hard to get wine.  CedarCreek describes the 2011 Rose as acoustic Pinot Noir.   I tend to think of food and wine in high and low, flat and sharp notes and Pinot Noir unplugged or acoustic makes a lot of sense to me.  I’m looking forward to a glass this afternoon during a crucial Canucks game.  Perhaps we’ll have to celebrate.

Another fun trip to the Okanagan.  The Cedarcreek Rose and Ex Nihilo Reisling are in the fridge.  Drop by.  I love an excuse to open a bottle.