A Kelowna excursion with wine bloggers

Last week the Wine Bloggers Conference came to the Okanagan, shining the spotlight on our wine industry and allowing bloggers to participate in professional development sessions to hone their craft. In Kelowna, we were fortunate to host a pre-tour for delegate bloggers in advance of the core conference. The goal was to enhance their knowledge of the history of wine in the Okanagan Valley, setting the context for their explorations during the conference. Kelowna is widely recognized as the birthplace of the BC wine industry, with the Okanagan’s oldest wineries located here. With this in mind, we set out to show them some of the wineries along the Lakeshore Wine Route, that have elements of the area’s wine history as well as unique stories to tell today.

Our blogger guests arrived on Wednesday, and shuttles took them to their Hotel Eldorado and Manteo Resort digs. Later that afternoon, we transferred the group to Summerhill Pyramid Winery where we met winemaker Eric von Krosigk and Permaculture Designer Gabe Cipes for a winery tour and orientation to how the winery farms biodynamically. We were treated to a 6 course organic and wild dinner by Chef Jesse Croy of Sunset Organic Bistro, who in my opinion is one of the city’s great unsung culinary heroes for his creativity and ingenuity in the kitchen. It was a spectacularly creative dinner and an evening that truly kicked off our Kelowna Excursion with originality.

(Photo: Courtesy of Tourism Kelowna)

Breakfast was enjoyed by all at the Tantalus Vineyards.

The next morning, our intrepid group of wine bloggers headed to one of the oldest vineyard sites in the area, Tantalus Vineyards, for a breakfast of champions (waffles, croissants & housemade bread, and poached eggs among other treats by Chef Mark Filatow of Waterfront Wines Restaurant… oh my goodness!) and a tour in the vineyard, including a full-on bee demonstration at Tantalus’ vineyard hives by neighboring bee keeper Helen Kennedy of Arlo’s Honey Farm.

Even though grapes aren’t dependant on polinization by bees, Tantalus’ philosophy is to be in harmony with the surrounding agricultural lands, much of which is orchard or farmland that is dependent on bees for polinization. Since Tantalus doesn’t spray herbicides, pesticides, or fertilizers, their vineyard is pristine and a healthy and safe place for bees to be based. They have struck a clever partnership with Arlo’s Honey Farm to set up hives in their vineyard, and even produce Tantalus honey! The group was fascinated by this big-picture philosophy at the winery, and especially from the incredible experience of tasting honey straight out of the hive. I could hear guests’ animated chatter about what they’d learned as we filed into Tantalus’ tank cellar, then barrel cellar, and finally the expansive deck for a special wine tasting with winemaker David Paterson.

(Photo: Courtesy of Tourism Kelowna)

Wine Bloggers take in a winery tour with CedarCreek winemaker Darryl Brooker on their Kelowna Wine Country Excursion.

Curiosity piqued, we piled into our bus, driven by Distinctly Kelowna Tours, for the scenic ride to our final winery destination, CedarCreek Estate Winery. CedarCreek was one of BC’s first 8 wineries, so this business has great perspective on our wine industry as well. We enjoyed an interpretive walk up through the vineyard, something I haven’t done at CedarCreek before, along the Senator’s Trail. Along the way the winery staff had set up special food and wine pairings, and we grazed and gazed over the beautiful view.

Our lunch at CedarCreek was an elegant affair in their outdoor event space next to the rose garden. We feasted on pulled-pork sliders and local greens, paired with CedarCreek’s expressive and bold big reds. It was a magnificent tour altogether, and when we sent our group off on their way to the conference in Penticton, we know that they left with confidence in their discoveries on the history and wine culture of the Okanagan Valley and our Kelowna Wine Trails.

This article is written by or on behalf of an outsourced columnist and does not necessarily reflect the views of Castanet.