Family road trip to Okanagan Valley

VANCOUVER, CANADA—It was a spontaneous decision. I had just finished my morning jog around Kitsilano “Kits” Beach and was taking my sweet time inhaling the coffee I had taken out from 49th Parallel, lounging around the apartment in my sweats when I received an SMS from my brother Chris. “Do you, Mom and Dad want to come to Kelowna with us? We’ll pick you up. Get ready!”

“Us” referred to him and his new bride, my sister-in-law Clarisse, whom he had married only two days prior.  (Unfortunately, our three younger siblings, Charles, Christine and Christian, had already flown back to Manila due to school and work commitments.)  “Are you sure Cla is okay with us coming along?” I asked. “We don’t want to intrude on your honeymoon.” Chris responded, “Yes, sure, okay with us. Para mas masaya! Let’s go, yehey! Hurry, dress up na!”

The Napa of Canada

Kelowna, a four-hour drive from Vancouver, is the largest city in Okanagan Valley—British Columbia’s largest wine region, and Canada’s second largest (next to Ontario’s Niagara Peninsula). The Okanagan, which has been called “the Napa of Canada” by the New York Times, has over 200 wineries, 25 of which are located in Kelowna. Most of the wineries are family-run, harvesting grape varieties such as Pinot Noir, Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc, and in terms of style, the ice wine.

After four hours of cruising down the picturesque mountains and lush greenery, praying the rosary together, and munching on the best seasalt and malt vinegar chips in the world, Miss Vickie’s, we finally arrived at our home for the night. The Cove Lakeside Resort has large, spacious rooms, equipped with a full kitchen, and offered gorgeous views of the crystal-clear Lake Okanagan.

Canadian winery of the year

Mission Hill, the winery created by former Vancouver wine merchant Anthony von Mandl that reportedly cost $40 million to build, had our unanimous vote for dinner. It is the largest winery in Kelowna, and features a Marc Chagall tapestry in the winery reception room, manicured gardens, an amphitheater and an outdoor dining terrace. Just last month, it was awarded the coveted “Canadian Winery of the Year” at the WineAlign National Wine Awards — a designation that has been described as “as big as it gets in Canadian wine.”

Their restaurant Terraces was voted one of the Top 5 winery restaurants in the world by Travel & Leisure. We ordered the delicately thin elk carpaccio, fresh albacore tuna, perfectly seared Quadra Island scallops, Yarrow Meadows duck breast, Okanagan AAA beef flat iron steak to the light and fluffy summer pavlova and lemon tart. We washed them down with a Martin Lane 2011 Pinot Noir—which had just been awarded the World’s Best Pinot Noir at the 2013 Decanter World Awards in London. I was delirious after such a fantastic meal, I swooned myself to bed. (It is worth mentioning that their wine shop has the best selection of cookbooks, kitchenware and food stuff. This was my Mom’s favorite part of the trip.)

“Trip Advisor’s” #1 restaurant in Kelowna

The next morning, Cla and I researched on some more wineries near our area. Quail’s Gate was another popular winery in Kelowna, owned by Okanagan farmers Ben and Tony, who pioneered the production of Pinot Noir in the region. Their restaurant Old Vines was ranked by TripAdvisor as the #1 restaurant in West Kelowna, and we decided that was where we were going for lunch! Since the restaurant was fully booked until 1:30 p.m., we decided to head to the wine shop to taste their wines. They were three wines for $5 (waived with two bottles purchase), and $4 per dessert wines, inclusive of a chocolate cup. We were partial to the 2012 Reisling Ice Wine and the 2012 Optima, also known as “Ambrosia” or “nectar of the Gods”—a succulent dessert wine made in the classic Sauternes style that’s sweet, rich and concentrated, is what Quail’s Gate has been known for 20 years.

Old Vines is airy and spacious and overlooks the gorgeous vineyards, most of which had grapes that were ripe for picking. Produce was so beautiful and fresh, and we thoroughly enjoyed our lunch of West Coast mussels and clams, wild salmon tartare over black rice salad, BC albacore tuna tartine, and Yarrow Meadows duck leg confit. I later found out on Wine Spectator that it’s been Green Table certified (BC’s restaurant eco-certification) adheres to the Oceanwise standards for sustainable seafood.

Buttery chardonnay

Our next winery, Mt. Boucherie, was just a few minutes away. Family owned since 1968, reviews on Trip Advisor had dubbed it a “great little winery” known for their “buttery” chardonnay—my favorite kind. It is a small boutique winery—a gem in the West Kelowna wine trail—and is also reflected in the steal of a price (only $3 for four tasting glasses; and a refund if you buy a bottle). I found my “buttery chardonnay” in the 2011 Family Reserve Chardonnay and I fell in love with the creamy toasty palate of green apple and baked bread.  (It won a gold medal at the 2013 All Canadian Wine Championships, Ontario).

Canada’s wine region is still relatively young, and unfortunately, the wines aren’t readily available around the world. But the whites are fresh and crisp with fruity characteristics and the reds robust and pleasant—and most of the wines we tried have won an award somewhere. If you are in Vancouver and love wine, I highly recommend visiting the region. Apart from the great, inexpensive wines, the produce is super-fresh, and the scenery is postcard-perfect, complete with a sparkling lake. There are short, 45-minute flights from the city, but for me, the eight hours we spent on the road translated to quality family bonding. And that was priceless.

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You can reach me at www.cheryltiu.com or http://www.twitter.com/cheryltiu . Photos by CHERYL TIU