Discover the Most Distinctive Wineries in Western Canada
Mark Anthony & SHARP
It’s harvest season in the North Okanagan, a national treasure with a cool climate located about as far north as possible for a world-class wine region. There’s a chill in the air this time of year, but cool temperatures are also part of the magic here. As true vintners know, such climates are key to bringing out the very best in a grape.
Canada’s First Icon Wine: Mission Hill Oculus
Canada’s First Icon Wine: Mission Hill Oculus
Canada’s First Icon Wine: Mission Hill Oculus
Canada’s First Icon Wine: Mission Hill Oculus
Canada’s First Icon Wine: Mission Hill Oculus
Canada’s First Icon Wine: Mission Hill Oculus
Canada’s First Icon Wine: Mission Hill Oculus
Canada’s First Icon Wine: Mission Hill Oculus
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The first stop for most visitors is Mission Hill Family Estate Winery, home to the legendary 2020 Oculus release and the new Oculus Tasting Experience beginning this October. The setting is sublime: an underground barrel room blasted from volcanic rock in which guests get to taste a complex and lush Bordeaux-style wine that’s known as Canada’s first “icon wine.” This year’s star of the show is the 2020 Oculus, a perfectly balanced blend of grapes from the estate vineyard that have been grown specifically for this rare wine.
Oculus helped put North Okanagan on the global wine map, but there’s plenty more to love at Mission Hill, five-time winner of WineAlign’s Winery of the Year award. Its sprawling campus is home to the Terrace Restaurant overlooking Okanagan Lake as well as a culinary theatre featuring an unforgettable immersive food and wine experience.
The House that Pinot Noir Built: Martin’s Lane Winery
The House that Pinot Noir Built: Martin’s Lane Winery
The House that Pinot Noir Built: Martin’s Lane Winery
The House that Pinot Noir Built: Martin’s Lane Winery
The House that Pinot Noir Built: Martin’s Lane Winery
The House that Pinot Noir Built: Martin’s Lane Winery
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More or less directly across the lake sits Martin’s Lane Winery, a dramatic waterfront winery in North Okanagan with a mission to make the world’s best Pinot noir. There, winemaker Shane Munn makes high-scoring and exceptional single-vineyard Pinots, such as the vivid and intense 2021 Martin’s Lane Simes Vineyard Pinot Noir, from the north-facing slopes of Kelowna. It’s wines like these that prove this region is perfect for Pinot, a delicate grape that thrives in cooler regions like the Okanagan.
Although the Pinot steals the show, the winery, itself gets a fair share of attention, thanks to the award-winning design of this purpose-built, six-level gravity-flow structure carved into the volcanic hillside. The private tour, which includes a flight of Shane Munn’s exquisite Pinot and Riesling, is an Okanagan must for anyone who can’t get enough of the winery’s striking design.
Taste the Estate at CedarCreek Winery
Taste the Estate at CedarCreek Winery
Taste the Estate at CedarCreek Winery
Taste the Estate at CedarCreek Winery
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Of the many charming elements at CedarCreek Estate Winery, its commitment to sustainability and organic agriculture is high on the list. At any given time, visitors might catch sight of the winery’s cows, chickens or farm dog, as well as plenty of bees that are drawn to the pollinators and wildflowers. It’s all part of a healthy ecosystem that ensures the wines are the purest expression of the terroir of the North Okanagan.
That terroir shines in wines such as the the 2022 CedarCreek East Kelowna Slopes Pinot Noir, a gorgeously balanced wine with dark fruit and a touch of forest floor. Visitors can order it up as part of the terroir-to-table pairing dinner that features hyper-local farmed and foraged foods prepared on a wood-fired grill by executive chef Neil Taylor at the winery’s Home Block Restaurant. Or they can take a few bottles home as souvenirs. Perhaps both. It’s truly possible to have it all in the North Okanagan.
