Planning a wine country adventure? here’s another great valley for you. By Bruce Schoenfeld

he most magnificent winery in North America is not in Napa or Sonoma or even Walla Walla. It sits poised on a hillside in southern British Columbia, with a commanding view of shim- Tmering Okanagan Lake below. An architectural cross between a monastery and a postmodern Tuscan castle, Mission Hill Family Estate was built at great expense— some say $30 million, others $40 million—by Anthony von Mandl, a Vancouver wine importer and entrepreneur who’d struck gold with the pop libation Mike’s Hard Lemonade. Its arched entrance was hand-chiseled from a five-ton lime- stone block. Bells cast by the renowned French foundry Paccard nestle in a 12-story tower, and a Chagall tapestry Napa, Willamette, Okanagan adorns a reception room. ❡ Years ago, von Mandl con- sidered investing in Napa. But rather than become “the 1,800th winery in California,” as he says, he chose to make a statement outside the quiet city of Kelowna, four hours east of Vancouver, in a climatologically challenged viticul- tural region known for peaches, glorious vistas, and the occasional potable riesling. Not surprisingly, siting his

Vines march in ranks through the central winery there was deemed an act of folly when von Mandl Okanagan Valley in British Columbia. PhotOgraphy by andrea johnson

september+october 2008 31 announced his plans in 1998. Lately, though, Mission Hill has Sonora Room in Burrowing Owl’s mission-style winery at the become a symbol of the Okanagan Valley’s arrival as a world- far end of the valley. Sure enough, a standout dish of my visit If you’re going . . . class destination for wine and food. was Casavant’s seared halibut with Tofino shrimp, served beside To anyone making the spectacular lakeside drive to Kelowna a minerally . Burrowing Owl’s owner, Jim Wyse, has Pick up the Western Canada & Alaska TourBook and the from the U.S. border two hours south, the boom is evident. now decided to keep the restaurant open year-round. Western States & Provinces map. The Okanagan Fall Wine Vineyards seem to be everywhere that pine trees and rock Not far away, I came on a boutique winery taking a similar Festival, held Oct. 2 through 12 this year, is an 11-day har- formations aren’t. The region has grown from 32 wineries in chance. Le Vieux Pin is located in a cottage that could have been vest celebration with lunches and dinners, vineyard tours, 1995 to more than 80 now, nearly all of them open to visitors. imported from Bordeaux’s Pomerol district if the paint weren’t tastings, and other events. For more details, visit owfs (Calling ahead is a good idea.) Hotels are springing up, and half quite so fresh. Inside, jazz singer Madeleine Peyroux played on .com. Area code is 250 except as noted. a dozen inns or rentable condo compounds—many with vine- the sound system as proprietor Anthony Burée showed off the yard views—have been built or are being planned at wineries. 2005s—his first vintage—including two that sell for as EATS & SIPS I’ve roamed the Okanagan three times in as many years, much as $65 a bottle. A 2006 had room-filling Burrowing Owl Estate Winery and the Sonora Room 100 most recently last October. I ate roulade of chicken breast aromatics and the thrilling concentration—a silky texture on Burrowing Owl Place, Oliver, (877) 498-0620, bovwine.ca. with popcorn foam, followed by steamed black cod with the tongue—usually found only in wines from warmer regions. Cedar Creek Estate Winery 5445 Lakeshore Rd., Kelowna, warm apples, followed by braised rabbit with cinnamon and I’d never had a better Canadian wine. 764-8866, cedarcreek.bc.ca. Fresco nutmeg—and nearly every major ingredient Does the world need another $100 Restaurant & Lounge 1560 Water St., Kel- was local. I stayed at a new resort, the Cove, ABOVE, wine talk flows easily in Mission cabernet, which is where Le Vieux Pin owna, 868-8805, frescorestaurant.net. that has vaulted ceilings and flat-screen tele- Hill’s cellar. LEFT, chef Bernard Casavant seems to be heading? Perhaps not, but Le Vieux Pin 34070 73rd St., Oliver, 498- visions but remains well priced for U.S. visi- keeps dishes local at the Sonora Room. von Mandl insists that the Okanagan— 8388, levieuxpin.com. Mission Hill Family tors despite the muscularity of the Canadian with just 7,000 acres of vines—gets a Estate and the Terrace 1730 Mission dollar. I toured Burrowing Owl, an exquisite and it attracts crowds—or what pass for lift from such big-cachet wines. Hill Rd., Westbank, 768-6448, 11-room inn surrounded by grapevines. And crowds—with its welcoming wineries and I ate lunch with him on the terrace missionhillwinery.com. Quails’ I savored a range of wines—a brisk chenin accessible vintners. A dozen or so visitors at Mission Hill. It had been a change- Gate Estate Winery and Old Vines blanc from Quails’ Gate, an earthy were browsing Cedar Creek’s gift shop and able day—hail had just fallen, causing Restaurant 3303 Boucherie Rd., from Tantalus, and robust merlots from Le tasting bar, sampling inspired oddities such panic among vineyard managers who Kelowna, 769-2500, quailsgate Vieux Pin—that far outclassed anything I’d as a deliciously crisp white wine made from weren’t done harvesting—but now .com. Theo’s Restaurant 687 Main tasted before from the Okanagan. a local grape called ehrenfelser and talking a sky of cornflower blue had spread St., Penticton, 492-4019, eatsquid The region’s residents have caught the up food and drink in a way that would have over the lake. Each dish chef Michael .com. Waterfront Wines Restaurant fever. At the local outpost of Joey’s Global seemed inconceivable even a few years ago. Allemeier sent out had the composi- & Wine Bar 1180 Sunset Dr., No. 104, Grill, a Vancouver-based chain, two dozen That night, during an ambitious dinner tion of a still life and the vibrancy of Kelowna, 979-1222, waterfrontwines.com. Okanagan Valley wines are featured. I came at Fresco in downtown Kelowna, Quails’ ingredients that clearly hadn’t traveled on a Monday at noon, munched a fish taco while sipping a floral Gate wines took center stage. I’d met the talented Rod Butters, far—cheeses, for instance, from cows SLEEPS $8 gewürztraminer from Sumac Ridge, and saw a table full of Fresco’s chef and owner, when he cooked at the Wickaninnish and goats just a few miles away. As Best Western Inn From $129. 2402 Hwy. o≈ce workers enjoying a bottle of local pinot gris. Down valley Inn on Vancouver Island more than a decade ago. Now, between we sipped pitch-perfect riesling and 97 N., Kelowna, (888) 860-1212, best in Penticton, a quirky Greek restaurant called Theo’s offers a lecturing the room on the science of popcorn foam and putting looked out on the whitecapped lake westerninnkelowna.com. The Cove choice of more than 100 local wines to pair with its rustic rab- the last touches on an entrée of braised veal cheek, he rhapso- below, I realized there was nowhere Lakeside Resort From $145. 4205 Gellatly bit, lamb shoulder, and even braised calamari. dized about the region. “Chefs are coming now from Whistler else I would have wanted to be. l Rd., Westbank, (877) 762-2683, cove I stopped at Cedar Creek winery one afternoon during the and Calgary, and they’re coming for a reason,” said Butters, who lakeside.com. Guest House at Burrowing Okanagan Fall Wine Festival. Held annually in late September serves as chair and head cheerleader of the Okanagan Chefs bruce schoenfeld also writes for Owl From $175 (see Eats & Sips). Manteo or early October, it includes themed wine dinners at most of Association. “I see it as validation.” the New York Times Magazine, Travel & Resort From $160. 3762 Lakeshore Rd., the region’s best restaurants, usually starring a single producer, Butters noted the arrival of Bernard Casavant as chef at the ma p : neil gower Leisure, and Tennis. Kelowna, 860-1031, manteo.com.

BEYOND THE VINEYARDS Kelowna’s water- In Kelowna, shady Paddle past Knox Friendly beaches front district has Luxuriate Mission Creek Learn Mountain, watch Sail are easy to find six blocks of gal- Indulge in plant- Greenway (469- In Osoyoos, at the for birds along the Hire a sailboat from in Kelowna and leries, theaters, based skin treat- 6232, greenway Desert Centre, stroll lakeshore, or pic- Go with the Wind in Penticton. For The Okanagan to go and museums in ments and four Hike .kelowna.bc.ca) a mile-long board- nic on a secluded Cruises (763-5204, a beachfront old warehouses types of massage follows a stream to Father walk as guides note beach—such as gowiththewind Swim dotted with bar- Need a break from two-fisted wining and (kelownascultural at Heirloom Spa, Pandosy Mission, built in flora and fauna of Kayak Paul’s Tomb. Rent .com). Captain Al becue grills and picnic dining? The Okanagan Valley offers Browse district.com). one amenity of 1859. In Okanagan Moun- Canada’s only des- at Lakefront Sports Centre, Cotton will deliver tables, check out Bertram plenty of other pleasures to pursue, both Unearth treasures at Turtle Naramata Heritage tain Provincial Park (548- ert—a tip of the dry Kelowna (862-2469, lake you to secret swim- Creek Regional Park, just indoors and out. And no matter where Island Gallery (717-8235, Inn & Spa in the 0076, env.gov.bc.ca/bc Sonoran life zone, frontsports.com) or at ming coves and 7.5 miles south of Kelowna. turtleislandgallery.com) village of Naramata. parks), trails crisscross arid which reaches into Castaways Watersports in key spots for wild- 469-6140, regionaldistrict you go, lake vistas are all but guaranteed. and at the Art Ark Gallery (866) 617-1188, hillsides and traverse calm Mexico. 495-2470, Penticton (490-2033, cast life viewing while .com/departments/parks. Area code is 250 except as noted. (862-5080, theartark.com). naramatainn.com. forests of cedar and fir. www.desert.org. awayswatersports.com). he spouts local lore. —Erin Klenow 32 Via I AAA september+october 2008 33