{"id":11420,"date":"2017-07-06T14:40:22","date_gmt":"2017-07-06T22:40:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.pickydiners.com\/www\/?p=11420"},"modified":"2019-10-30T15:13:05","modified_gmt":"2019-10-30T22:13:05","slug":"wine-tasting-road-trip-okanagan-ford-edge-titanium","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pickydiners.com\/www\/wine-tasting-road-trip-okanagan-ford-edge-titanium\/","title":{"rendered":"Wine Tasting Road Trip in the Okanagan with Ford Edge Titanium"},"content":{"rendered":"

This was my first ever wine tasting road trip! \u00a0I have done a little bit of wine tasting in the past in Napa Valley and in the Okanagan, but never a trip like this one, which lasted 4 days and 3 nights, covering a total of 13 wineries!<\/p>\n

It was perfect timing when\u00a0Ford Canada<\/strong>\u00a0<\/a>offered me to test drive their latest Ford Edge Titanium<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0for a week. I had been talking about a road\u00a0trip in the\u00a0Okanagan Valley<\/strong><\/a> with my buddy Rick for quite a while.<\/p>\n

Recently I attended the Science of Wine <\/a>event at Science World<\/strong>, and discovered the Golden Mile Bench<\/a> sub-regions. Having tasted wines from such a unique part of the BC wine country,\u00a0I was definitely excited to actually visit the area.<\/p>\n

\"Okanagan<\/a>
Vineyards and Wineries in Golden Mile Bench<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Day One<\/h2>\n

The Vehicle\u00a0<\/strong><\/h3>\n

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The brand new crossover in Burgundy was quite sleek to look at. Running on the road, it felt solid and steady, and very easy to handle. As I drive with manual transmission myself, I was impressed with Edge Titanium’s Sport\u00a0Mode<\/strong>\u00a0with the power performance of the engine.<\/p>\n

I picked up Rick from his Surrey home. He’s the one with all the camping gears. Camping in Osoyoos is on the itinerary!<\/p>\n

I would have loved to leave a little early but I was not able to pick up the car until 11 am. We left Surrey around 12:30 pm.<\/p>\n

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Merritt, BC<\/h3>\n

The gas tank was almost full before we left the Lower Mainland. But after breezing\u00a0through Hell’s Gate<\/strong> and\u00a0Kokaholla Highway<\/strong> (BC Highway 5), we found only 1\/4 gas left in the tank and had to stop in Merritt for gas.\u00a0In fact I stopped in Merritt for gas almost every single time when I travel to Kelowna.<\/p>\n

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Mission Hill Winery<\/a>, West Kelowna<\/h3>\n

We made it to West Kelowna<\/strong> right after\u00a05 pm, and there was still time to visit Mission Hill Winery <\/a>before it closed at 6. However, after the winery’s summer kickoff in the coming weeks, they will be open until 7 pm\u00a0in the evening.<\/p>\n

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Here we are, at one of the most important landmarks of the Okanagan wine country.<\/p>\n

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The focal point of the architectural design was a twelve-story and 85-foot bell tower, with bells cast by Fonderie Paccard<\/strong> in France who also crafted the bells for St. Patrick’s Cathedral<\/strong> in New York and Sacr\u00e9-C\u0153ur<\/strong> in Paris.<\/p>\n

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If you live in BC and have never been to Southern France<\/strong> or Napa Valley<\/strong>, you don’t need to travel that far for the spectacular wine country experience, as our very own Mission Hill Winery is just as magnificent.<\/p>\n

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The beautiful Okanagan Lake<\/strong>\u00a0and the lovely surroundings form the perfect backdrop.<\/p>\n

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It’s wine tasting time! \u00a0At the tasting room, they offer complimentary tasting of one red\u00a0wine and one white. For additional $10, a tasting of 5 different wines is available but the fee will be waived if a bottle of wine is purchased.<\/p>\n

They give a generous pour of wine into the glass. As you usually take 3 sips for tasting a\u00a0wine, if you have small sips, you can totally share one tasting with another person. But for wine lovers like us, it’s great to have 2 tastings so that we could taste more\u00a0different wines!<\/p>\n

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I ended up getting a bottle of the Mission Hill\u00a0Reserve Pinot Noir<\/strong> ($25.99) and Rick bought the Mission Hill Reserve Chardonnay<\/strong> ($21.49).<\/p>\n

Ford SYNC Technology<\/a><\/h3>\n

While looking up the route to Mission Hill through those winding roads, I tried the Ford SYNC technology<\/strong> to sync up my iPhone to the GPS interface. Through the interface, I can access a lot of my iPhone apps so that I can navigate through iPhone maps, text, and listen to music. It’s so nice to have a new car! \u00a0I think my 2004 Mazda 3 is about to retire soon.<\/p>\n

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Quail’s Gate Winery<\/a>, West Kelowna<\/h3>\n

When most the wineries closed at 6 pm, Quail’s Gate Winery <\/a>closed at 7 pm. So we wasted no time running over there around 6. (They close at 8 pm in July – September) It is only a 5-minute away from Mission Hill.<\/p>\n

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I really liked the wood structure of the buildings, including the main tasting room and the restaurant, Old Vines<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

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They offered two complimentary wines for tasting and $5 \u00a0for a flight of three additional wines.<\/p>\n

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I was introduced to Quail’s Gate’s Pinot Noir years ago at The Keg Steakhouse and was impressed with how good and how affordable it was. It has been a favourite of mine over the years.<\/p>\n

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They have also 2 guest houses available<\/a> for booking, The Nest<\/strong> ($500 – $800 \/ night) can accommodate 7 and The Lake House<\/strong> ($1100 – $2000 \/ night) can fit 10. Both provide exquisite lakeside experience.<\/p>\n

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We both ended up getting Quail’s Gate Old Vines Foch 2015<\/strong> ($22) as it is quite unique and usually cannot be found at most BC liquor stores.\u00a0Named after the French World War I hero, General Ferdinand Foch<\/b>, the Mar\u00e9chal Foch\u00a0<\/b>grapes produce a full-bodied red that has an intense but sophisticated flavour.<\/p>\n

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Our Airbnb Stay<\/a> in West Kelowna<\/h3>\n

We checked in our Airbnb guest house<\/a>\u00a0($69\/night) around 7 pm. Although I ran Airbnb at my own condo for a while back then, I had never been an Airbnb guest myself. But for my very first Airbnb experience, this one was absolutely fantastic. \u00a0 Sara and Lindsay take great care of their amazing house with incredible views of the lake and nearby scenery.<\/p>\n

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This is the view from their patio – it’s absolutely breathtaking.<\/p>\n

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You can see the bell tower at Mission Hill Winery on the left. \u00a0The winery is within walking distance (about 15 minutes).<\/p>\n

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They have a 2-bedroom suite<\/a> at the garden level available on Airbnb as well, and it can accommodate up to 6 guests. This is the view from the garden.<\/p>\n

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This is our room and the bed is quite comfy.<\/p>\n

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Downtown, Kelowna<\/h3>\n

The hosts proposed us a ride to Downtown Kelowna if we wanted to check out the nightlife, which was a very considerate offer. But we figured that we would want to get up early in the morning, so we decided to drive to downtown on our own just for dinner and a quick walk around.<\/p>\n

\"Ford<\/a>
Ford Road Trip<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

We felt like having a\u00a0beer and some quick pub food, and we found this place, Doc Willoughby’s Pub<\/a>.<\/strong> It reminded me of The Capital on Davie<\/strong> <\/a>in Vancouver, with their 5-dollor food menu.<\/p>\n

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For 5 Bucks, this burger ain’t bad!<\/p>\n

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Rick also got some poutine for $5. We were happy to have saved some money for wines!<\/p>\n

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We had a short walk around the lakeside area in Downtown Kelowna<\/strong>. \u00a0 \u00a0All the water sports were closed due to the recent flooding of the lake. Let’s hope the situation gets better soon as the summer season is very near.<\/p>\n

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When we were back at the guest house, the hosts provided us some white wine that we could enjoy on the patio while watching the sunset.<\/p>\n

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Day Two<\/h2>\n

Good Morning, Okanagan!<\/h3>\n

It was a little cloudy the day before, but the sky certainly cleared up quite a \u00a0bit the next morning. And we woke up to an incredible view like this!<\/p>\n

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And we were treated to a nice breakfast with bagels, coffee, and different fruit jams from the valley.<\/p>\n

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And Sara’s homemade muffins and cookies!<\/p>\n

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We are ready to go again! Thanks for the wonderful hospitality, Sara and Lindsay!<\/p>\n

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West Side Wine Trail<\/a><\/h3>\n

Our host Lindsay works at Mission Hill as a wine specialist, and he is very familiar with all the nearby wineries. He made some recommendations along the West Side Wine Trail<\/a> in West Kelowna, which all could be found along Boucherie Road. \u00a0We had already visited Mission Hill and Quail’s Gate and they are the 2 biggest on the trail. \u00a0Lindsay also suggested us to visit the Indigenous World Winery<\/strong> and have lunch at their restaurant, The Red Fox Club<\/strong> for a taste of the Indigenous cuisine.<\/p>\n

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Volcanic Hills Winery,<\/strong><\/a> West Kelowna<\/h3>\n

Finding our way to Indigenous Winery<\/strong>, we decided to visit a couple wineries on Boucherie Road. First, we visited Volcanic Hills Winery<\/a>.\u00a0Here they offer:<\/p>\n

Tours:<\/strong>\u00a0Available by appointment only. $10.00 plus tax, which includes wine tasting.
\nTasting Fee:<\/strong>\u00a04 table wine samples for $5.00 (fee waived with wine purchase)
\nIcewine Tasting Fee:<\/strong>\u00a01 for $2.00 or 3 for $5.00 (fee waived with icewine purchase)<\/p>\n

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The tasting room is huge here and it is very bright and spacious inside.<\/p>\n

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For a young red blend, I was captivated by Volcanic Hills 2014 Magma Red<\/strong> ($15.69), which has a large portion of Zweigelt ($56%), a grape originally from Austria that I had never tasted. \u00a0I ended buying a bottle of this unique wine.<\/p>\n

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And Rick got a bottle of Volcanic Hills\u00a0Gew\u00fcrztraminer Clone 47 2015 <\/span><\/strong>($15.69).\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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Mt Boucherie Winery<\/a>, West Kelowna<\/h3>\n

As intrigued by Zweigelt and told about\u00a0Mt Boucherie Winery<\/a> right around the corner from Volcanic Hills carrying a full Zweigelt red, we found ourself at Mt Boucherie’s tasting room. The winery is right on the hill with amazing views of the nearby vineyards and the valley.<\/p>\n

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The full Zweigelt is very light, and maybe a little too light for me. I would rather prefer Pinot or Gamay after tasting Zwigelt. Here they also have very lovely white wine as well. We didn’t buy any wine here.<\/p>\n

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At Mt Boucherie, We also found out that for the West Side Winery Trail<\/strong>, you can collect a stamp from each winery. After collecting 5 or more, you are qualified to be in a draw for a price of over $1000 worth of wine. \u00a0Thank you for the info, the nice wine specialist lady at Mt Boucherie!<\/p>\n

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Indigenous World Winery<\/a>, West Kelowna<\/h3>\n

We made it to Indigenous World Winery<\/a>, highly recommended by our Airbnb hosts. It’s the first 100% Indigenous owned winery in Canada. The former Westbank First Nation Chief Robert Louie and his wife Bernice are descendants of the Okanagan Syilx people, determined to produce world-class wine in a respectful way to the environment, lands and its people.<\/p>\n

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I really liked the artworks inside the tasting room, reflecting the people and their\u00a0rich history.<\/p>\n

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The tasting consists of 5 wines and costs $5. But the fee is waived if you purchase a bottle or eat at their restaurant, Red Fox Club<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

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Rick bought a bottle of the Indigenous 2015 Chardonnay<\/strong> ($29.99) and thought it’d make a great gift for his cousin, who we were going to visit in Oliver.<\/p>\n

Red Fox Club\u00a0at Indigenous World Winery<\/a>, West Kelowna<\/h3>\n

We indulged ourselves with\u00a0aboriginal inspired dishes at Red Fox Club<\/a>, with the beautiful Okanagan Valley as the backdrop.<\/p>\n

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Having had a bit of wine tasting today, we decided to try some local fruit soda instead. Produced by The People’s Crafthouse <\/a>in Penticton, \u00a0both the Ginger Ale<\/strong> and Root Beer<\/strong> tasted very refreshing, perfect for such a warm day.<\/p>\n

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Rick’s Stinging Nettle Hand Pie<\/strong> ($16) was complemented with house smoked salmon – very rustic presentation but with very sophisticated taste.<\/p>\n

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The Baked West Coast 1\/2lb Mussels ($15) <\/strong>came with a\u00a0smoked onion pine cream, which was somewhat ingenious – the smoky pine aroma reminds me of having a campfire in the woods. The garnish of little wild greens was also a nice touch of nature.<\/p>\n

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We also had a side of the\u00a0Bannock Bread Plate <\/strong>($5). The Bread had a hearty exterior but soft inside. It reminded me the fried bread I had at House Special<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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I will cover the dining experience in more details in a separate post!<\/p>\n

Scenic Drive on Highway 97<\/h3>\n

We were heading for Olive after lunch, starting off on Highway 97 going South. This is definitely one of the top 5 scenic drives in our province, where you have an immaculate view of \u00a0the lake on one side and the hills and mountains on the other. \u00a0We were quickly driving past Peachland<\/strong>, Summerland<\/strong>, and Penticton<\/strong>. \u00a0 Here is a video clip for a little glimpse of the drive.<\/p>\n