This article is part of FT Globetrotter’s Guide to Vancouver
Mountains, lakes and stunning spaces are expected in western Canada – but vineyards?
I museum in this welcome discovery in a local summer while studying the vine -covered hills as I saw a delicious glass with cool chardonnay. After taking the samples of some other types, complemented by local cheese and sausage, my companion and I climb e-Bikes and pedestrians slowly to another vineyard, marveling at a sparkling lake.
Welcome to the summer taste in the Okanagan valley of the British Columbia, which Jancis Robinson’s Supreme Supremo has called “The West of Wine” and where, in the pleasure of this cyclist, sampling local offers can be made on two wheels.
A car with four to five hours north-nor a fast-from Vancouver flight, the region is ideal for a weekend departure and is concentrated in the 135km Okanagan Lake. Surrounded by mountains and painted by four cities and cities, its shores have been one of the main areas of Canada’s soft fruit production for decades and, since the 1990s, a major wine production center.
There are about 200 mainly wealth wines here, and their production is one of the best preserved secrets of the summer world. Small -scale production means that they are rarely seen in other premises. But the short, hot -growing season and the varied land species mean area manufacturers are building a reputation that excites experts like Robinson, who has compared them to those who place the Napa Valley of California on the summer map.
Summer manufacturers here are happy to show that Okanagan enjoys two hours more sunshine a day than napa in the summer. The area also has 11 officially defined sub-geographical indications, or GI, each with a unique climate, type of land and summer style. The area is especially known for Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Riesling and Merlot.
While there are a large number of wines painted in a widespread area, there are three loose groups around the lake that are ideal for a bike. Given the hilly terrain and the summer sampling, e-bickings are the best option-this is not about strengthening Strava’s resources. The epic cyclism in the Penticalton rents bicycles and can create incorrect routes on the Naramata bench (see below). Kelowna bike rentals, in Lakeshore, has a good selection of regular e-bicycles and bicycles and is a social enterprise that supports youth and access projects. Many wineries have restaurants, and some offer shelter and bath.
Naramata bench
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Starting in the tourist city of Penticalton, where 1960s style motels listen to a well-known beach, the light pedal on the main city road leads to a wide trail of the gravel cycle tracing along the Naramata bench, a plate full of vine with its sub-lake. The wine -covered hills that remove the lake make stunning views.
In the small engine wines, owner Steven French recounts how he moved his family from Alberta’s neighboring province after noticing an opportunity to create high quality wines that would compete with Napa Valley’s likes in a place that “was just as wonderful”. Like many of the owners of small assets on the bench and other parts of Okanagan, French is ambitious and focused on creating wines that are “complex”-which is visible when drinking its Pinot noirs and chardonnays.
A little further along the path of the cycle lies the wine of wealth. Sal D’Angelo opened his first summer in Ontario in the 1980s and now has only eight hectares on the bench, specializing in Tempranillo and Montepulciano. The exams are taken in a vineyard, with a picnic table and a nearby food truck providing makeshift foods of freshly cordial sandwiches.
Cycle Road The winds between the wineries, before crossing the main road and continuing above the vineyards. Between the road and the tracks, with a commanding view and a wonderful building, Winery Hillside has produced wine for 40 years – its mixed red mosaic is a delicious result – with emphasis on durability. It also has a Bistro farm on the table that is a popular lunch site.
Finally, the cycle trail leaves the bench and connects to the Kettle Valley railway trail, a dramatic gravel trail in an abused railway line that once connected the Penticalton and the city of Kelowna. One to return to a non-summer day.
Kelowna West
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About 55 km away from the Naramata bench is Trail West Kelowna Wine. Although there is no certain sub-gi, many of its wineries lie on the slopes of Mount Boucherie, the remains of a long elongated volcano that has left the rich mineral soil in which the vineyards bloom.
Here, cycling is done along wide bike lanes on the streets that are less protected than the gravel path on the Naramata bench, but still completely safe.
The slopes of the mountain are home to some of Okanagan’s most created wineries. North above the vines, with a special tower and large restaurant, Mission Hill has produced winning awards wines since 1981, some of which can be found in the US and Europe.
Near the lake at the bottom of the hill lies the Quails gate. The vineyards were first planted in the Sit by the Stewart family in 1961 and while they now have vineyards located around the valley, the main fortune is in Kelowna West. In a field of what we have been told are Merlot vineyards that slope in the water, we examine delicious charards, prices and Pinot noirs with a rod that protects us from the sun.
By pedaling from the Quails Gate, Winery Mount Boucherie Estate has been making wine on the slopes of the mountain since 1968: CRISP, Rosé winner of awards, as well as Chardonnay and Gewürztraminar. In 2020 it opened a new modern enjoyment center and a stunning view of restaurant.
Further to the hill (with our e-bijiklets once again coming to them), a new generation of winemakers are developing export markets in Asia in Grizzli Winery. The Chang family emigrated from Taiwan in the 1990s with dreams of making wine, and their daughter Amy has overseen the development of both exports and the center of large, summer -beam, with a restaurant that serves delicious sources in the country.
Slopes of southern and eastern Kelowna
Beyond the lake from mostly suburban Kelowna is the living city of Kelowna, with beaches and parks of lakes and about 40 wineries in its suburbs, most with stunning views of the lake. The area is home to two sub-gi definitions: South and East Kelowna slopes.
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Taking on two wheels is helped by a wide network of bike lanes in the city, with e-bikes making the terrain unabated for those here for summer than in training. In the rolling hills where many wineries are located, roads are rarely occupied and the main risk of traffic often drains deer.
A few minutes on the hills of the Lakeshore road, overlooking the water and the city, the southern Kelowna Tantalus is in the place of one of the oldest vineyards that produces constantly in British Columbia, famous for its winning awards rieslings. Eric Savics, a former Restaurator originating from Latvia, bought the summer in 2004 and has expanded offers to include Chardonnay and Pinot Noir.
Lakeshore Road is a favorite stage of scenic cycling that starts downtown and goes south-east to the Mountain Cedar and Cedar Creek Estate Winery Regional Park, which is placed high in the hills between the trees. One of the oldest shipyards in the province is known for its delicious Pinot noirs and Syrahs, which can be enjoyed at her home on the farm, which has a commanding look above the lake.
Pinot Noir lovers can further pedal the hill just after Cedar Creek in Martin’s Lane, where Shane Munn does with low “radical” interference and Pinot noirs and Crisp rieslings from a six -level gravity wine, traversed as high eyria on the hill. The lakshore road ends a few kilometers further, and the valleys of the hills mean that cyclists have to draw their steps to return to the city.
Siona Jenkins was guest of Thompson Okanagan Tourism Association
Have you explored British Columbia Wine Regions? Tell us in the comments below. And follow FT Globetrotter on Instagram at @Ftglobetrotter
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