Tag Archives: views

Vineyard Lunch

Today was a holiday Monday, so M and I did a little vineyard exploration and found a lovely winery restaurant and a good bottle of wine.

This was the view from the winery restaurant deck.

Lunch was delicious, the view was fantastic and we were rewarded with a gaggle of wild roses (also known as sweet briar roses) as we left the grounds. It was a good day.

Very pale pink.
Princess pink wild rose.

It had just rained, and the scent from these roses was heavenly.

Happy Tuesday.

Winery Visit

We recently did a visit to a nearby winery on the Black Sage bench between Oliver and Osoyoos, British Columbia. This particular area is known for red wine production.

A view of the grape fields from the winery’s deck.

The wine grapes are now reaching their most luscious and will soon be harvested in stages, depending on the processing for the various wines they will become.

Merlot grapes.

Some grapes will remain in the fields until the first frost. Among them are grapes that will be allowed to develop a certain type of “rot” and will be harvested to produce various kinds of dessert wines.

Pinot noir grapes.

The Okanagan also produces ice wine. This means that the grapes freeze on the vine at temperatures between -1C to -8 C ( 30F – 18F). The frozen grapes are harvested at night and processed quickly so that they don’t defrost to spoil the concentration of sugar in the juice. Ice wine is a type of dessert wine, but is much more concentrated. It’s commonly served with cheese in order to get that lovely sweet/salty flavour combination.

Lots of grapes!

The Okanagan is starting to come into its own as a wine-producing region and is branching out into lesser known varietals that are being handled well. If, like me, you enjoy a glass of wine with dinner or a nice dessert wine after dinner, a visit to some of the Okanagan’s many wineries might be if interest to you. If not, the scenery, beaches and walking and hiking trails are great!

To your good health. 🍷

A View from a Winery

It was a bit hazy (at least not from wildfire smoke!) but there was still a great view down through the southern Okanagan Valley to Lake Osoyoos and the U.S. border from a winery we like to visit.

Although somewhat overcast, the weather was nice, quite comfortable and the view fantastic.

Happy Friday; happy weekend.

A Mystery Plant and a View

When I first saw this plant I thought it was a fake, but then I touched it and discovered that it’s some sort of succulent.

Do you recognise this plant?? I tried looking it up but had no luck.

Nevertheless, speaking of plants, here’s a vineyard view from the southern Okanagan’s Black Sage Bench. The grapes are plump and nearing harvesting.

Today’s grapes become tomorrow’s wines. 🙂

Happy Saturday.

Coming into the Okanagan

We have just returned from Northwest Territories to British Columbia’s Okanagan Valley. The drive from the high-altitude Coquihalla Highway (also known as Highway 97C) into the valley is impressive and steep.

Lake Okanagan in the distance.

The summit of the Coquihalla Connector highway is 1800m (5900 ft) and you then drive down to the valley which is at an elevation of 344 m (1100 ft).

Getting closer.

This is a significant drop of 1456 m (4800 ft). Some people aren’t comfortable with driving this highway for that reason, especially in winter. It is a long way down, and you do want to make sure your brakes are working!

Almost there.

The sign in the distance shows that we are about to come down from our lofty perch to join the highway along the lake.

Greetings from the beautiful Okanagan.