PENTICTON, Okanagan Valley — Judges have gathered from around across the country to taste and find the best of Canadian wines for Wine Access Magazine.
We have gathered in the beautiful summer playground of Penticton, B.C. where we taste by day and enjoy the hospitality of wineries in different Okanagan regions by night.
The first day of tasting was intense with wines tasted and scored in various categories including oaked Chardonnays, red blends (lots of red blends), Icewine, Cabernet Franc, Riesling and Pinot Gris (that’s just at the panel I was sitting on with Calgary’s Brad Royale and aspiring MW DJ Kerney from B.C. (she has just written her final exam for her Master of Wine and is awaiting the result, a monumental and arduous journey to the top of her craft). There were five other panels backed up by a team of servers and sorters and photographers mostly behind the scenes who make the strictly blind tasting work.
Our evening was spent at the Wild Goose Winery and was hosted by the Okanagan Falls Winery Association with all the wineries in the small yet beautiful area represented at a tasting and superb dinner set against a very special vineyard backyard that only the drama of the Okanagan can provide.
On Day Two we moved to the beautiful Orofino Winery in the Similkameen Valley for an evening of tasting not only the wines and fruit wines from the region but the tasty local produce that is grown there. What a night it was.
Here are some photos of our Day One and Two in the Okanagan.
The judging:
The scenery In OK Falls:
The judges (mingling):
The food:
The wine:
Similkameen Valley
Bottleneck Drive (Wineries of Summerland):
Quail’s Gate Winery:
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