Wining My Way Through the Okanagan

Welcome back all! I've been a bit slack on posting lately because it was my birthday!! But I'm back now and I'll try and put these posts out on a more timely manner! As I mentioned in my last post, I'm dedicating this entire post to Rust. Not only because I love the winery, but because I was fortunate enough to be able to try 10 of their wines! That's basically their entire profile for free because Rust does not have a tasting fee. That's something very unique and honestly I wish more wineries would do it because it makes wine way more accessible to people who don't necessarily like wine but want to try more but don't want to drop a pretty penny for a tasting.  The Winery: Rust Wine Co. Rust is a winery located down in Oliver, specifically located on the Golden Mile Bench. Their first vines were planted in the 1970s with Gewurztraminer plantings and it's been growing ever since! I first visited this winery last summer when my sister made us visit bec

Welcome back! On this edition of Wining My Way, I return to Lake Country to visit two different wineries, both of which have incredibly different styles but have their own individual charms. Let's get to it! Winery #1: 50th Parallel I'm honestly obsessed with the story of how 50th Parallel came to be. It's a husband and wife team who met on a houseboat trip with mutual friends. They were the only ones who drank wine so they started chatting and the guy revealed that he'd always wanted to open a winery. The girl asked if he was going to do all of these other things like open a restaurant and have rooms for rent to earn extra income and he said he didn't know because literally all he had thought of was that he wanted to open a winery. That was the beginning of their relationship and also of the winery! I could go into a lot more detail because more cool things happened so if you want to know more of the story, drop a comment! In the meantime, the wine! 1. 2019 Pinot G

I had quite a fun day with guest stars Tim and Linda once again along the Naramata Bench! We went to a new winery for all of us, walked along the KVR Trail, and concluded at my first Okanagan distillery visit! I hadn't intended on discussing distilleries, but it was so lovely and unique that I just can't help myself but share it with you all! Winery: Lake Breeze Located on the Naramata Bench, I had actually planned on visiting Lake Breeze the exact day that Linda and Tim texted inviting me to go with them, so clearly it was fate that I visited Lake Breeze on this particular day! This is a beautiful winery that has a very Italian feel to it. It has a tasting bar as well as a restaurant and all three of us agreed that we'd love to go for lunch one day! 1. 2018 Pinot Blanc This Pinot Blanc is actually the signature wine of Lake Breeze and has won a lot of awards! It's very crisp on the nose with lots of green apple and pear. On the mouth it's a little tart, but still s

 Welcome back to another round of Walk-In Wineries! Today we focus on two different wineries in two separate locations; one in Lake Country and one in West Kelowna. Let's get right to it! Winery #1: Gray Monk Estate Winery Gray Monk was first established back in 1972 and is located up in the beautiful Lake Country. They actually have one of my favourite views from their restaurant The Lookout. My family and I ate there last summer and the entire time there was this family of deer playing in the vineyards below us! The name "Gray Monk" actually comes from the grape they first planted and the one they're most famous for: Pinot Gris! The owners come from Austria and the Pinot Gris grape is called "Grauer Monch" and thus Gray Monk came into existence!  1. 2019 Estate Pinot Gris Gray Monk was actually the first grower of Pinot Gris in the valley and they have most definitely perfected the art of the Pinot Gris! I have a soft spot in my heart for this grape, altho

 On today's edition of Wining My Way Through the Okanagan, we travel down South all the way to Oliver to visit two brand new wineries! It started out as a gray day with it raining as I was driving down, but by the time I sat down for my first tasting, the rain clouds went away and I was left with a very pleasant afternoon! For those of you that don't know, Oliver is one of the southmost parts of the Okanagan wine region, with only Osoyoos being farther South. This is one of the parts of the valley where red grapes can really thrive. Oliver and Osoyoos are usually about 4-5 degrees hotter than Kelowna, making it more ideal for those hot climate grapes such as Cabernet Sauvignon, Malbec, and Shiraz. I got to visit two very different wineries and neither of them disappointed! Winery #1: French Door Estate Winery This is a brand new, family-owned winery! They had a soft open last summer, but ended up selling out of all their wine in about a month so they had to close until this sea

 You guys, I just love Lake Country. All of the wineries (that I've been to so far) have just the best views. Even though it was raining all day it was still gorgeous, not to mention the wine was pretty fantastic as well! Lake Country also brings us our next guest star; Carlie! Carlie and I work together and we happened to have the same day off so I invited her to tag along with my Lake Country adventures! We went to two wineries today and both were VERY different experiences, though neither disappointed.  Winery #1: Arrowleaf Cellars I went to Arrowleaf last summer on a wine tour, and while I thought it was nice, it was a little crowded and I didn't find we got to learn enough about the wines. This year my experience couldn't have been any different!! Carlie and I were the only two in there and we had a fantastic, in-depth tasting. Arrowleaf is a family-owned winery and has been around since the early 2000s. They're definitely more known for their aromatic whites, but