Sunday, June 1, 2008

Back to life, back to reality

Got back yesterday afternoon from my week in Kelowna. It was amazing. If the weather is nice, which it was for every day we were there, then the driving up there is filled with great views and amazing roads.

The Lake Okanagan Resort was great. We had a great room on the water with a great view:


As you can see, the weather was unbelievable. We spent most of our time relaxing but we did visit a few amazing wineries.

The first day we rented a driver and went to Rollingdale Winery. A friend of ours recommended it and we had a lengthy tour of the property followed by a pretty intense tasting experience that included some barrel tastings. We bought a few bottles each and headed out of there a few hours later...






The next day, we decided it was best if we tried to hit up a few wineries. We started with a few that were near Rollingdale. The first was the famous Mission Hill, known for the really nice grounds and clocktower.

We took a tour of their facilities, including the wine cellar, where I was able to get a good picture of what their barrel set up looks like.

They had some great wines and I walked away with a few nice bottles.

Next, we went to Quail's Gate for some lunch and some tastings. They are just down the road from Mission Hill and have some great Pinot Noir's. Of course I grabbed a few and we had a great lunch in their amazing restaurant that overlooks their vines.

We tried to go down to the Naramata Bench but the road was closed for an hour so the traffic was crazy. Instead we turned around and hit up the Summerhill Pyramid Winery. Now we didn't take the tour but the deal is that they have a pyramid over where their wine cellar is, so the energy is transferred to the barrels and then to the wine.

All in all a great week up in Kelowna. I highly suggest a visit.

If you want to see more pictures, check them here.

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