Last weekend a group of friends and myself drove out to Vernon for the weekend. We ate, drank, swam, tanned and most importantly, drank wine. We stayed in this awesome “cabin” overlooking Okanagan Lake, about 20 minutes outside of Vernon. It was beautiful!
We booked our wine tour through Vines and Views Wine Tours, but there are tons throughout the valley! We were picked up by our very own bus and driven about 40 minutes into Lake Country.
Our first stop was Arrowleaf Cellars -this vineyard has some of the most beautiful views! We tasted about 5 wines and purchased a bottle of our favourite white, “Bacchus“. This grape varietal is very fruity, crisp and perfect for a patio.
Our second stop was Gray Monk Estate Winery, where we were given a tour of the wine making process and fed a delicious lunch on a very pretty patio! This vineyard was celebrating a trifecta of anniversary’s. The vineyard was purchased and started by a couple who were married 55 years ago; 45 years ago they purchased the vineyard and 35 years ago they started producing wine. The vineyard is still run by the family.
We enjoyed most of the wines we tasted here but instead we purchased the sparkling rosé to take home. We have yet to try it, but I have yet to meet a sparkling rosé I didn’t like- so I am pretty confident it will be delicious!
The third stop was Intrigue Winery. This family owned vineyard produces all of its wine from their 5 car garage. The vibe in this vineyard is very relaxed and happy- everyone is enjoying themselves! We loved all of their wines but we ended up purchasing the Social White, which is a mixture of several different whites to give this wine peachy, easy drinking flavours.
Our last stop was 50th Parallel Estate Winery. We arrived right as a wedding was about to begin, which was beautiful. The industrial building was contrasted with vintage, chic table décor. We also ended up purchasing the rosé from this vineyard. They are known for their Pinot Noir which was great, but we were visiting on a hot day and all of the whites and rosés pleased us much more.
After touring all of the vineyards we went swimming in the lake before sleeping off all of the wine and heading home the next day. Next year we will definitely be back! We want to tour a couple other regions closer to Kelowna and Penticton.
xo
LaRose du Jour 