The Okanagan is one of my many favourite weekend retreats and this weekend was no exception. The weather was (mostly) fabulous, good family time, good eats, and a fun wine `tweet-up` with @AllisonMMarkin in Penticton to top it off.

We had good intentions on Good Friday to find kosher beef and make matzo ball soup to go with the Kosher wine that I had procured to give a nod to passover, but after a day of visiting, we lazily grilled up some thick juicy un-blessed steaks, veggies, and potatoes. The wine was a Galil Mountain Pinot Noir that, although we failed in keeping our meal kosher, rocked that steak hard. I had first come in contact with the Galil Mountain wines at the Vancouver Playhouse International Wine festival at the only Isreali wine booth. I found the overall flavour of the wine very unique. I picked up dark cherry, cinnamon, and tobacco notes on the pinot noir.  It wasn`t huge on the fruit and had soft tannins which made it easy to enjoy on its own as well.  Needless to say, the bottle was gone very quickly.

Saturday dinner was at The Gasthouse on the Lake… one of the best German restaurants I have been to. It is a must if you are passing through Peachland.  If you are in the area (or more likely driving through) stop in for a beer on the patio, or make reservations for some fine dining. Their wine list is very extensive, but I ended up ordering a Long Island Ice Tea when no one else was willing to share a bottle and the by the glass didn`t appeal to me.  I broke tradition from ordering Schnitzel to try out a beer braised roast and was not disappointed with the tender, flavourful roast.  I missed the veggies that I saw on everyone else`s plates, though.

Before we headed home on Sunday, we stopped in Penticton to visit with Allison Markin (THE Penticton Wine twitterer) for some lunch and a little wine tour.  I find that wine tours are best when they are little because it isn`t long before the wines start all tasting the same and it all blurs together….  We started off at Township 7.  We were all pretty familiar with the wines, but I wanted to lurk around a little.  We sampled some whites:  Brent liked the Semillon and I liked sniffing the chardonnay (so spicy!).  We tweeted Brad Cooper:  `we are in ur cellar, drinkin ur wine`.  And when we were ready to leave, we found Brent hanging with the horses.

Next stop was Red Rooster where we greeted `Frank` with all of his baggage and controversy and tried their line up.  They are known for their featured local artists, and you can taste wines while wandering their gallery.  I enjoyed each of the wines equally so I eeny meeny`d and ended up with the Reserve Merlot.  The chocolatey notes won me over anyways.  We made a quick stop in at Hillside Estates to snag a Muscat Ottonel which is the perfect sushi wine and the final stop was Elephant Island to sample some of their award winning orchard wines.  I adored the possibilities of mixing martinis with the Apricot and Black Currant dessert wines because very soon they will feature drink mixing recipes from their bartending challenge on their website.  Can you say drink mixing party at my place? La piece de resistance was the Stella Port made with an 8 year old solera system and aged in french Oak Barrels.  We loved the chocolate covered cherry flavour, and I was reminded of a cedar sauna.

We bid farwell to our new friend and headed back home with a little bit to add to our stash of wine.  I really can`t wait to get back to the Okanagan already!  For more Okanagan wine enthusiasm, there is both a facebook group(Okanagan Wine Casual) and some tweets (@okwinecasual).

This past Saturday and Sunday, Pacific Breeze Winery was showcasing their Spring releases along with some appetizers, music, and sunshine.  My fiance and I started our perfect spring day with a visit to check it out.  I have to admit that I have been hearing good things about this garagiste winery but hadn’t picked up a bottle or stopped by until now.  I am pretty sure now that I have been missing out.

Head Winemaker, Dan Jones, was kind enough to take some time to tell me about the New Westminster winery, the wines, and the barrels.  He outsources his grapes from the Lake Country just north of Napa, has them shipped up here in a temperature controlled truck within 24 hours of being picked, and then stems and crushes them.  It is all as if he were on the vineyard himself with that short timeframe.  He is a true garagiste; the first in BC and one of very few in Canada.  A garagiste is a French term for someone who makes a relatively small production of wine based out of a small building or, you guessed it, a garage.  In this case it was a building in a business park and was full of lovely French oak barrels parked on the racks amongst stainless steel vessels.

When I asked how much of a difference his influence and the changed environment makes on his wine compared to wines made from the same grapes in Napa, he proudly gestured at his many awards.  He has also earned some sparkling reviews from Jurgen Gothe, Deanna Van Mulligan,  Dr. Gary Hayes, and Robert Whitley.

French Oak Barrels at Pacific Breeze

I have a fascination with barrels.  They remind me of hibernating bears or butterflies, sleeping until they are mature enough to fill bottles.  These sleeping beauties were segregated into two areas.  The reds were the largest group stacked in the main area, and the chardonnnay ‘princesses’ had their own temperature controlled room (appropriately named: Chardonnay Room).

Dan deciphered the labels on the barrels for me: The first letter indicate the forest from which the oak originated, the second group of letters indicate the level of toastiness, and the third group (if it applies) indicates if the head of the barrel is toasted.  Why are the barrels toasted?  The answer is simple: toasted tastes better.  The toasting inhibits the oak from transfering and overpowering the wine; the heavier the toast the less oaky the wine, and the lighter the toast the more oaky it becomes.  Everyone has their own preference of how much oak a wine needs.  There are the two extremes of those who prefer unoaked and those, like my hobby wine dabbler father, who ask the question: can there be too much oak?  Most people would say yes.  Yes, there can.  (He created a wine he affectionately named ’splinters’.)  I find myself in the middle-of-the-road depending on the wine.

Pacific Breeze does many different tastings and educational evenings.  Sam Hauck does the teaching based on his experience as a wine maker and wine adjudicator.   Dan was telling me how they once tasted the same wine from different barrels made from different forests and were amazed by the distinctness that each forest added to the grapes.

I enjoyed tasting a few of the varietal wines on their own and then picking out the flavours in the blended wines.  I was blown away by the spring release of P2 as well as the unabashedly oaked 2005 Chardonnay (I am my father’s daughter).  Of course, I left with my arms full of those plus the summer porch friendly unoaked Sauvingnon Blanc.  I am very impressed with the quality of these wines and the artistry of Dan Jones and his team.  The simplicity of a garage creates a perfect canvas to create revolutionary, award winning wines and breaks the mold of the preconceptions that a great wine must come from large establishment.  Sometimes the greatest wines are born out of humility, innovation, and hard work.