Discovering the WInes of Okanagan Valley, British Columbia, Canada

Who ever would have thought we'd find a great wine region fully 80 miles north of the northernmost points in the state of Washington? Even more astounding perhaps, who would have thought that we would find great warm weather grapes there?

Today, we're in the Okanagan Valley of British Columbia, the province of Canada that forms the westernmost Canadian border with the so-called lower 48 of the United States. While it's a large area, most of the wineries sit quite close to Okanagan Lake or one of the number of smaller lakes that appear to be simply adjuncts of the namesake to the wine region.

Grpae growing for the purposes of wine is thought to have begun in the region in the late 1850s when a Catholic mission established there needed wines for the Sacrament. A number of smaller wineries sprung up around there, but when Canada enacted Prohibition, nearly all of those wineries died. After Prohibition, the new wineries that were established in Okanagan made mostly fruit wines and those that used grapes were using predominantly non-vinifera hybrid grapes.

At some point in the 1970s, the Osoyoos Indian Band (perhaps misspelled) experimented with the first modern vitis vinifera grapes in the area. They planted Riesling as well as the far lesser known grapes, Scheureb and Ehrenfelser. Later that decade, Germans brought the Osoyoos cuttings from other Rheigau grapes including Gewurtzraminer and Pinot Blanc.

What really spurred the growth of fine wines in Okanagan, however, was the opening of free trade between the US and Canada. With the borders opened to trade in 1989 and passage of NAFTA in 1994, British Columbian wineries saw competition from Washington and Oregon and even as far south as California. To compete, the wineries of the Okanagan needed to produce wines to compete. That meant that they needed to plant the traditional grapes of Bordeaux found broadly in California and less so in Washington at the time, Burgundy to compete with Oregon and the coastal regions of California, and rhe Rhone to compete with Washington and inland regions of California. But, could that work that far north?

Having been left by the glacial retreats many millions of years ago, the Okanagan Valley is blessed with a unique climate quite conducive to growing great grapes. While the winters can get quite cold (-25C/-13F is not at all unusial), the weather is generally continental. Okanagan Lake's depth warms the area while the Coast and Cascade Mountains shield it from cold winds and from the frequent coastal rains. What the Okanagan is left with are warm summers (typical highs are in the range of 30-35C/86-95F and 40C/104F is not uncommon) with very little rain (less than 25cm/10 inches per year). 

This weather, combined with natural sources of water for irrigation, is ideal for growing those warmer weather grapes. But, the growing season is short. So, what is the key? The Okanagan is far enough north that summer days are quite long and due to its unique position shileded by the mountains from the coast, those days have lots of sunshine. This is perfect for quick ripening of the grapes.

So, in the north of Okanagan Valley, we find lots of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay as well as the grapes that are produced into tradtional sweet wines and eisweins while further south, they grow the likes of Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabermet Franc, and Merlot.

So, what do the wines that come from Okanagan actually taste like? While they might not appeal to mass wine drinkers in the US who have come to love the exceptionally ripe fruit and alcohol bombs that we find in the stores, the wines here are much more refined -- food wines, so to speak. Expect the Rhone blends to resemble the northern Rhone (Syrah-based with lots of cocoa), the Bordeaux blends to resemble the Right Bank (Merlot-based with bright cherry perfect for your Thanksgiving turkey), and Burgundian-style Pinot Noir fruity and elegant.

Sadly, they don't export much from Okanagan, so you'll have to visit. And, unless you live in the western US or Canada, as they say sometimes, you can't get there from here.