A sumptuous autumn banquet. The Okanagan Fall Wine Festival – held October 2 to 12, right in the midst of the busy harvest – is a unique opportunity to explore this burgeoning region’s finest offerings.
Kelowna
Though summer’s glow remains strong, soon the annual fall harvest and crushing of wine grapes will bring an air of festivity to autumn in Kelowna.
Throughout the summertime, vacationers have flocked here to bask in the sun, tour wineries, hike, bike, soak up the city’s urban offerings and play in and on Okanagan Lake’s crystal waters. Golf will continue to be a main event through October, and soon after, wintertime will bring another ski season.
In the meantime, the Okanagan Fall Wine Festival, now in its 20th year, will kick off autumn with panache, celebrating an industry and
lifestyle that has made Kelowna an increasingly sought after and sophisticated locale.
The success of Debra Pender’s Beyond Wrapture Spas is a sign of the times. In 1995, Pender established one of Canada’s first day spas in a Kelowna heritage home.
Beyond Wrapture has since flourished, its outlets now found in venues throughout the valley complementing Kelowna’s chic mix of fine restaurants, galleries and boutiques.
Recently, Beyond Wrapture set a new benchmark, earning Glow magazine’s award for “Canada’s Best Vinotherapy.” Created by Pender and a local sommelier, this rich, three-hour treatment
involves a gentle exfoliation with locally grown, organic, ground grape pipps and skins, followed by a honey and wine body wrap, and a luxuriating essential grape oil massage.
Pender’s recent accolade befits a region whose wineries – award winners like Cedar- Creek, Quails’ Gate, Tantalus Vineyards, St. Hubertus and others – have drawn wealth, resorts, top chefs and growing numbers of discerning travellers and second-home owners to this agriculturally rich, semi-arid oasis. Among the wineries credited for helping put Kelowna in the limelight is Canada’s Winery of the Year for 2008 – Mission Hill Family Estate.
From a perch at Mission Hill, the views are nothing short of breathtaking, whether you are soaking up the ambiance of this architectural masterpiece or overlooking the lake, mountain slopes and vineyards below.
Of the winery’s recent award, Mission Hill spokesperson Ingo Grady says, “It is an honour to be recognized – from the vineyards to the winemaking – but this award is also an acknowledgement of how strong the Okanagan has become as a wine region.”
Grady notes that since the inception of the Canadian Wine Awards, all Winery of the Year titles have gone to Okanagan vintners. “We were the first and most recent, and CedarCreek and Jackson Triggs have also won,” he says. He says the Okanagan Fall Wine Festival – held October 2 to 12, during harvest – is a unique opportunity to explore this burgeoning region.
Most of the Okanagan’s 100-plus wineries are involved. Marquee gatherings such as the Consumer Tasting at the historic Laurel Packinghouse on October 3 and 4 provide a chance to sample the fresh and aromatic 2007 whites and the flavourful ’05 and ’06 reds, says Grady, who notes Mission Hill will launch the 2005 vintage of its flagship Oculus during the event.
Overall, the festival spans more than 150 events hosted by local wineries, restaurants and other organizations. At Mission Hill, for example, activities range from wine and culinary education to chef Michael Allemeier’s Epicurean dinner, a menu that earned Mission Hill rank among the world’s top-five winery restaurants in 2008 from Travel + Leisure magazine.
If you are planning to attend the festival, Grady suggests visiting the websites of your favourite wineries where you can explore events and book ahead. Tourism Kelowna’s www.tourismkelowna.com website, which provides links to all the area’s wineries, is another good place to start.
A guided winery tour is also a smart way to go. “Some offer ‘backdoor-to-the-cellar’ service, direct access to the winemaker,” says Grady. “It’s a safe way to go, and you can make new friends. It adds to the convivial spirit that our wine country is all about.”
And when you’re done with the festivities, here’s a tempting idea: how about indulging in a little vinotherapy at the spa? “It leaves you feeling like there’s no mountain you can’t climb,” assures Pender.
Fine wine, gourmet cuisine, good company and rejuvenating spa? A rapturous mix, indeed.
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