The Okanagan Wine Tour Guide

The definitive guide to Interior BC wineries, covering the Okanagan, Similkameen, Thompson and Kootenays. With updated maps and travel tips, it’s your ultimate glove-box guide, now in a newly expanded and updated edition. For nearly fifteen years Okanagan Wine Tour Guide has been the definitive companion for travelling the winding roads of BC’s Interior wine region. In this, the 6th edition, John Schreiner and his new co-author—wine writer, podcaster, and instructor Luke Whittall—chart the latest developments at the oldest wineries and the very first vintages from the newest startups in a region that stretches along Okanagan Lake, west to the Similkameen, north to the Thompson, and east to the Kootenays. This edition includes 240 wineries (that’s over 40 openings in five years!), revised and updated maps, contact information, tasting room information, and recommendations. From pioneers like Quail’s Gate on Mount Boucherie to the newest arrivals like Cliff & Gorge in Lillooet, these stories are as varied as the personalities of the wines themselves—a few vines planted as a retirement project, a few acres purchased on a whim, or a gala grand opening underpinned by years of planning and consultation. What emerges across the guide is the sense of community and the room for wildly different philosophies on everything from growing to fermenting to naming. Whether you’re paging through the aisles of the local liquor store, sorting your Viogniers from your Syrahs, or relishing a family vineyard’s journey from its Quonset-hut years to international acclaim, John Schreiner’s Okanagan Wine Tour is the ultimate guide to and celebration of Interior BC wine.

Guide to 196 wineries in the Okanagan, Similkameen, and Thompson River valleys and the Kootenays in British Columbia.

Explore British Columbia`s world famous wine region with wine expert John Schreiner. The lush Okanagan Valley is internationally acclaimed for its wine industry. Updated and revised with 30 percent new material, John Schreiner`s Okanagan Wine Tour Guide provides succinct, insider profiles of each winery. Included are thumbnail sketches of proprietors, winemakers, and well-known wineries as well as many new ones. Schreiner peppers the book with fascinating facts acquired through his winery visits: Crowsnest Vineyards offers a red wine from the improbably named Samtrot grape; Hunting Hawk Vineyards has a second winery at the historic O`Keefe Ranch in Vernon, British Columbia; and Two Thumbs Up was the name of the Okanagan`s first $100-a-bottle Meritage wine. Schreiner guides the wine tourist to the best wines by sharing his own favorites from the region. Maps, addresses, telephone numbers and website addresses round out this valuable tour guide.

A perfect pocket guide that collects 50 of the most seek-worthy wines in BC from the wine expert who’s tried them all. In this handy portable guide to the top 50 British Columbia wines under $50 a bottle, wine expert Luke Whittall abandons the usual language of tasting notes in favour of a more personalized, approachable style, focusing on experiences, good company, and where a wine might take your thoughts. As a wine industry professional, Whittall found himself inspired more by the way non-professionals talk about wine than the “hints of fresh cherries, dried herbs, and soupçons of eucalyptus” style often favoured in traditional wine writing. Sipster’s Pocket Guide describes the experiences bound up in the tasting of 50 of the most amazing wines this province has produced, including reds, whites, rosés, sparkling, and dessert wines. With its emphasis on affordability and personal experience, rather than vintner and vintage specifics, Whittall’s guide reads less like the average wine fare and more like tips from a funny, candid friend. Before you head to the liquor store to deliberate over your next sip, take a glance through Sipster’s.

The Okanagan attracts thousands of visitors each year to enjoy its beaches and wine, but more and more people are discovering its natural beauty. With desert sands and deep lakes, towering rock cliffs and rich benchlands, cold mountain forests and hot grasslands, the Okanagan has an ecological diversity unequalled in Canada. Roadside Nature Tours through the Okanagan opens with an introduction to the region’s biodiversity, climate, geology, and human history, setting the stage for the route descriptions that follow. Richard Cannings then takes us on twenty-one tours through the valley, from the arid benchlands of Osoyoos to the snowy forests east of Vernon. The routes vary from main highways to quiet roads, and along each one we’re introduced to the animals, plants, and bedrock that create this national treasure. Each route also has a focal topic, ranging from owls to salmon and rattlesnakes to rock rabbits.

There is no doubt that the wine industry is undergoing an incredible boom in British Columbia. And not all of the award-winning wineries are in the Okanagan Valley—the Fraser Valley, Metro Vancouver, and Vancouver Island are fast becoming just as reputable for their wines. Now from BC’s most respected wine writer comes the much-awaited guide to all the wineries of the coastal regions. Here you’ll find everything you need to know to take a fascinating self-guided tour of the wineries, including— • Thumbnail sketches and insider profiles of each winery and its winemakers • Interesting facts acquired through interviews with the winemakers and owners • Recommendations for what wines to take home from the cellar door • Addresses, telephone numbers, and website addresses of each winery Whether you’re visiting in person or from the comfort of your armchair, you’ll have all the information you need to enjoy the best of BC coastal wines.