From Osoyoos and the Golden Mile Bench to Black Sage Road, the warm-climate South Okanagan Valley is British Columbia’s most alluring wine region.

By Cole Danehower

From the September/October 2010 issue of Northwest Palate magazine

The looming bulk of McIntyre Bluff is the gateway to the charms of the South Okanagan Valley. The spectacular landmark delineates the appellation’s two primary growing regions. Looking southward from Blue Mountain Vineyard, the hospitably warm and viticulturally fecund lands of the South Okanagan invite exploration.

Stand in a vineyard along the Golden Mile Bench or on the slopes surrounding Osoyoos Lake in the southern part of the Okanagan Valley appellation, and you could be excused for thinking you were somewhere in the Columbia Valley.

For Americans unused to British Columbia’s wine country, it is eye-opening to discover that the bulk of the province’s wine grapes are grown in a desert ecology. It shouldn’t be so surprising. It is the vast drainage of the Columbia River that defines the majority of the Pacific Northwest’s wine countries, and the Okanagan Valley is the northernmost extension of that drainage, sharing the same eco-region as 80% of the Northwest’s wine appellations.

The Okanagan Valley is the heart of British Columbia’s fine wine industry, pumping 90% of the province’s production into the eager market for local wines. And within the appellation itself, it is the most southerly portion, roughly from the village of Okanagan Falls to the U.S./Canada border, where the bulk of the grapes for B.C.’s wines are grown.

In our last issue we stopped at the cooler-climate Naramata Bench outside of Penticton (see “The Cool Factor: Touring the North Okanagan Valley” in the July/August 2010 issue of Northwest Palate).

Now it’s time to head toward the warmer reaches of South Okanagan Valley wine country.

Okanagan Falls Area

Oliver and the Warm South

Osoyoos

Dining & Lodging in the South Okanagan Valley

Campo Marina Café and Restaurant
5907 Main Street Osoyoos, B.C.
250-495-7650,campomarina.com

Guest House at Burrowing Owl
100 Burrowing Owl Place, RR#1 Site 52, Comp 20, Oliver, B.C.
877-498-0620,bovwine.ca/guest_house

Sonora Room
(Burrowing Owl Estate Winery)
100 Burrowing Owl Place, RR#1 Site 52, Comp 20, Oliver, B.C.
877-498-0620,bovwine.ca/the_restaurant.

Spirit Ridge Vineyard Resort & Spa
1200 Rancher Creek Road, Osoyoos, B.C.
250-495-5445, spiritridge.ca

Walnut Beach Resort
4200 Lakeshore Drive, Osoyoos, B.C.
250-495-5400,walnutbeachosoyoos.com

Watermark Beach Resort
PO Box 700, 15 Park Place, Osoyoos, B.C.
250-495-5500,watermarkbeachresort.com

Villa Guest Suites
(Hester Creek)
13163-326th Ave., Box 1605, Oliver, B.C.
866-498-4435,hestercreek.com/villa

If you’ve been able to take our full, two-part tour of the Okanagan Valley, then you can have little doubt that this wine country offers a combination of spectacular scenery, unmatched wine quality, and layers of culinary experience that is unmatched in any other Northwest wine region. If you haven’t yet been there, then what are you waiting for?

Photo credit: Andrea Johnson