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Travel: Wines Tourism
HOT WINES, COOL OCTOBER
FESTIVAL
by Jan DeGrass
(Coast Reporter, October 2002)
Mission Hill Winery at Westbank, BC
The July heat blazes. It is mid-morning and already the temperature
in the Okanagan wine country of B.C. has soared beyond human
endurance. On the many terraced hillsides covered in vines, the
grapes are eagerly soaking up the sunshine. By October 4, the
opening of the 22nd annual Okanagan Fall Wine Festival, they will
have been harvested at their peak of flavour.
We head for the Mission Hill Winery complex because we are told it
should not be missed; it is state-of-the-art wine tourism and the
highlight of the valley. We also know that there--among its vast
cellars and stone terraces--it will be mercifully cool.
Outdoor Restaurant
at Mission Hill Winery, Okanagan
The million-dollar complex is perched on a hill near Westbank and
simulates a European castle, a style favoured by its owner, Anthony
von Mandl, who was born in Canada, but lived in Austria. A 12-
storey bell tower casts a shadow on the vineyards of the von Mandl
estate. The grassy courtyard features a natural amphitheatre so that
Shakespeare lovers can listen to the bard with glass in hand. Diners
at an outdoor restaurant sit on an exposed atrium and nibble their
tapas while enjoying a vista of the valley. Even the public
washrooms are splendid; they have stainless steel doors, marble
basins and piped-in classical guitar music.
The tour begins in the Chagall Room, so called because a giant
woven wall hanging-actually a Chagall reproduction--dominates the
high-ceilinged room. Within, all is cool and quiet, as we had hoped.
We offer our $5 tour fee (good for a discount at the wine shop), and
we are ushered into a cinema to watch a video about von Mandl's
dreams and about his chief winemaker, John Simes, a New
Zealander, whose big breakthrough was in making haughty British
judges recognize a Chardonnay from the Okanagan Valley as the
world's best in 1994 and again in 1996.
The tour's highlight is the cavernous cellars blasted out of volcanic
rock--climate-controlled caves packed with rows of uniform barrels.
At one end, a tasting table is raised and illuminated like an altar. We
are allowed a peek into a locked crypt that shelters the owner's
private collection of ancient wine vessels dating from 3,000 years
ago.
After this tour, the wine tasting is almost an anticlimax. We sniff and
swish at the fabled Chardonnay, then stroll to the shop to sample
more before making our way to the busy cash registers.
Mission Hill is by no means the only winery in the area to offer a
palatial tasting room, free samples and a tour through their plant.
Gray Monk Winery near Vernon also snagged a picturesque location
overlooking the lake and is happy to help you through their
extensive list. Quail's Gate Winery also offers a fancy restaurant and
will whip up a five-course dinner with suitable liquid accompaniment.
Elephant Island Orchard Winery, on the road to Naramata, is unique
for its bottling of fruit wines and for its shady picnic courtyard.
Most of these wineries will host special events during the 2002
Okanagan Wine Festival that runs October 4 through 13 at various
venues from Kelowna to Oliver. It culminates with a grand finale of
consumer tasting on October 11 and 12 in Penticton. My memories
of attending this vine fest many years ago are lost in a haze of Pinot
Auxerrois fumes. I know I had a good time and that it was well worth
the admission ($65. this year). For more info about the festival, try
www.owfs.com
or dial (250) 861-6654.
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