Kelowna Real Estate and Area Information

Looking for a Winery or Vineyard property? Bo has all the connections with the industry and resources to introduce you to all available properties and help you make an informed decision.

Looking for a wine country home, a resort property or a country acreage? Bo can help you find the right property for you, throughout the Okanagan Valley.

Thinking of selling? Call Bo to discuss how to get the best results, fast!

Here are a few links to help you get around Okanagan Wine Country and learn about the Okanagan Wine Industry.

Wine Tastings
BC Liquor Stores - BC Wine Country - Matter of Taste
Anthony Gismondi

Kelowna Area Wineries
Arrowleaf Cellars
Calona Vineyards
Cedar Creek
First Estate Winery
Gray Monk
Greata Ranch
House of Rose
Mission Hill
Mt. Boucherie Estate Winery
Little Straw Vineyards
Summerhill
Sumac Ridge
St. Hubertus
Quails' Gate Estate Winery
Andres Wines
Bounty Cellars
Rollingdale Winery
Tantalus Vineyards

Naramata, Penticton, Summerland Area
Adora Estate Winery
Hillside Estate Winery
Kettle Valley Winery
La Frenz Winery
Lake Breeze Winery
Lang Vineyards
Nichol Vineyard
Paradise Ranch Wines Corp
Pentage Winery
Poplar Grove
Red Rooster
Sumac Ridge Estate Winery
Thornhaven Estate Winery
Laughing Stock Vineyeards
Township 7 Vineyards and Winery
Mistral Estate Winery
Joie
D'Angelo Estate Winery
Spiller Estates
Therapy Vineyards
Van Westen Vineyards
Dirty Laundry
Black Widow Winery
Marichel Vineyards
SilkScarf
Hijas Bonitas Vineyard
Garnet Valley Vineyards
Hollywood and Wine Vineyard
Stonehill Estate Winery
Soaring Eagle Winery
Howling Bluff Estate Wines

Oliver, Osoyoos, Okanagan Falls Area
Black Hills Estate Winery
Blasted Church
Blue Mountain
Burrowing Owl
Desert Hills Winery
Fairview Cellars
Gehringer Brothers Estate Winery
Golden Beaver Winery
Golden Mile Cellars
Hawthorne Mountain Vineyards
Hester Creek Estate Winery
Inniskillin Okanagan Vineyard Inc.
Jackson Triggs
Nk' MIP Cellars
Silver Sage Winery
Stag's Hollow Winery & Vineyard
Tinhorn Creek
Wild Goose Vineyards & Winery
D’Asolo Vineyard
Golden Beaver Winery
Noble Ridge
Osoyoos Larose
Tangled Vines Estate Winery
Stoneboat Winery
Antelope Ridge
Le Vieux Pin Winery
D’Asolo Winery
Fairview Cellars
Oliver Twist Estate Winery
Noble Ridge Winery
Willow Hill Wines
Dunham and Froese
Quinta Ferreira Estate Winery
Sandhill Wines
See Ya Later Ranch
Jackson Triggs
Osoyoos Larose
Desert Falls
Stone Mountain Vineyards
Twisted Tree Estate Winery
Fork in the Road Vineyards

North Okanagan Area
Hunting Hawk Vineyards
Larch Hills Winery
Recline Ridge Vineyard
Granite Creek Wines
Baccata Ridge
Turtle Mountain Vineyards

Similkameen Area
Crowsnest Vineyards
Saint Laszlo Vineyards
Orofino Vineyards
Herder Winery and Vineyards
Forbidden Fruit Winery
Seven Stones Winery
Robin Ridge

BC is Years Ahead of Ontario Wineries
The Okanagan Sunday, January 19, 2003 - Julianna Hayes

The first bottle that kindled my interest in Canadian wine did not originate in B.C., it came from Ontario.

It was 1990 and I was on a bicycle tour of the Niagara region with a couple of friends. Our third stop was this tiny winery called Marynissen Estates which had just opened its doors that year. The wineshop attendant, who could have well been the proprietor John Marynissen himself, poured us a taste of the 1989 chardonnay of which he was clearly proud. One taste and I was hooked. I bought four bottles and drank them within the next two weeks. Little did I know that same wine would go on to win best of show and best vinifera at the American Wine Society competition that fall. To me it was simply a great wine.

I can't recall how that wine tasted now. But the impression it left is the reason I'm writing these columns today. I knew then that despite less than stellar beginnings, the Canadian wine industry had the stuff needed to compete with the big boys. Much has changed since, in both BC and Ontario. The industry locally has grown exponentially. In Ontario, the development in the last decade has also been notable, but the pace has been much slower than here, it seems. I attended a wine seminar on Ontario wines at Whistler's Cornucopia wine festival. It had been some time since I had the opportunity to sample a broad selection of Eastern wine, and well, there are few available locally.

The seminar was led by David Hulley, a wine consultant, lecturer and oenologist from Ontario. When asked if Ontarians embrace the local industry, Hulley said, "If we had the support there you have here, there would be multi-millionaires all over the place."

The Ontario wine industry is the largest in Canada with more than 90 wineries producing $338 million worth of product off of 12,000 acres of grapes (we have about 6,000 acres planted here). Yet producers have had a heck of a time convincing consumers, restaurateurs and even their own liquor board of the value and merit of their wines.

Hulley says the wine drinking public in Ontario is still stuck on European, U.S. and Australian wines. Many top-end restaurants don't list a single Ontario wine. Local producers can certainly attest to how important the restaurant market is to their business.

Perhaps the biggest challenge eastern winemakers have is the distribution system. It's not so hot here, but in Ontario it's downright appalling.

There are no VQA stores or privately operated beer and wine shops. Outside their own winery stores, distribution of local wines is solely in the hands of the Liquor Control Board of Ontario (LCBO).

The monopoly held by the LCBO is mind-blowing. It is the largest single buyer of wine in the world. And while the LCBO does purchase and promote Ontario wines in a respectable fashion, getting a product listed within a system that huge is arduous. Hulley says Ontario producers view BC's system of VQA shops, like the ones in the Wine Museum in Kelowna and the Wine Information Center in Penticton, as revolutionary.

They applaud it as a sensible distribution method that both embraces and fosters the industry, while making local wines accessible to consumers. Unfortunately, Ontarians are a long way from putting anything similar into place, Hulley says.

I have to confess! I'm a wine guy. For years I have enjoyed traveling to different parts of the world, visiting wineries and tasting wines, and bringing a few back home with me. I have to admit that a number of years ago, I wouldn't have considered touring and tasting at BC wineries. Now, I want to tell the world about them!

What happened to change my mind? Up to about 1986, the BC wine industry lived in a protective cocoon of tariff protection. Their wines were mediocre, at best, made from a number of lesser grape varieties.

About that time, the North American Free Trade Agreement came along and the protective tariffs were removed. "We'll go out of business!" cried the wineries, at the time. Instead, they adapted, learned to make world-class wines, and many new wineries have come into existence. Traditional high quality vinifera grape varieties from around the world are being cultivated, with excellent results. Areas under cultivation have more than doubled during the last few years, and the wine industry is booming. The transformation is nothing short of amazing!

I'm pleased to tell you that the BC Wine Industry is producing excellent wine and visiting wineries, touring and tasting their wines and learning about the different Okanagan wines is a real treat! If you haven't tried it yet, there's no time to start like the present.

The enjoyment of wine is a very personal thing. You don't have to be an expert, you just need to trust your own taste. Each time you taste a new wine your awareness of the character and subtle differences will be expanded. Tasting wine is like a sport, the more you practice the better you become. To enhance your appreciation and enjoyment of wine, follow the five simple steps below:

LOOK
The first step is to hold the glass by the stem and look through the wine against a white back-ground to enjoy the true color. The wine should be clear, not hazy or cloudy. White wines range in color from a very faint almost clear to a golden yellow. Red wines range in color from a dark,intense red to a very light pale red.

SWIRL
To get the full aroma of the wine, fill a large wine glass halfway and swirl the wine around in the glass. This releases the aromas to the the top of the glass.

SMELL
Inhale and try to identify what you smell. Do you smell fruit or spices? Does it remind you of mom's apple pie or a cobblestone street after a rainfall? You might find hints of familiar smells including - tobacco, citrus, apple, chocolate, plums, pineapple, flowers or raspberries. While contemplating the smell, look at the wine and notice whether it's thick or thin, whether the color is bright or mellow or whether it's clear or hazy.

TASTE
Roll the wine around in your mouth to reach all of the taste buds. Then, breathe air through your lips to bring up the aromas. If the wine makes you pucker, it may be a little tart (high in acids) or tannic (think dry like banana skins and tea leaves): if it feels hot and burns a little, it may have high alcohol content; if none of these elements overwhelms you, it is very likely well-balanced. Notice how it feels in your mouth, this is called the texture.

SPIT
It sounds funny and may make you a little uncomfortable, but if you are tasting several wines it is essential to spit. It provides you with the opportunity to taste several wines in one sitting. If you are just trying a few go ahead and swallow. A wine that lingers in your mouth and throat after you have spit is a sign of good length and body.

I don't pretend to be a connosieur - just someone who really appreciates and enjoys win. I know what I like, and many of my friends appreciate my suggestions about wine so I decided to add some picks of wines and information on some new wineries I have visited recently. Here are a few wines I have sampled lately and added to my collection.

Three new wineries have opened in the Okanagan recently. These are Adora Estate Winery in Summerland, Arrowleaf Cellars in Okanagan Centre and Greata Ranch Winery near Peachland.

Both Adora Estate and Greata Ranch are very easy to find, as they are located right on Highway 97. Adora Estate is located at Trout Creek, just south of the main part of Summerland and Greata Ranch is locates 9 kilometers south of Peachland. Arrowleaf Cellars is located on Camp Road in Okanagan Centre (Winfield), just above Gray Monk Winery. It offers a spectacualr wiew of Lake Okanagan looking up towards Carr's Landing.

Here are some of the wines I was impressed by at each winery.

Adora Estate offers a range of several white wines, most of which are well made and very drinkable. However, my favourite Adora Estate wine (so far) is the 2000 Elements Merlot. It's an unfiltered wine showing vanilla, ripe Okanagan cherry and blackcurrant flavours. There are also hints of red currant and blackberries, with a toasty butterscotch finish. Unanimously enjoyed by my friends now, but worthy of a few years in the bottle. I'm looking forward to some of their upcoming releases!

Arrowleaf Cellars opened in June. When I visited them they were offering 7 wines, two reds (2001 Merlot & 2001 Zwiegelt) and five whites (Pinot Gris, Auxerrois, Bacchus, Vidal Late Harvest, and a Pinot Gris/Auxerrois blend called "Barrique". All are 2002). Most of the wines were well made and generally of good value, but the ones that stuck out for me were the Pint Gris and the Barrique. The Pinot Gris has good fruit with flavours of honeydew melon and a crisp finish. I particularly liked the Barrique, a barrel aged wine with a unique flavour. It is the closest thing to chardonnay produced by Arrowleaf (if you prefer Chardonnay) but has a distinctive flavour that you have to try for yourself.

Greata Ranch opened in May 2003. The wine tasing room is located on the Greata Ranch property, between Peachland and Summerland, on Highway 97. Although the wines are processed and bottled at Cedar Creek's state of the art facility, most of the varieties under the Greata Ranch label are grown on the Greata Ranch property. Greata Ranch wines are available exclusively at the wine shop. I enjoyed the Greata Ranch 2000 Chardonnay and the 2000 Select Chardonnay. Also worth buying is the 2002 Ehrenfelser, one of the better versions of this variety I have tasted and, at $13.99 well priced for your summer drinking.