Wine Tour in the Okanagan

On the day of the wine tasting, we had a hardy lunch at the basecamp, lentils and Bavarian Smokies. As if we needed more smoke! It was a smokey day .

We are no wine connoisseurs , but we know when we like a wine. With that in mind, our budget for a bottle of wine was $20 to $24. Yes, the wine prices went up over the past years. This year $25 is the entry price for a bottle. Plus Tax.

Pentâge
The first stop was at Pentâge vineyard. This winery has the most amazing driveway. We came to a closed gate and had to enter a secret code. The gate swung open slowly and granted us passage to the steep and curvy path leading down to the Tasting Room. We were already seriously impressed by the approach.

Pentâge is a boutique winery. The term refers to a winery that produces less than 25,000 bottles. We would compare them to the local breweries where they produce small-run and hand-crafted beer, or in this case, wine.

We bought two wines, a red and a white sparkling wine.
The Pentâge Merlot 2016 is a red wine and has an unexpected bouquet, Ursula called it oakey. The aftertaste was very pleasant. Overall, a wine that may require restocking earlier than expected.
The Pentâge Fizz Blanc is a white sparkling wine. Even so we don't drink the bubbly often, we took two bottles. We will find an occasion to celebrate something, like 280,000 km on the Jeep. They describe the wine as "A delightful Sparkler". Yup, that it is.

The wineries were busy with processing the new grapes. We didn't ask about any details, it looked as if they were in the early stages of 2021 wine making.

Wild Goose
The Wild Goose winery is in Okanagan Falls. This is south of Skaha Lake, just off hwy 97. The winery was sold to Burrowing Owl this July. Both wineries are 'flagship wineries' from the region.

The Wild Goose Red Horizon Meritage 2019 has a distinct dark colour and an unexpected aftertaste which we did not expect from a Merlot. The wine is a blend of 50% Merlot, Petit Verdot and Cabernet Sauvignon.
The website promises that this will be an incredible wine in 5 years. Hmm, we may not have a bottle left to confirm that claim.

Blasted Church
We bought wines from Blasted Church in earlier years. The week before we left for our trip, we opened the last bottle. Re-stocking this wine was mandatory.

The parking lot was full. Ursula waited in the Jeep in the middle of the driveway. I went to the tasting room to buy the wine.
The Blasted Church Big Bang Theorie MMXIX is a blend of mostly Merlot. I didn't need to taste the wine. The Tasting Notes say something about a sky, berry, chocolate and mint. We have no clue what it means, but if that is a good description, we agree. Anyway, we have six bottles in our cellar again.

Intersection Merlot
We finished our wine tasting about 20 minutes before closing. It was now time to go back to the campsite and enjoy supper, Old Dutch Red & White Triangles with Salsa dip. The Intersection Merlot was waiting for us. We opened the bottle about 7 hours ago and the wine was much smoother than at lunch time. This seems to be a wine that needs to breathe to show its full potential.

The wines we bought
The wines we bought on our tour. The Intersection Merlot is still missing, we have to find a place to add a few bottles to the collection. We still have four empty spots in one of the cartons.