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.