Wine Tours in the Okanagan
 

I am thinking of going to the Okanagan in a few weeks and I really want to go to a few wineries. Has anyone here done this?

I have two questions if you have: 1) did you just go to the winery with a group of friends? or 2) did you go with a full wine tour?

Also, please also suggest which wineries to go to :)

I did this last year, and went with my sister and her husband... I can't remember which wineries we went to, but we went to at least 3-4...

We just went as a group, without a wine tour. I'm not really into wine but I really enjoyed it..

Which area are you headed to?

If youre going to kelowna, you might as well check out Mission Hill and Quailsgate. They are commercial wineries. Mission Hill has a nice view.

If you venture further out then you can find more boutique wineries, esp in naramata where they have a section called the "naramata bench" where there are about 22 wineries on a relatively short stretch of road. I'd recommend this because you can be more productive this way. If you do go here, check out La Frenz (prolly the best, they dont need to sell in stores because people come to them and buy them out), Township 7, Elephant Island (fruit wine, sweeter stuff), and Lakebreeze.

Wine tasting is prolly easiest with a group of 4. Just go into the shop and stand at the counter and theyll get you started. If you are planning to go to a lot of places you should buy some bland crackers to eat between each winery. Dont feel like you have to drink the whole sample you get, they wont feel insulted if you dump the remainder. You will get at samples of at least 4 different wines and if you are planning to go to a lot of places, you could get drunk pretty quick or get sick of the taste. Also, dont feel obligated to buy from every winery you go to because that can add up.

If you are getting into wines, my friend suggests bringing a note pad and writing down what you like from what winery. That way you get a better idea of what you like (red vs whites) and you know where to get it the next time around.

they have wine tours set up like every 1/2 hr. so if u miss the first group, just arrange to go in the next group

just enjoy them, go to any hotel and u can get a map of the local wineries.

quals gate is good for their ice wines, mission hill for their views (hahaha), i personally like gray monk as they have some really good wines. plenty of wineries in and around kelowna.

I am also planning to go in a few weeks...

got any great hotel recommendatinos.. or good deals you guys know of ??

So far the must sees are quals gate and mission hill ??

just go to the hotel, where they place all those pamphlets. they have one that lists all the wineries on a mini map and instructions on how to drive there.

you'll have fun!

as for hotels, ive always stayed at the grand okanagan, probably not the cheapest though.