Wine Tasting in the Okanagan Valley

Article re-posted from PostcardsByHannah:

When you think of wine where do you think of? France? Italy? South Africa? I doubt Canada springs to mind, but hopefully that will change once you have read a little further.

We knew when we were planning our Canada trip that it would be beautiful but hard work and very full on so we wanted to schedule some time in for relaxation, I knew from the first photo I found of the Okanagan Valley that this would be the perfect spot to sit down and put our feet up.

The region boasts a sunny and dry climate, whilst we were there the sun shone and temperatures hovered between the mid to late 20’s. We chose to stay at The Cove Lakeside Resort, this family-friendly resort stretches down to the Okanagan Lake, offering gorgeous views across the water and the hills beyond.

The resort is a full service, all-suite property meaning extremely spacious rooms and stunning lakeside views. We also had a large balcony which we enjoyed both evenings.

We arrived around lunchtime on the Saturday and checked in, to maximise our time here we decided to visit a couple of local wineries to the resort in the afternoon. Whilst the Cove is situated on the lakeside, surrounded by stunning scenery, you are in a very convenient location to West Kelowna meaning you can head out to shops and restaurants easily.

We visited Mission Hill and Quail’s Gate wineries, two very popular and picturesque spots around a 10/15 minutes drive away from where we were staying. It was a long weekend in Canada so you would have thought it would have all been extremely busy but it was pretty perfect! We were driving so we were here to admire the scenery, not the wine!

We were tired so didn’t want to venture far for dinner, we ended up at Bonfire Restaurant which is part of the resort. This suited us perfectly as it was casual, delicious and offered lake views. I enjoyed a steak sandwich and chips, they won me over with the garlic mayo, I would 100% recommend dining here if you ever have the pleasure of staying.

The next day we were picked up early from the hotel by Okanagan Country Wine Tours to commence the wine tour that we had arranged with Tripadvisor Attractions.

Our guide was super friendly, as were the other people on the tour. This was a small group tour which suited us, meaning there were just 6 of us in total, offering flexibility over timings and where we visited. We managed to visit over 6 wineries, they really are dotted all over the countryside here.

I would highly recommend taking a wine tour if you end up in this corner of the world, it means you can enjoy as much wine as you fancy without having to kill the budget on taxis to take you to and from each place.

This day was one of my favourites on the whole trip, the sun was shining, each winery was beautiful, we met so many friendly people and we also ate great food (and drank great wine of course). The region is not on the direct route between the national parks and Vancouver so can often get overlooked by tourists, we came across many Canadians but not many British which we were surprised about. If you are considering a trip to British Columbia then this is definitely a destination not to be missed.

PostcardsByHannah is run by Hannah, who also posts about her Britain travels on InstaBritain. Hannah has always worked in the travel industry and is now a travel blogger and instagrammer.

If you would like to book your own holiday at The Cove Lakeside Resort and take advantage of our special offers, please click here.