Valley girls

By Laura Osborne

When two old friends hit the Okanagan Valley for the annual fall wine festival, the road trip uncorks old memories while new ones take flight.

Over the years, my friend Emma and I have talked about a girls’ getaway – sipping our way through the vineyards that miraculously grow in Canada’s pocket desert – so with a few days off, what better way to reconnect than over a bottle of pinot noir?

That’s the spirit

Talking a mile a minute as we race down the highway hugging the sunny shores of Osoyoos Lake, we drive right by the discreet entrance to the Spirit Ridge Vineyard Resort & Spa. Backing up, we roll down the windows and snake up the driveway, the car filling with the smell of lavender and desert sage. Part Mexican desert, part lush Tuscan landscape, the resort’s desert-inspired design blends seamlessly into the mountains behind it. We check into the boutique resort, eager to explore the vineyard and surrounding grounds.

Unlike our Grade 4 selves, Emma and I don’t fight over who gets to sleep where – there are two king-size beds, after all – when we check out our suite. (Think luxury 1,000- square-foot condo with two spa-like bathrooms and granite kitchen countertops.) Taking in the expansive views that lead the eye down the neat rows of vines to the water, we leave our bags and walk across the path to the Nk'Mip Desert Cultural Centre, just steps from the vineyard.

Jewel of the desert

Designed by Hotson Bakker Boniface Haden Architects (of Granville Island redevelopment fame) and owned and operated by the Osoyoos Indian Band, the centre has an 80-metre environmentally friendly wall that’s made of rammed earth. Strata upon wavy strata of pale earth tones reflect the natural environment while housing outdoor exhibits like a reconstructed Okanagan traditional village and indoor displays, such as multisensory exhibits, artefacts and an endangered rattlesnake collection.

spirit ridge

After posing for pictures with the Archer (an imposing iron statue of a rider in full headdress on horseback), we head back to our private patio to watch the sun set over the lake and take in the sun-drenched vineyards. With a big morning ahead, we climb into our beds piled high with plush duvets and fall asleep watching reruns of 90210 – just like old times.

The breakfast club

Doing anything in the morning without a cup of coffee is unthinkable to me, but we were given strict orders: A clean morning palate offers true definition to the wines that graze it. Bleary-eyed and slightly crabby from the lack of caffeine, we wander into neighbouring Nk’Mip Cellars (pronounced ink-a-meep, meaning “place where the creek meets the lake” or “bottomland”) for our morning wine-tasting session. Canada’s first aboriginal-owned and operated winery has won numerous awards (including the Silver Medal in France's Chardonnay du Monde) and its wines are served by the Governor General at Rideau Hall. We have high expectations.

We’re welcomed into the airy, brightly lit room overlooking the vineyard by four seasoned breakfast clubbers – two couples from California who have visited the winery every year since it opened in 2002 to escape the Napa crowds. We have five pristine glasses set before us as our lively Nk’Mip wine steward walks us through the varietal characteristics of each wine. A generous portion of the 2005 pinot blanc is poured, and Emma and I tip our glasses together before savouring the pineapple and tropical notes of our first flight of the day – at 9:15 a.m.

Once we’re familiar with the key flavours of all five wines, plates piled with local and imported artisanal cheeses and meats arrive and our breakfast begins. We start by pairing opposite flavours (the sharp and sweet apple cheddar with the 2004 pinot noir’s intense black pepper, vanilla bean and spice notes) and then move on to like pairings (the complex, slightly gamey-tasting elk carpaccio with the intense plum, cassis and tobacco layers of the 2004 merlot). Soon enough, Emma and I are flushed from our liquid diet, our raucous laughter blending with the rest of the group’s as we vow to return the following year with a few more friends.

Down the road

Nestled in this southern Okanagan oasis is – what else? – a bustling southern European-style restaurant. The Campo Marina Café and Restaurant serves up family recipes like tender veal scaloppini with a velvety mushroom and Marsala wine sauce alongside an impressive regional wine list. Host and founder Mike Oran stops to talk to each table for a moment, telling his story about how he – a man from a small Mediterranean town – ended up in Osoyoos: His car broke down and he never left. Looking around, it occurs to me that we might want a little car trouble of our own.

(Laura Osborne, an unabashed Okanagan Valley girl, is the associate editor of both Pure Canada magazine and HomeSpa magazine.)

Getting There

The Annual Okanagan Fall Wine Festival runs from September 28 to October 7, 2007. For more information, call 250-861-6654 or visit owfs.com.

We have daily non-stop service to Kelowna from Calgary, Vancouver, Toronto and Edmonton. Find a flight. And check out our great deals on hotels and car rentals!

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