Our first winery stop was at Summerhill Pyramid Winery. The Cipes family keeps this gorgeous winery running with organic practices, which, yes, means their wine is 100% organic.
Besides having an enviable view of the lake and a delicious assortment of wines, you can visit their Sunset Organic Bistro with a menu focusing on local, organic BC farms and an onsite chef’s garden.
They also have a Pyramid that’s fairly formidable and a quiet little space within.
We were privileged to try several of their wines during lunch – their Rose and their Riesling. Both, beautiful and pure. Drinking both was enjoyable and smooth. I would definitely recommend checking them out when in Kelowna.
For more information on Summerhill Pyramid Winery, check out their website here.
The next winery we visited was Tantalus. We had a tour around the vineyards with general manager, Jane Hatch. A former ecologist, Jane knows the lay of the land well.
The building is LEED certified – in fact, they are BC’s first LEED certified winery. All vineyards are hand tendered with no use of herbicides, there are also bee-hives and bird nesting boxes to encourage an intricate ecosystem within the vineyards. What was also impressive was their waste water treatment system which processes all waste – the first of it’s kind for a winery here in BC.
Again, we were able to sample several different wines but what stood out to me was their Syrah Ice Wine. I can’t say I’ve been a big fan of ice wine, purely because I find it too sweet but their ice wine is marvellous. It’s balanced and enjoyable to drink. It’s got a big of weight to it but not overpowering. I would definitely serve this with desserts. Their Rose and Chardonnay are beautiful as well.
For more information on Tantalus, check out their website here.