Touring the Thompson Okanagan: Wine – Quail’s Gate Winery & Tantalus Vineyards

Comments 2 by John Biehler

The following was experienced and contributed by John Biehler exclusively for Miss604.com. Last week John was a guest of the Thompson Okanagan Tourism Association (TOTA) to experience the region and see what the area has to offer.

Along with beer, we also visited a number of wineries on our Thompson Okanagan tour, for which this region is world-renowned.

Our first stop was Quail’s Gate Winery in West Kelowna. Situated with a stunning view of Okanagan Lake, we started off with lunch at the Old Vines Restaurant which is on the vineyard property.

Quail's Gate Winery

Quail's Gate Winery

After lunch, a few of us wondered around the vineyard which is just outside the doors of the restaurant. It was a special treat to see grapes on the vines as I normally visit Kelowna in the summer time when the vines are empty.

Quail's Gate Winery

We then headed to the tasting room to sample some of the many wines that are produced onsite.

Quail's Gate Winery

Being relatively new to wine (I’m a beer guy, remember?) it was interesting to hear from the staff the process that goes into producing the wine and differences between the various types of wine. I learned quite a lot just from this one stop.

Quail's Gate Winery

Our next stop was the Tantalus Vineyards which, like Quail’s Gate has a picturesque view of the lake, mountains and surrounding vineyard.

Tantalus Vineyards

Their newly opened 13,000 square foot winery felt more like a hip Yaletown lounge than a more traditional winery.

Tantalus Vineyards

Heading to the back of the winery found us up close to the vats of grape juice from the recently pressed grapes.

Tantalus Vineyards

Tantalus Vineyards

As with Quail’s Gate, I was fascinated by the process that goes into wine making.

Tantalus Vineyards

Tantalus Vineyards

Getting to tour the facility and talk with David Paterson, Tantalus’ passionate winemaker, made it all that much more interesting to me.

Tantalus Vineyards

Stay tuned for the next dispatch from the Thompson Okanagan tour featuring food later this week.

Related posts from this trip: Kelowna’s Hotel Eldorado, Kamloops BC Wildlife Park, Beer: Tree Brewing, Noble Pig, Frick and Frack

John is an avid photographer, gadget geek and traveller. You can find him on Twitter and at johnbiehler.com where he discusses photography and all sorts of technology. All photos in this post were taken by John.

Disclosure: Activities, services and dining experiences during the trip were compliments of Thompson-Okanagan Tourism.

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2 Comments  —  Comments Are Closed

  1. AnthonyThursday, November 4th, 2010 — 6:58pm PDT

    Wine making is a great art and thanks to the healthy movement, wines are now considered to be great source of natural anti-oxidants.

    That view of Okanagan Lake is simply fabulous…I would love to visit the place…

  2. Chris StenbergFriday, November 5th, 2010 — 10:11am PDT

    Tantalus was probably my personal favourite winery of 2010. The new winery building is spectacular and the Pinot Noir, Blanc de Noir, and Old Vines Riesling are all exceptional!

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