Summer Bucket List: Hollydays - Kelowna
This summer seems to be flying by. I’ve been working lots lately so I have been trying to adapt the work hard, play hard mentality by really enjoying the few days off I do have.
I recently went on a quick 48hr girls getaway with a girlfriend of mine to Kelowna.
We started off by taking the first flight out of Calgary getting us in shortly after 8am, to which we headed straight to the Hotel, we stayed at the newly renovated Fairfield Marriott (which I would highly recommend). I did call ahead to see if they would let us drop our bags early and they were more than accommodating. They even had our room ready!
This gave us about half an hr to freshen up and get ready for our wine tour pick up around 9am.
We went with Okanagan Experience Wine Tours and if I were to do another one (which is likely) I will book again with them for a few reasons:
Super Friendly and Knowledgeable, you can really see they take the time to organize the tour and hand pick their favourites.
They also have direct pick up and drop off at your hotel so no need to worry about extra cab fares.
And when I was doing my research they were one of the few that had a lunch included!
We did the Naramata Bench tour as the Kelowna one was already booked **note to book earlier in advance**
Although initially disappointed, I am quite pleased we ended up doing the one we did because I would have not otherwise been exposed to the boutique wineries we did visit! ** boutique is <10000 cases/yr**
Here’s where we went:
Fitzpatrick:
The Fitzpatrick Family also used to own Cedar Creek Wines until recently when they sold to Mission Hill, in part of the agreement they were able to keep a portion of land in a separate location allowing them to make beautiful bubbly and whites.
Now I am not typically a white drinker however, by the end of the tasting I was having difficulty deciding which one to buy. I ended up going with The Unwinder Ehrenfelser.
And for any readers out there looking for summer wedding venues look no further! This place is stunning. (You’re welcome in advance - I now expect an invitation)
I will say one thing, bubbly is best at breakfast
Laughing Stock is a beautiful little winery owned by previous investment bankers, hence the name laughing stock.
The unique things about each bottle is that there are actual stocks printed on th bottle based on the day the wine was created.
I bought the blind trust which is a red blend but hides the actual contents of the bottle under the label, like a true blind trust.
Origin:
Origin is where we stayed on the tour for lunch, which has a stunning look out.
They also had some of the most unique tasting wines I have ever tried. I bought the Merlot/Cab Franc to take home, and of course nothing goes better on a hot summers day than a bottle of rosé for lunch.
After lunch on the tour we stopped off at La Frenz, the one thing I will give credit to is the location, it is beautiful however I was sadly disappointed by the wine, ironically it had mostly reds ... which is usually my go-to. This was the only winery neither of us bought a bottle at.
I was tempted to by their port as it tasted like a rich blueberry syrup however, I don’t drink port that often and decided that 7 bottles was enough.
Three Sisters:
The last stop on the tour was three sisters (turns out there’s actually six, three on each side).
This part of the tour was a lot more casual as we were able to pick and choose the wines we fancied tasting.
I tried mostly reds and ended up buying a white their Pinot Auxerrois... go figure .
And my friend ended up buying two bottles.
After the wine tour we headed back to our hotel and had a quick nap...by quick I mean a breezy 3hrs. Then we both realized how much we needed carbs where we found pasta!
Day 2, we headed to Quail's Gate where the lunch is to DIE for!! And it really wouldn't be a wine tour weekend without becoming a wine tour member...which is exactly what happened.
After lunch we popped into the hatch which has a cool vibe but after our taste buds being spoiled by the delicious previous wines, we found it to be a bit of a flop.
Lastly we went to Kitsch which is a small but mighty winery, the view is AMAZING and the wine is lovely, couldn't ask for a better pairing!
Hope you are enjoying your summer!
Cheers, thebrokeblonde x
P.S This is not a sponsored post as much as I would love to be paid in wine HA!
