Okanagan Wine Tours

Wine Tour Information & A Complimentary Wine Tasting Sheet For You!

Okanagan wine tours are meant to be relaxing, fun, laid back, and most importantly...tasty!

Canadian culture is friendly, and except for the most formal of occasions, you'll find wine touring casual and easy going.

No need to be a wine expert here; simply relax and enjoy your best wine tasting experience.

When you experience Okanagan wine tours and tasting, you will experience flavors and aromas that reflect the unique natural and agricultural heritage of BC.

Elephant Island Winery - Naramata, BC

Tree fruits such as apples, apricots, peaches, pears, plums, blackberries, and cherries, which have been grown here for a very long time, contribute largely to many red and white wines, fruit wines, and dessert wines.

As well, many of the native trees and shrubs, such as sage, clove, elderflower and honey contribute to the unique flavors and herbal aromas of many Okanagan wines.

A Complimentary Wine Tasting Sheet For You

If you're visiting a number of wineries, you may be tasting 4 - 6 different types of wine at each one, so it's helpful to write down a few notes about the wines you experience for purchasing later. So, we've created a simple wine tasting sheet that you can print off and take with you on your Okanagan wine tours.

View and print this wine tasting sheet. You can either print copies directly from the web, or download and save it for later! - Cheers!

Wine Tasting Terminology

If you're new to wine touring and tasting, here is some basic wine terminology that may be as unfamiliar to you as it was to us when we first started our own Okanagan wine touring.

It's fun to learn and having a bit of basic wine knowledge can come in handy - that way you can focus on sipping ;-)

Some common wine terms you may come across here if you explore the world of Okanagan wine tours include:

Appeliation: An appellation is the identifying name of a wine - often a geographical location or place where the grapes for a wine are grown.

Acidity: The natural tartness in grapes that contributes to the flavor of wine. Acids are important components of wine. If a wine lacks acid, it will taste dull and flat. If it is too high in acid, it will be sour or tart.

Brix Levels: A measurement of the dissolved sugar-to-water mass ratio of a liquid. The BC VQA sets standards for Brix levels at grape harvest, and regulates grape growing and British Columbia wine making practices.

Hybrid: Varieties of grapes that are developed by crossing different grape varieties, commonly European with North American grapes. Hybrids grapes are developed to suit climate such as early ripening and hardiness, as well as disease resistance.

Tannin: Tannins are naturally occuring compounds found in grape skin, seeds, and grape stems. During the aging process of wine, oak barrels infuse tannin into the juice, giving wine texture, substance and dimension to flavor.

Terroir: Is originally a french term. Terroir refers to a combination of factors, such as climate, type of soil, and location, that make the particular vineyard unique.

The Okanagan Valley has five officially recognized subregions - Kelowna, Naramata, Okanagan Falls, Golden Mile, and Black Sage/Osoyoos, each with a unique terroir.

VQA: Vintners Quality Alliance is a designation for British Columbia wines that are made from 100% BC grown grapes. These wines requires a professional tasting panel to approve each wine. The VQA designation is not given to wines found faulty and these may not be sold as VQA wines.

Varietal: A varietal wine is one that contains the name of the grape variety on the wine label, such as Merlot or Chardonnay. According to the BC Wine Institute, 49% of British Columbia's wines are white, while 51% are red wines, at time of this writing.

Vinifera: A species of grape, Vitis Vinifera, that produces the classic wine grapes. Commonly these have migrated from the vineyards of Europe.

Enjoy your Okanagan wine tours!

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