Okanagan Wineries & Vineyards

Canada Wine Country Vacations

If you're thinking about wine country vacations, think Okanagan wineries!

There are more wineries in the Okanagan Valley than all of British Columbia.

That's why we call it BC wine country. ;-)

If you'd like to learn more about visiting Okanagan BC wineries, Interior BC wine regions and wine tours, we've put together some helpful information to give you a start on planning your wine country vacations here. ;-)

Exploring Okanagan wineries is a fun and fascinating experience. You don't need to be a wine expert to enjoy what this region has to offer.

You'll learn as much as you wish about wine as you go along, but if you have a basic understanding of wine knowledge already, then you're a step ahead of many of us!

Okanagan BC Wineries

Many of the world's finest wine grapes come from the sunny, dry hills of mid-northern latitudes between 42° - 50°, like the great vineyards of France, Germany, northern Italy and Spain.

British Columbia's Okanagan Valley, lies within the same latitude as these wine producing countries, creating some of the finest wines in Canada and the world.

Winemakers at Okanagan BC wineries come from many those regions, as well as other great wine making countries, bringing with them generations of winemaking expertise along with their passion and love of making wine.

Okanagan wineries have been producing wine since the early 1900's, and are now known as some of the best BC wineries, in Canada, and internationally.

The early days of grape growing in the Okanagan actually goes back to 1859 when the first grapes were planted, and commercial grape production for winemaking began in the 1920's.

Since 1984, when there were only 13 wineries operating in British Columbia, there are now more than 150 in the Okanagan valley alone. British Columbia VQA wine sales have doubled since 2003, to more than 155 million dollars annually.

Wine Producing Okanagan Vineyard

Living in an area with a large concentration of wineries in Canada, so rich in naturaly beauty, history, and an excellent climate, it's hard not to embrace all that this region has to offer!

Okanagan BC Is The Place For Canada Wine Country Vacations

As wine is becoming an increasingly important part of the Okanagan BC tourism, and culture, this unique region is now becoming known as the 'The Napa of the North', with some of the best wineries in Canada.

• Information about Okanagan Valley wine subregions
• Information about Similkameen Valley wineries
• About Canadian Ice Wine
• BC VQA Label On British Columbia Wines
• An Okanagan wine tours complimentary wine tasting sheet, tips and common wine terminology you might come across on your visits to wineries
• Okanagan Wine Tour options & tips for visiting vineyards
• Best Okanagan wine, wine tours, & wineries shared by website visitors
• Okanagan Wine Festival information- what, when and where

Icewine Producing Okanagan BC Vineyard

Okanagan BC Wine Regions

There are five main DVA's (Designated Viticultural Areas) in British Columbia.

Two of British Columbia's 5 wine regions are found here in the Interior region of the province. These are the Okanagan Valley and the Similkameen Valley.

The Okanagan Valley has 5 wine subregions, each one with distinct differences in climate, making for different types of wines.

If you're thinking about our wonderful wine country vacations, you can learn more about the wineries in each of these regions here.

1. Kelowna
2. Naramata Bench
3. Okanagan Falls
4. Golden Mile/Oliver
5. Black Sage/Osoyoos

The southern Okanagan Valley region lies between Oliver BC and the Canada-US border, and is considered as part of the Sonora Desert and the Great Basin Desert region, which runs south to the Baja Peninsula in Mexico.

You'll find a range of Okanagan wineries from boutique, to estate wineries, to farm gate family owned and operated. Each winery has it's own unique history and story, and some even have the most interesting names.

The Similkameen Valley wineries are a region of their own, and some are known for their organic roots. The Similkameen region lies just west of the southern Okanagan Valley, and is connected to the Okanagan by the Richter Pass. Vineyards extend from Keremeos BC to Chopaka, British Columbia, on the United States border.

Love The Okanagan? :-)