Okanagan Wineries

Visitors Guide To Okanagan Wine Tour & Vineyards

Okanagan wineries have been producing wine since the early 1900's. Visiting a vineyard or taking an Okanagan wine tour is sure to please your wine palate!

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

BC's Okanagan Valley, lies in the same latitude as these wine producing countries, and produces some of the finest wines in Canada and the world.

Winemakers here come from 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.

The beginnings of grape growing in the Okanagan dates 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 Okanagan wineries alone.

Wine is becoming an increasingly important part of the Okanagan and British Columbia tourism, and culture, and this unique region is now becoming known as the 'The Napa of the North', with some of the best wineries in Canada. British Columbia VQA wine sales have doubled since 2003, to more than $155 million annually.

Wine Producing Okanagan Vineyard

Exploring the wineries in the Okanagan Valley is a fascinating and fun experience. You don't need to be a wine expert to enjoy it either! 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!

Icewine Producing Vineyard

If you'd like to learn more about the wine regions of the Okanagan, wine touring, Canadian Ice Wine, and British Columbia wine in general, we've put together some helpful information to get you started:

• Information about Okanagan Valley wine subregions
• Information about Similkameen Valley wineries
• About Canadian Ice Wine
• BC VQA - Understanding Wine Labels and standards for BC wineries
• 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 visitng vineyards
• Best Okanagan wine, wine tours, & wineries shared by website visitors
• Okanagan Wine Festival information- what, when and where

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

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!

Interior British Columbia 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 wine tour 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

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.

We hope you enjoy your time visiting Okangan BC wineries!