Okanagan Wine Trip '07 - Day 1

Day 1 - May 25th

Well, here we go again for my annual jaunt through the Okanagan wine country. Having done this twice before, I have a better feel for where to go, where not to go, and how to pace my trip.

Armed with my trusty laptop, this time around I can blog as I go and give you daily updates - just like a real journalist would!

I left Calgary just after 10AM.. After a quick stop in Golden for some lunch, I made it into the Okanagan around 4:00PM local time.. Since it was early enough and it was on the way, I figured I'd stop in at Arrowleaf cellars - a great way to start my trip, being that they're one of my favorite wineries here..

I tasted about 5 of the usual suspects:

White Feather - their house white blend - a nice quaffable white - not a lot of depth here, but great for patio season.

Red Feather - my favorite wine here - their Rose blend - after some sweet-talking, I managed to get my hands on a half a case of the as yet unreleased 2006 vintage (already a silver medal winner) - primarily Pinot Noir and Chardonnay this year. Looking forward to the hot weather to drink some of this!

Chardonnay - a decent Okanagan chard - very little oak, unlike so many of the bottles coming out of California

Solstice - their red blend, primarily Merlot and Zweigelt.. I wasn't blown away, but I'm usually not by their reds. They just seem better at the whites and rose.

Vidal (I cant remember the name - its new for them) - it's an off-dry white - the grapes are picked at the same time as the one they use for their late-harvest vidal, so you can guess that the sugar content is pretty high to start with. I assumed that they fermented it for a bit longer to get the excess sugar out - this seemed to be confirmed by the relatively high 13.6% alcohol content..

All in all, I walked out of Arrowleaf with a case of wine for myself and some friends..

After Arrowleaf, I headed straight into downtown Kelowna to check into the Royal Anne Hotel - I like this hotel - reasonably priced, and just a block from the waterfront. And - it's a nice 5 block walk away from...

Bouchons Bistro. Ahhhh...

Once again, my love affair with this restaurant has been rekindled for another year. I walked in a little before 7, and as always, the owner / Maitre'd was out front to greet me - showed me to a table on the patio. Over the next 90 minutes, I was back in culinary heaven.. I started out with French onion soup simmered with Chablis, paired up with a glass of Alstian Geuwurtztraminer. Following that was a duo of duck leg confit, with some mushrooms sauteed with pork belly, some seasonable vegetables, and of course the obligatory pommes frites (this is a brasserie style restaurant after all).. I paired that up with a glass of Quail's Gate Reserve Pinot Noir, which worked nicely. I followed up the main course with a chilled lavendar souflee with passionfruit puree, paired up with a glass of their house sauternes. Add on an espresso, and I was 'fini'.

I followed up that fabulous meal with a trip to the casino.. I think I will now write a book of my experiences, titled "How to lose at blackjack like a professional".. Up until tonight, I didn't think it would be possible to lose so much money while holding 19 or 20 in your hand. Fortunately, the other gents at the table were having similar luck.

So, now its time to retire for the evening, and prepare for Day 2. Saturday is my day to conquer the southern Okanagan, and hopefully squeeze in a couple more good meals to boot.

Cheers!