Nk;mip is North America’s first Aboriginal owned and operated operation, and part of the Osooyos Indian Band’s long term plans for sustaining their land and way of life. The Vancouver Olympics have done a very nice job honoring and highlighting the impact of the native tribes on life in Canada.  Their vineyards are planted in the soils of the last remaining desert in Canada, and the northern most tip of the extensive desert that stretches all the way from the Baja peninsula in Mexico, through the American Southwest, and Northwest, all the way into Canada.

This was the quintessential white wine recommended by the good folks of Taylorwood Wines in Vancouver. We were particularly excited about this one after learning about the Canadian guidelines for simply describing the sweetness of wine on a 0-3 scale.  This Riesling came in at 1, I believe…

The Osooyos sub region of the Okanagan Valley is right on the US border and less than 2 hours from the cozy hamlet of Lake Chelan, which makes it even more understandable how this wine can easily compete with the best Rieslings of Washington State.  It  put forward a very nice peachy pear acidity to go along with the perfect amount of Riesling smooth sugar.

As I’ve been learning about BC wines this month, I’ve been skeptical that they would be able to produce red wines of substance due to the northerly latitude.

This bottle, Mt Boucherie Summit, was recommended highly by Taylorwood as a quintessential example of the BC capability to produce a powerful full bodied red wine from Merlot, Cab Franc, and Cab Sauv grapes. I figured it would be a good sample to see what BC is capable of.

While not mind blowing or life changing, I am impressed and encouraged by the potential to ripen these classic varietals this far to the north. Much of this is due to the long summer days and temperate effects of the huge lake Okanagon. With a little more global warming they could really be on to something in the next 50 years.

Mt Boucherie has vineyards in both the Okanagon Falls subregion of the Okanagon Valley region and the Similkameen Valley, all of which they own and maintain themselves.  The Gidda family has been in the BC wine business for over 40 years, and are the largest family owned and operated outfit in BC.

Their winery and tasting room is located in Kelowna and I will definitely be making a stop to visit someday.

So, as I learn about new cities and regions, its always important for me to start with a map.  You can make plenty of assumptions about people and places if you first understand their spot on a map. Neighbors, topography, and climate are huge factors in culture.

Looking at the map, one can draw plenty of similarities between British Columbia and California.  Both are shaped in the same skewed upright rectangular shape, both have hundreds of miles of Pacific Coastline.  Both are dissected by impressive inland mountain ranges.  Both have enviable wine country real estate and thriving wine and tourism industries.

The similarities may end there. One is inhabited by 4M people and the other by 37M.  California’s GDP is $1.85T, while all of Canada is $1.3T.

More to come on this fascinating land over the next few weeks.