Home| About | Her Regions | British Columbia | Robert's Report | Sitemap | Icewine

Off the Beaten Path

Adventurous winemakers are continually expanding the areas
where grapes are grown and wine is produced

Cache Creek

True to its name the town is steeped in Caribou History and is located on the old Caribou Wagon Road. This popular spot was a stopping place for miners gathering supplies before heading farther north to the gold fields. Just north of town is the Hat Creek Ranch, open to the public May to October, which housed weary travelers and their animals

The town's name is accounted for by a variety of legends, the most romantic version concerning a couple of prospectors who buried a hoard of gold and never returned to pick it up. Sadly, it's more likely to have derived its name from early trappers' more prosaic habit of leaving a cache of supplies at points on a trail to be used later.

Cache Creek can be reached from the south, north and east by car or bus. It is located at the junction of Highway 97 and the Trans Canada Highway. The Trans Canada Highway (Highway 1) winds its way north from Vancouver to Cache Creek where it veers east and heads to Kamloops, while Highway 97 takes travelers on to northern BC and the Yukon. Visitors with private planes can take advantage the small asphalt airstrip located just south of town.

Bonaparte Bend Winery

Highway 97
Cache Creek, BC

Tel. 250-457-6667

info@bbwinery.com

JoAnn and Gary Armstrong selected the area near Cache Creek for their ranch. One day while on holiday in Hawaii JoAnn declared "when I get home I am going to do a business with fruit wines" and the adventure began.

Since they were off the beaten path there was was no help from local winemakers. They had to learn the business themselves from the ground up. The adventure began in May 1999, today they produce 1,4000 liters of apricot, apple, blueberry, black current, cranberry, honey, and other fruit wines.

Columbia River Valley

The Rocky Mountain Trench, also known as the Columbia Valley, is surrounded by the Rocky Mountains on the east and the Bugaboos on the west.
Both are impressively high, rugged ranges. Equally impressive is the Columbia River, which rolls through the southern part of the valley. The broad waterway is an important stopover on the semiannual migration route for wildlife. Canada geese nesting platforms dot the marshier sections of the Columbia River on the stretch of Hwy 95 from Parson to Golden. Highway 93/95 links Cranbrook at the south end of the Columbia River Valley with Golden, about 230 km north.

Columbia Gardens Vineyard and Winery

9340 Station Road
Trail, BC V1R 4W6

1-250 367-7493

The first winery located in Kootenays opened in the fall of 2001. The winery is owned and operated by the Bryden and Wallace families. Currently there are 7 acres of vines. The winery selectively produces few wines seeking quality over quantity. Pinot Noir, Marechal Foch, Gewürztraminer and unoaked Chardonnay are the wines produced.

The tasting room along with a gift shop are located in a log cabin. Author John Schreiner writes; the charm of the Columbia wine shop surprises first time visitors who do not expect a tasting room with sophisticated decor this far off the beaten path. Signature wine – Garden Gold blended white wine

Winemaker: Lawrence Wallace
Philosophy: Produce VQA quality wines and to remain a family winery producing limited quantities of fine wines

Skimmerhorn

1218 - 27th Ave S
Creston, BC V0B 1G1

1-250-428-4911

After 20 years of successfully running a family orchard, Al and Marleen Hoag took the plunge and opened a winery. The winery is named after the Skimmerhorn Mountains, part of the Purcell Mountain Range, which borders the eastern edge of the Creston Valley.*

Their 14 acres produces a varietal range which includes Pinot Gris, Ortega, Gewürztraminer, Pinot Noir and Marechal Foch. For a relaxing, intimate lunch or small group gathering the Bistro at the Vineyards provides an idyllic setting; it is open from mid May until mid October, reservations are recommended.

Since the New Zealand South Island and Creston have similar climates the Hoags visited in 2006 and while there found and hired winemaker Mark Rattray to help get them get started in their new adventure.

Winemaker: Mark Rattray
Philosophy: Our wines reflect our terroir

Heron Ridge Estates Winery 1682 Thrums Road, Thrums, BC V1N 4N4
A small family owned and operated winery, located in the beautiful Kootenay River Valley of south-central British Columbia. Paul Koodrin runs the blueberry farm and winery. The rich, unique flavours of Heron Ridge wines are achieved through careful, measured blending of two varieties of blueberry - the sweet Northland and the small ultra-sweet Stanley Winemaker: Paul Koodrin

Pemberton Valley Vineyards

1427 Collins Road
Pemberton, BC V0N 2L0

Located in the heart of the British Columbia Coastal Mountains (near Whistler) the geographical location gives the valley a summer climate that is typically hot and dry during the day, coolerin the evenings, producing grapes with good varietal character and crisp acidity

The winery is owned by Patrick and Heather Bradner. Patrick had been making wine as an amature for ten years before realizing his first commercial vintage in 1999. The seven-acre property has about 3,500 vines of Chardonnay and Pinot Gris with vines obtained from the Okanagan and about 500 Maréchal Foch vines.

Winemaker: Patrick Brader

Lillooet

Lillooet is located on the Fraser River, 325 km north of Vancouver. The community is one of the oldest in the province, it was a supply point for miners heading to the Cariboo gold fields when the gold rush began in 1858.

When the gold rush was at its peak, Lillooet boasted a population of 15,000 and was the second largest settlement north of San Francisco and west of Chicago. While the townsite itself was small, shantytowns and tent cities such as Parsonsville, Marysville and Cayoose Flats sprawled across the river benches, filled with men desperate to find their fortune in the mud, rock and gravel of the Fraser River and its tributaries.

In 1859, the Hudson Bay Company planned to build Fort Berens on a sage brush-covered river bench across from Lillooet. The fort was intended to serve as a trading post and supply outlet for the miners flooding north through the Fraser Canyon but that did not take place.

Fort Berens Estate Winery Ltd

1881 Highway 99 North
PO Box 758
Lillooet , BC V0K 1V0

One hundred and fifty years ago the Hudson Bay Company began construction of Fort Berens on the east side of the Fraser River, at Lillooet, British Columbia . The trading fort was never completed and the fertile river bench was used instead for the growing of melons, tomatoes and alfalfa.

Now the historic site is home to Lillooet's first commercial winery and vineyard. Is Fort Berens Estate Winery the harbinger of BC's newest wine region? The winery is owned by Pannekoek and Rolf de Bruin

In the Spring of 2009 they put 20 acres of river bench under vine with 36,000 plants, consisting of six varietals; Riesling, Pinot Gris, Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Merlot and Cabernet Franc. Three years from now, the vineyard will hang ripe with grapes, ready to be turned into carefully crafted wines.

Fort Berens Estate Winery is located at the junction of Highway 99 North and the Gold Nugget Arterial, just east of the Bridge of the 23 Camels, across the Fraser River from downtown Lillooet.

Fort Berens Estate Winery is less than two hours north of Whistler, three and a half hours from Vancouver and two hours south-west of Kamloops, on the scenic Highway 99 route from the west coast to the interior and is included in the the circle tour from Vancouver

Winemaker : Bill Pierson

*Creston is about 213 miles east of Osoyoos Creston does not change its clocks in the spring or fall. In the summer, Creston has the same time as Vancouver and Nelson; in the winter, Creston has the same time as Calgary and Cranbrook.

Wineries of Canada

Be a page Sponsor

e-mail to ask how you can be a page sponsor