After township 7 I drove the entire length of the Naramata Bench to reach Nichol Vineyards and Estate Winery owned by Ross Hackworth. Ross developed a tasted for Nichols wines
before he bought the winery four years ago from founders Alex and Kathleen Nichol .
The views from the tasting room are amazing as are the wines.
Ross took rime out from working on his irrigation system to chat. Then it was time to taste the wines.
Gewürztraminer 2008 is a Riesling lover's Gewurz, emphasizing fruit, not spice. It begins with appealing aromas of citrus, lychee and rose petals . I also enjoyed the Pinot Gris. Wine reviews
After leaving Nichol I head south then took the first right turn.. unexpectedly I came across a winery open sign. With caution I hit the brakes backed up the car and turned into a dirt lane.
As I rounded the bend I saw this magnificent building before me and realized I was at Serendipity Winery. At that moment a cart carrying two people came out of the vineyard on to the dirt lane. Once again luck was on my side as I almost liberally bumped into Winemakers Jason Parker and Judy Kingston. Judy is also the owner.
Since 2006, Judy has devoted her full time efforts to the Serendipity vineyard and winery.
Her two children have each put in summers working in the vineyard.
It is a family commitment, led by Judy as point person
The winery had just opened. I was one of the first to visit the unique tasting room in the cellar.
The first harvest was in 2009 and of exceptional quality
. I like their 2008 Serenata A delicious Bordeaux blend, with notes of dark cherry, smoke and leather, beautiful tannins, well integrated and great finish.
Elephant Island
Time allowed for a brief stop at Elephant Island Orchard Wines . A fruit winery owned by Del and Miranada Halladay.
There were no elephants to be found. But their dessert wine Stellaport is worth the visit.
La Frenz
After lunch we headed to La Frenz Winery owned by Niva and Jeff Martin. Previous experience told us they produce some fine Port Style Wines.
La Frenz has a very attractive entry and tasting room.
Although the winery was quite busy we managed to squeeze ourselves into a cornor. As we came to buy one of their fantastic fortified wines We limited our tasting session having previous tasted the wines at the Naramata Bench Spring release. The 2010 Alexandra a blend with muscat was excellent. We tried to fortified wines NV Liqueur Muscat and NV Tawny. I preferred the Liqueur Muscat Barbara went for the NV Tawny. Guess which one we bought!
Ruby Blues
It was now time to visit Prudence Mahrer's Ruby Blues winery (It was originally named Ruby Tuesday).
Prudence was founder of Red Rooster Winery which she sold but missed the business and opened a new winery.
A uniquely designed winery
build by Prudence's husband Beat.
Hanging on the wall is a mural of Prudence.
Our next stop was just across the street to Andrew Pellers Ltd Red Rooster Winery. A magnificent structure with well maintained grounds and a nice view of the lake.
We were very impressed with the friendly hospitality of the staff. We also like their 2010 Pinot Gris , the 2008 Reserve Merlot and the 2008 Reserve Meritage. We have additional pictures
Hillside Estate Winery
Our next stop was at Hiilside Estate Winery Naramata's oldest winery. The winery was rebuild in 1996 under the guidance of Bill Carpenter and his wife Kathy Malone
the winemaker.
The winery has a great reputation and was extremely busy, so we left the tasting to others.
3 Mile Estate Winery
Our final stop of the day was at the new 3 Mile Estate Winery. The winery is so new not all the doors have arrived.
But who needs doors when your greet by such charming and friendly people.
Gail and Colleen.
The winery was meant to be. A serious of events took place that somehow brought everything together . The winemaker is Kelly Symonds who spent five years at Hillside. We were quite impressed by the wines. We spent over two hours enjoying tasting the wines with sister Gail and Colleen. We also toured their B&B.
Our Trip continues as we move to Oliver and Tinhorn Creek
additional photography
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