Art Chowder July | August 2022 Issue No. 40 | Page 37

A Tasteful Journey to

Naramata

BY ERIC COOK he entire Pacific Northwest makes a haven for great winemaking ( quality wine loves the fringes of possibility ); British Columbian vintners handily extend that possibility north of the 49th parallel .
American wineries craft fantastic wines worthy of our attention — our palate ’ s attention — intrigued by the balance of ripe , familiar flavor with a crisp overlay of mouthwatering tartness . Such are the wines of the Pacific Northwest . As such , the artisanal wines of British Columbia are cut from similar cloth — taking a few more degrees of intensity with them — yet these are almost exclusively limited to tasting in country .
The main challenge for B . C . wine is not the northerly climate , back roads or lack of ripeness . Their challenge remains their unavailability to export . Whether it ’ s quantity or tariff , the wines rarely make it outside Canada .
Neither is their challenge quality . The glacier-carved lakes and streams funnel the warmth to the southern reaches of Okanogan Lake — Vernon south to Kelowna ,
Peachland or Summerland , further south to the Golden Mile , Naramata and Penticton . All of these hug Okanogan Lake and there are plenty more to discover .
Coming from the U . S ., the kilometer-based speed limit signs are the only indicators that you ’ ve switched countries . The tidal waves of mountains , long cold lakes and forest-scrubbed breezes could come from either country of the Pacific Northwest . These protect the grapes from extremities of temperature at this marginal latitude .
Overall , wineries in B . C . extend as far west as Vancouver and since the 2000 vintage , the Vintner ’ s Quality Alliance ( VQA ) has overseen the regulation of quality wine . These wines highlight quality and typicity of wine for the region . But , they go step further — like the DOCG in Italy or the Grands Crus in France or the Erste Lage in Germany . Where America has “ Reserve ,” Canada elevates special wines to “ Wines of Distinction .” These are made of exclusively Canadian grapes , selected by an industryled panel and periodically reassessed by blind tasting .
And like the best European wines , B . C .’ s Wines of Distinction come from special places . Here are a few :
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