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We start drinking wine at 10:30 a.m. and are still drinking wine at 10:30 p.m. Not continuously mind you. There are a few breaks in between the elbow-bending sessions and some time spent travelling from one winery to the next. Because of the continuous flow of glasses, we are cautioned not to try to finish every sample, but rather to taste and then spit into a bucket. However, spitting up fine wine runs contrary to my instincts and I have trouble following this directive, which may explain why much of the weekend passes in an aromatic blur.

Naramata Unfiltered
We have come to the Okanagan to experience a condensed version of “Naramata Unfiltered,” a two-day wine education retreat offered three times annually by the Naramata Bench Winery Association (retreat@naramatabench.com), at which people learn about wine making from the ground up in seminars with owners, winemakers and growers, and sample some of the best wine and food available on the Naramata Bench. The event’s $799 ticket price includes first-class accommodation, two lunches and two gourmet dinners (all of which build on the theme of wine and food parings), plus transportation between seminars, meals and custom gum boots. The weekend concludes with a “Graduation Dinner” where participants have an opportunity to challenge their palates alongside the winemakers during a blind tasting.

courtesy naramatabench.com

Background

Since 1990, when the region’s first two wineries opened, the Naramata Bench has become one of the most desirable stretches of winery real estate in the Okanagan. Many wine tourists now consider it to be the number one destination in the Okanagan. The scenery is stunning and there is no other place in the province where can you cover as many wineries with as little time spent driving. Some enthusiasts even tour the options by bicycle. Currently, there are 22 wineries operating along or just off scenic and winding Naramata Road, all of them characterized by their intimacy and charm.

Laughing Stock Winery: Creating the Perfect Wine

Our tour begins at Laughing Stock Winery, where we meet owners David and Cynthia Enns, and Rhys Pender, a 34-year-old Aussie wine educator, wine writer, wine judge, wine consultant and the host of the Naramata Unfiltered program; all three are keen to introduce us to the art of blending and some of the winery’s award-winning vintages. Laughing Stock specializes in making a few wines well, including Pinot Gris, Chardonnay and Portfolio, its flagship Bordeaux blend. The winery has developed a cult-like following since it first opened in 2003, and its 3,000-case run sells out quickly, with about 60 per cent of it purchased online.

Before getting into the wine business, the Enns were both successful business consultants and so their winery’s name is a play on the risk of launching a winery. As David likes to say, “This winery is our vow of poverty,” Their wine labels resemble a ticker tape, showing the values of widely-held stocks on the days on which the grapes were harvested.

According to the Enns, assembling a blended wine takes finesse and judgement, so that the experience of the whole will be greater than the sum of the individual parts. Take for example, the winery’s Portfolio wine, which captured gold at the 2005 Canadian Wine Awards in the category of Meritage Red. The 2006 vintage is a combination of five Bordeaux varietals: 61% Merlot, 16% Cabernet Sauvignon, 16% Cabernet Franc, 5% Malbec and 2% Petit Verdot.

courtesy Kerry Banks

One of Laughing Stock’s newest offerings, available in both red and white versions, is Blind Trust. As its name suggests its ingredients are a secret. The wine might contain some, but not all of the following: Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Malbec, Petit Verdot. Says David: “If you are really curious about the blend, just blind taste the Blind Trust and try to guess the varietals before checking out the ingredients which are kept under the seal of the capsule.”

Educating Those Taste Buds

Listening to Rhys Pender and David Enns discuss wine and flavours is an education in itself. As Pender points out, the mouth only recognizes five taste sensations: sweet, salty, sour, bitter and umamai, a name applied to a savoury, earthy, mushroomy flavour. All other flavours are received through our retro-nasal passage, which means a sharp sense of smell is a key to appreciating wine. Of course, you also need a wine lexicon to follow the experts when they begin dissecting flavours. Individual wines can have a “great mouth feel,” “big floral notes,” “a polished nose,” “fleshy, full, mid-palate taste” or a “long finish.” A long finish is highly desirable–it refers to the flavour that lingers in the mouth after you swallow the wine. By the time we conclude our visit and get ready to move on, I have a Laughing Stock long finish coating my taste buds.

To be continued …

These circle tours are essentially self-guided roadtrips with suggested stops – from gardens, herb farms, open-air markets and farm-gate vendors and eateries to heritage sites, fairs, cheesemakers and hazelnut orchards. The idea is to  visit multiple farms in a single day (or two) and enjoy the best each has to offer. At each destination, samplings, tastings and behind-the-scenes tours may also be offered.

Participating regions include:

• Langley
• Mission
• Maple Ridge / Pitt Meadows
• Chilliwack
• Abbotsford
• Harrison / Agassiz

All of which are 30 to 90 minutes away from downtown Vancouver.

I recently checked out the Harrison/Agassiz Circle Farm Tour, which wends across the mountain-rimmed countryside to the amazing Tulips of the Valley Festival. (Unfortunately, there’s a super-short timeframe for catching this orgy of colour due to the greenhouse/tulip lifecycle.) From there I zipped over to historic Kilby, on to  Farm House Natural Cheeses,  Limbert Mountain Farm, the Back Porch (for pottery & roasted coffee) and, finally, Canadian Hazelnuts. And I came home loaded with local goodies, from chili-pepper-lime dark chocolate to rooibos tea and beer-nut hazelnuts. My only regret was not stopping in to pick up some Farm House cheddar, which is currently enjoying legendary status among restaurant-goers in Vancouver.

You can download brochures for each tour online to plan your day accordingly. Or, contact any of the stops by phone or email ahead of time to arrange tours upon arrival.