Dunham & Froese Estate Winery

Well, its the weekend again! What better topic to blog about on the weekend than visiting vineyards! I had the opportunity to visit Dunham & Froese Estate Winery in Oliver, BC on my vacation this year. The wine maker, Kirby Froese is distantly related to my dad, so it was really cool to check it out and sample some of the wines (never mind the fact that we came home with 1/2 a case of wine!!).

The wine we sampled was delicious, though the white wines were my favorite. The tasting room was attached to the Covert Farms restaurant and was very cute and cozy. The wine can be ordered online through their website or it can be found at a number of restaurants and boutique wine stores throughout the lower mainland and the Okanagan. They list all locations on their website. Here are a few photos from our visit. As I drink the bottles we purchased, I'll blog about them and share tasting notes with you (be forewarned - it could take a while - not because I'm a slow drinker, more due to the fact that we purchased a lot of wine on our last vacation!!!).

Check back tomorrow! I'll be posting a great recipe for banana bread. Until then, enjoy your weekend my friends. Cheers!

Summerhill Pyramid Winery

While visiting the Okanagan, my cousin and I stopped in at two local vineyards. I'm going to tell you about Summerhill Pyramid Winery in Kelowna today. I'll save Cedar Creek for another day! Our experience at Summerhill was fantastic - the vineyard was beautiful, the tasting room was very busy yet people were still receiving top notch service and information about the wine they were interested in. The bistro looked lovely though we did not get a chance to try out the food.

The neat thing about Summerhill is that they follow organic practices - most of their vineyards are certified organic and those that aren't are in the process of being certified (it takes 3 full years to become certified!). The owner Stephen Cipes says "these grapes are happy guys, they're flourishing. Our wines are allowing nature to speak for herself." Sounds like a pretty neat philosophy for an industry so known for preservatives and chemicals!

While in the tasting room we tried a number of wines including some reds, whites and sparkling. Their sparkling wines have won international awards and they were up against some tough competition - including Champagne from France! My favorite wine was the 2006 Riesling. It was so unique tasting with notes of butter and coconut. The tasting notes on the website note the following:

"Features pronounced aromas of coconut, butter, and minerality. On the palate
citrus, star fruit, and crisp apple followed by a clean lingering finish."

I would definitely visit this winery again. I thought the prices were really reasonable when compared to the quality of the wine. If you get a chance to taste Summerhill wine, I would encourage you to do so - you won't be disappointed! If you're looking to purchase Summerhill wine, you can do so direct from the vineyard or in BC Liquor stores. Cheers!