Geeking out on Naramata Bench

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This article was published 29/06/2024 (500 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Go ahead, call us geeks.

Wine geeks that is.

After all, my wife, Kerry, and I, and our pup Daisy, are cruising along the Naramata Bench on the ‘Wine Geeks Only’ driving tour.

The free, downloadable app was recently launched by Discover Naramata, along with 11 other self-guided tours, so tourists can dive deep into this winery-studded region just northeast of Penticton, British Columbia.

Kerry installed VoiceMap on her phone and then downloaded Wine Geeks Only app and we were off.

Starting from the parking lot next to the Penticton Art Gallery, we meander 40 minutes, criss-crossing the bench to the village of Naramata.

Retired CBC Radio host Marion Barschel mellifluously tells us about the bench and its wines as well as where to turn when.

Through the magic of GPS, the audio flows automatically and knows where you are at all times.

“Welcome wine geeks,” starts Barschel.

“Get ready for some breathtakingly beautiful scenery while experiencing Canada’s most charming wine region.”

She also lets us know that the Naramata Bench is home to more than 50 craft wine producers and that you can “taste the geography” in every bottle because the bench’s terroir of unique location, sun, slope, aspect to Okanagan Lake and soil results in fruit-forward wines with pleasing acidity and minerality.

If something catches your eye on the tour you can simply pause the audio, get out of your car to experience it and then hop back in and hit resume to continue.

What caught our eye on the tour was Aikins Loop, the new winery cooperative made up of Joie Farm, Van Westen, Deep Roots and Elephant Island.

All wineries are within 700 metres of one another — the perfect distance to get out of your car and walk or cycle from tasting to tasting.

We park at Joie, grab the sample platter from the Grapevine Barbecue food truck and take a seat on Joie’s shaded lawn with a view of Okanagan Lake.

While we devour our brisket, sausage and coleslaw we sample Joie’s Plein De Vie sparkling, Viognier and Rose.

“The whole concept of the GPS-guided audio tours and the Aikins Loop is to explore, enjoy and learn at your own pace,” says Discover Naramata marketing manager Dawn Lennie when we run into her at Joie.

“Sure, start with the driving tour, but then follow your desire to get out of the car and walk or cycle down a quiet country road and soak in the scenery on a totally dog-and-family-friendly loop.”

Fortified with food, drink and information we’re ready for the next stop, which is literally 50 metres away at Van Westen Vineyards.

We’re excited for this stop because Van Westen’s 2022 Viscous Riesling just won ‘white wine of the year’ at the All Canadian Wine Championships.

It’s a lush, but light, quintessential, easy-drinking Riesling.

In keeping with the first letter of owner, winemaker and viticulturist Rob Van Westen’s last name, all the other wines also start with a ‘V’.

So we taste our way through the rest of the portfolio — 2022 Vivacious Pinot Blanc, Voluptuous 2020 Merlot-Cabernet Franc blend, Violeta Malbec 2019 and the V 2019 red Bordeaux blend.

Next stop, down the loop and around the corner, we stroll with Daisy through rows of vineyard at Deep Roots Winery before taking a seat on the patio to taste five wines, including the 2022 Gamay light red, which was just name one of 12 wines in the Best of the Bench contest.

Final stop on the Aikins Loops is Elephant Island Winery, where we also happen to be staying overnight in the quaint guest suite over the tasting room called the Tree House.

In the sun-dappled courtyard, we taste a cross-section of both Elephant Island’s fruit and grape wines, including another ‘Best of the Bench’ winner, the Blanc de Blancs 2015 Sparkling.

While Kerry and Daisy get settled in the Tree House, I backtrack on the loop to pick up the car at Joie and drive the three kilometres into the village of Naramata to nab an asparagus-and-mozzarella pie at Real Things Pizza.

We’ll enjoy the pizza, with a glass of Elephant Island All Day Rose, on the suite’s deck overlooking a cherry orchard and Okanagan Lake while the sun sets on an ideal Naramata Bench day.

Some of the other GPS-guided audio tours in the roster include Night Time Magic to take in Naramata’s dramatic dark skies, Children’s Village Walking Tour, Farm to Plate Agri-tourism Trail Tour and Wild Things Biking Tour.

Check out www.discovernaramata.com and www.aikinsloop.com.

smacnaull@nowmediagroup.ca