Monday, August 31, 2009

I went through the usual routine in the morning- walked along the beaches to get my coffee, had a shower, and got prepared for the day. Later in the morning I got a call that I needed to complete and send some paperwork back home for that by-election call a week ago.  I spent the greater part of that afternoon mired in forms and trying to find a way to send them back quickly.

It was nearly 4:00 by the time I headed out to my first winery of the tour:  Summerhill.  Boasting a variety of organic wines all stored in a giant pyramid, Summerhill is one of the most unique wineries in the valley. I decided to do some tasting before dining on the patio, but the place was crowded and the experience seemed more rushed than a tasting should be. Still, I was impressed as usual with the wines, and a lot of the flavours I expected from this place were back this year with a vengeance.

I ate some tapas on the patio that overlooked Lake Okanagan after the tasting. Normally the view is beautiful but the smoke was still in the air. During the meal a wedding took place in the garden below the terrace.  I’ve now seen a few weddings from the Summerhill patio…my server told me they have them almost every day…and I felt very bad for the men below wearing their suits in the 30+ degree muggy heat!

After eating I went back to the wine room to make some purchases. I bought an entire case…only because they were 15% off! The case was made up entirely of Ehrenfelser (my favourite from the valley) and Pinot Noir. It’s rare for me to enjoy Pinot but Summerhill does a good job of theirs.

The rest of the day was fairly quiet. I adjourned to the motel to enjoy a bottle of Ehrenfelser and sat on the day overlooking the Mission Creek. Today was a good taste of what was to come but I was looking forward to the next few days of exploring the valley and her wines.