Friday, Sept 4, 2009

After six days in Kelowna I had to pack up my gear today and load up Silver for a trip down south. For the next few days I would be in Oliver with my friends Scott, Gill, Erin, Arron, Ryan, and Katherine for our annual wine weekend. The first year we were in Kelowna, last year in Oliver, and this year we’d be in Oliver again.

I had a slow morning start and was heading south on Highway 97 at around noon.  After a few hours on the road down the valley I was back in Keremeos to meet Scott and Gill. Even though I was only here a week ago it felt like it had been months. We wasted no time in heading down the Crowsnest, and a mere five minutes on the road we stopped at our first winery of the day: Rustic Roots. This was another fruit winery like Elephant Island, and I was reasonable impressed with their offerings. After a tasting I settled on the Apple/ Pear wine…I’ll save that one for a cheese night.

We travelled further to Seven Stones winery. I had heard about this place all year from Scott and Gill…who raved about their amazing Syrah. I know Scott was eagerly waiting to walk in and get another few bottles. However, upon arriving we found that they were SOLD OUT! Damn. September is just too late for good wine touring. The good stuff has been sold out everywhere, and this was no different.

Scott did a good job of letting our hostess know about his disappointment, and after ten minutes she went to the back and came back with a bottle of the Syrah. It was saved for somebody else but they hadn’t paid yet, so Scott got lucky. Her husband, however, appeared in the tasting room, saw the Syrah, and did not hesitate to display his disapproval of her decision. What would they tell the person this was saved for?

After paying for our wines we made our way to our motel north of Oliver by suppertime. We were staying at the Pine Bluff Motel, which was really a collection of small, comfortable duplexes. After unpacking we walked over to a nearby pub that offered very good meals at low prices (except that Gill ordered prawns and they were past their best- before date)…I got chicken and ribs for $14!  It was called Ye Olde Welcome Inn and I had a feeling we’d be back before too long.

After dinner Ryan and Katherine joined us, and we settled back in the courtyard of the motel complex until Erin and Arron arrived. A few hours later we were all quite hungry, and we ventured back to the pub for take out orders of ‘munchie baskets’…an assortment of chicken wings, fries, shrimp, and other appetizers. We got back to the motel and quickly ate our food. This proved to be a decision we would all regret as many of us woke up in the morning feeling like we had rocks in our stomaches.