Similkameen Valley, B.C.

(the photo was taken from Herder's grape crushpad; what a view!)

We just winetasted the Similkameen Valley, in British Columbia. This valley is west of (and parallel to) the Okanagan Valley, though the latter extends further north. Both valleys are very close to the north-central Washington state border. To get there, visit Yakima, Lake Chelan, and Leavenworth in WA, all with good winetasting (I'll blog those separately).

The best trip (from Portland) would involve day-tasting in late morning in the gorge and Yakima, then get to Leavenworth by 2 p.m. or so (to give you time to window shop, winetaste, and play the Enzian Inn's 18-hole championship putting course, and to eat fine German food, and the next day drive to the Okanagan in B.C., winetasting all the way up to Kelowna. Two nights up there, with one half day driven over to the Similkameen, hitting just these wineries: Seven Stones, Eau Vivre, Orofino, Robin's Ridge, Herder. Then, on the way back south, stay in Lake Chelan and winetaste there (including lunch on the patio/bistro of Vin du Lac), and play on the wonderful lake. DO NOT take more than 2 bottles of wine into Canada, or it will cost you a fortune. Instead, ship your pre-Canada purchases back home before entering Maple-land. You can bring a ton of wine back from Canada, however; see below.

Overall, the Similkameen is a relatively poor agricultural region (apples, mostly), with just one small town, Keremeos, that seems to close up promptly at 5 p.m. (except for a few restaurants); it's dusty, a little quiet (we found a great hiking trail along the river there), and fairly poor. Tourism is not a focus there. It's a fruit-stand capital, but prices are surprisingly high for some things (a one-pint jar of homemade pickles at a large open-air fruit stand was $11!!!). There are only 12 or so wineries there. The wines' prices are reasonable (for craft wines), from about $15 to about $35, with many falling around $20 (Canadian, but the CD and USD are about equal now). Lodging is simple-to-worse and there are few good restaurants (try the good Thai place). Unless you can stay with one of the winery owners, don't spend the night. However, there are ample reasons to go. In fact, some of you must go: the Chardonnay lovers.

The Similkameen is a winegrape-growing site with good potential. It has alkali (limestone-based) rocky and clay soils (and in the south end it has lots of ash from earlier mega-eruptions of Mt. St. Helens). It's a dry desert valley with steep side cliffed mountains. Frosts can come as early as October 15, and the grapes need a long hang time, sometimes more than that. The valley's searching for its wine identity. My take is that most of the reds there are thin, lacking the body we see in so many Walla Walla, Tri-Cities, and Red Mountain wines. One could argue that it's elegance and delicacy instead, and some reds have that, for sure, but many are just thin. The Okanagan and Similameen push the northern extreme of marginality for grapes, and thus there are failures there. The temperatures (lacking the moderating influence of the Okanagan's mighty lakes) are extreme--from maybe -10F to 110F. In the colder winters, many of the vinifera grapevines freeze to death (not unlike Walla Walla, but it is more extreme in Similkameen). You would think the 110F days would easily ripen the grapes, but I heard that it is a race to get ripe before the frosts (not so different from the Willamette's race to get ripe before the rains).

However, the white wines (and some few reds) there can be very good--great, even. In fact, for my money the Similkameen is a Chardonnay lover's Mecca. If you love the minerally-driven, restrained-fruit and oak, "heavily-malo-lacticted" style style of Chard, this valley's for you! So many Chardonnays ring the bell with true excellence--I mean better than the vast majority of white Burgundies, and that is heresy to say, I know, but it's true. So get yourself to the Okanagan, and take that side-trip to the Similkameen, and taste everything there, but especially the Chards. Bring a bunch of them back to the US with you; the US border guards have always let my wines in for free although they certainly have the right to collect the tiny duty (I surmise they don't want to do the paperwork for a small amount). (DO disclose your wines; it's the law, and for the first time ever, our trunk was checked, though we used the backroads Similkameen Road border crossing, where the guards see few cars and were more suspicious. But it saved us about :30 minutes.)

The wineries:

1. Seven Stones: 2700 case production. Talented winemaker. Breath-takingly beautiful site. The southernmost winery of note. '09 Chard sur lie (on skins and lees and stirred twice a day) was excellent at C$25. '10 Pinot noir rose $19 was very nice. '08 Pinot noir was too light and $28. '07 Meritage (Merlot-driven, as all red blends in the valley) was forgettable. '09 Merlot ($25) had a too-light nose and tasted sharp. '09 Syrah was very different; hard to describe and maybe a flaw ($35). They wouldn't give me a trade discount. Gorgeous purses (Buddha Bag) and jewelry for sale there.

2. Eau Vivre (1500 cases): My favorite, probably, in terms of the most success across its entire product line. '08 Chard ($18) was really, really good; faint nose but creamy and good fruit. Crisp, almost sharp. '08 Gewurz ($17) had no lychee; the nose was faint, floral, and delicate with an earthy note. MLF creaminess. Delicate and mineral-driven describes many of the whites in the region. '08 Pinot noir: $19; grown south-facing with maximum sun (!) and it's unique: light, fruity, very nice. Not at all like we like our Willamette PN's, but this is special and you should try it. '09 Cab Franc ($22) was on skins 18 days; just-bottled so given some slack; tannic; will age well; also light but elegant, nice. They gave me a small trade discount.

3. Orofino: A smart-looking, and very green, winery made from straw bales and stucco/plaster. Fronted by almond trees. Great people; spent quality time with John; he really gets it; one to watch; is young and has lots of time to continue building his reputation. He opened in 2005. 2010 Pinot gris ($20): Crisp, minerals. '10 Riesling $20: 21-year-old vines; 0.5% RS; nice nose. '09 Red Bridge Merlot $25: great color, nice nose; a bit sharp. '08 Beleza ($34): Merlot heavy blend: Very interesting but maybe not for the price; lay it down for 3-6 years.

4. Herder: Fanciest winery in the valley; gorgeous estate and view. '09 Chard at $20 is a bargain--a monumental Chard; nose muted but mouth magnificent; butterscotch in spades with heavy MLF. '08 Cab Franc ($35) No nose but good mouth; pricey. '08 Merlot ($35) Unique smell; nice; good palate; bit thin and sharp. '07 Josephine $40: 66% Merlot: Good nose and good palate. Aside from the Chard, the prices are a little bit out of whack with the rest of the valley; I guess they need to pay for that wow-wow estate.

5. Robins' Ridge: This is the "guilty pleasure" winery there: a little more casual and you don't expect much when you go in. '08 Chard $16: nice; not the equal of the others. '10 Gewurz $19: Good! Floral, some RS, bit tart. '09 Pinot noir: $22: Nose is way off; palate's OK. '09 Gamay $22: Surprisingly nice; round fruit; pleasing (Gamay? Really? Cool!). '08 Robin's Return $20: Pinot noir and Rougeon (a French-American hybrid--hurray!): Fun fruity nose; very good; served with raspberry chocolate and wonderful. '07 Merlot $20: Off chemical nose-yuck.

6. St. Lazlo: If Robin's Ridge is the "guilty pleasure," then you need to disguise yourself and your car before turning in here. First planter in the valley, from Eastern Europe: Grows many wonderful grapes: Pinot blanc, Pearl of Csaba; Perle of Zela (Hungarian), Pinot Auxerrois; Tokay; Sovereign Royal. All the wines are oxidized, which may be because nobody ever goes to taste there, so the wines sit open. It's not in the same league as the other wineries. But our host (a wonderful older, gruffy woman from Saskatchewan and Manitoba, who at first seemed distrustful of us, as in "why are you here?" "Ummm--because you're a winery and the sign says you're open?") opened one bottle but even IT was oxidized, so maybe the wines are just left in the open air for a few years ;) . The keeper, however, was the Tokay, a great Hungarian grape-13% alcohol so not fortified, but sweetish and the most gorgeous caramel flavors and color. Don't know how they do it but don't care. Was a bit oxidized but the sherry notes make it perfect! Lucky find. At the upcoming winetasting I'll serve this with chocolate caramels and we'll all be in Heaven ;) .

7. Crow's Nest: German family. We stayed there. Nice folks, working hard (the daughter is innkeeper, winemaker, and breakfast-maker and server). The wines are pretty plain and mostly show the disattributes common to that region.. The rooms are exactly as advertised: Spartan, simple, plain, plastic. We were the only guests. No one ate at the restaurant. Tough times in the valley. I wish the whole valley well. It suffers from the successes of the much better-known Okanagan Valley next door (which sports numerous very wealthy wineries, headed by the prettiest winery in the New World: Mission Hill). It is light-years, not mere miles, between those two valleys, in terms of wealth and tourism, and yet as I say the Similkameen should not be missed. Give it another decade to figure things out, and I predict it will start showing up on the "must see" lists of many critics.