Pre Fest-of-Ale events begin this week
What better way to spend the run up to next Friday and Saturday’s Fest-of-Ale in Penticton than drinking more beer?
As such, Joe Wiebe, aka the Victoria-based Thirsty Writer, will be hosting three events prior to next weekend’s main event.
On Tuesday from 6 to 9 p.m. at BNA Brewing & Restaurant in Kelowna, Wiebe will be at the Kelowna Casks event featuring suds from the city’s craft breweries BNA, Kettle River, Boundary and Tree. He’ll be on hand to sign copies of his book, Craft Beer Revolution, and chat about B.C. brews.
Admission to Kelowna Casks is $15 at the door.
For Wednesday’s Craft Beer Revolution and Beer Tasting, 7 to 9 p.m. at Marten Brewing in Vernon, you can buy $25 tickets ahead of time at Eventbrite.ca.
Wiebe will host the event, which includes some beer-in-B.C. history and samples of five cold ones, including the special brew created by Marten in Wiebe’s honour.
On Thursday from 7 to 9 p.m. at Bad Tattoo Brewing in Penticton, Wiebe pops up again to tell the story of India pale ale and, of course, sip ales. Tickets are $25 at Eventbrite.ca. The first edition of Craft Beer Revolution in 2013 profiled 50 such breweries in B.C. and won the Gourmand Award for best beer book in Canada. The updated version includes 90 craft brewers, a testament to the explosive growth in the sector.
Fest-of-Ale is April 7 from 4 to 9 p.m. and April 8 from noon to 6 p.m. at the Penticton Trade and Convention Centre featuring offerings from 65 breweries and a dozen food vendors.
Tickets are $29 for one day or $47 for both at FestOfAle.ca.
Garden destination
Garden tourism is becoming big business worldwide.
And the Okanagan has its own horticultural star in Okanagan Lavender & Herb Farm, located at 4380 Takla Rd. in Kelowna.
The grower of lavender, roses, lemon balm, sage, rosemary, thyme, oregano, basil and spearmint was recently named garden destination of the year at the Canadian Garden Council’s 2017 Garden Tourism Awards in Toronto.
That’s a strong endorsement to visit the farm, take a guided or self-guided tour through the grounds and shop at the boutique brimming with teas, salts, herb and spice mixes, jellies, sugars and beauty products made of lavender and the other various flowers and herbs.
Okanagan Lavender & Herb Farm has also been chosen as a Canada 150 Garden in celebration of the country’s sesquicentennial and will have an art, music and food party in the garden on Aug. 19.
But, before that, it will also be featured on the June 18 Flower Power Garden Tour.
Currently, you can shop online at OkanaganLavender.com or visit by appointment.
Otherwise, you’ll have to wait until the boutique opens on May 1 and the gardens open on May 20.
The peak time for lavender bloom is the first three weeks of July.
However, there’s always something in bloom throughout the spring, summer and fall.
Phantom Creek
As the director of wine education at West Kelowna’s Mission Hill Winery for 17 years, Ingo Grady wasn’t looking for a new job.
However, when a dream job as president of the new Phantom Creek Winery in Oliver was offered to him he couldn’t turn it down.
“I’m giddy that I’ve been given this opportunity after 36 years in the business,” said Grady.
“Phantom Creek really is the jewel of the South Okanagan, and the vision is to be one of the most important wine estates in Canada.”
Phantom Creek was created when Richmond-based investor Richter Bai, who made his money in iron ore mining and flaxseed processing in China, bought the prestigious 60-acre Sundial and seven-acre Phantom Creek vineyards along Black Sage Road.
Sundial was previously owned by Harry McWatters, the Okanagan wine pioneer behind Time, McWatters Collection and Evolve wineries, and Phantom Creek was purchased from grape grower Richard Cleave, who supplied quality Bordeaux varieties for Sandhill Wines’ best labels.
One hundred tons of red grapes was harvested from the properties in 2016 and is being made into premium wines to be released in time for Phantom Creek’s grand opening in the summer of 2019.
A winery building, complete with visitor centre, shop and indoor-outdoor view restaurant is being constructed atop the Sundial vineyard. Icewine grapes were also purchased last year and made into sweet nectar to be exported to Asia this fall.
Phantom Creek is also on the lookout for more prime vineyards and grapes to buy to get into more red wine and white wine production.
Bai also owns 40 acres in cooler and wetter Richmond, which is nicely suited to Pinot Noir and Chardonnay grapes to make sparkling wines.
Phantom Creek also has Fine Vintage consultant and master of wine James Cluer on board as project strategist; New Zealandborn Ross Wise, formerly of Flat Rock Winery in Niagara, as winemaker; and California husbandand-wife team Cameron and Annie Vawter as viticulturist and consulting winemaker.
TV home sale
Seller’s Market producers are looking for some Kelowna owners who’d like to sell their homes with the magic of TV.
The first six episodes of the show were shot by Kelowna’s Visland Media in conjunction with Victoria’s Cedarwood Productions for airing nationally on CHEK-TV starting this fall.
However, as more episodes are scheduled to be shot, more homes are needed from entrylevel condominiums to multimillion-dollar mansions.
The premise of the show is to have five of Kelowna’s top realtors competing to win listings.
If chosen, homes will be featured on TV, will be represented by a hotshot realtor and homeowners will receive some perks to make the home-selling experience fun and easy.
If you’re interested, email Alex Miller at alex@vislandmedia.com.
High rents
Kelowna continues to be one of the most expensive places in Canada to rent an apartment.
Figures from national portal Padmapper.com show Kelowna is the fifth-priciest city to for a two-bedroom apartment with the average monthly rent at $1,450.
With an average of $1,000 a month rent for a one-bedroom unit, Kelowna is the eighth-most expensive market in the country.
Vancouver tops both the oneand-two-bedroom lists with $1,900 and $3,130 average monthly rents.
Steve MacNaull is a business reporter and columnist with The Okanagan Saturday. Reach him at steve.macnaull@ok.bc.ca.