Valentine’s calls for wine
Red and rose wines sporting the crimson and pink hues associated with hearts and amorousity are, naturally, perfect Valentine’s Day sippers.
But, then again, white wine, bubbles and icewine are also apropos for celebrating romance.
In other words, any wine will do when it comes to wooing a sweetheart on Feb. 14, or any other day for that matter.
To prime lovers for Valentine’s Day, two Okanagan wine regions have special events this weekend.
Today in Kelowna, the Lakeshore Wine Route’s Love the Wine You’re With party from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. features complimentary wine tastings paired with chocolates from Kara at CedarCreek, Tantalus, Summerhill Pyramid and St. Hubertus wineries.
In West Kelowna, the Westside Wine Trail’s Sip with Your Sweetheart foray spans two days, today and tomorrow from noon to 4 p.m.
Drop by any, or all, of the 13 wineries on the Westside trail for complimentary wine and chocolate pairings.
The 13 are: Ciao Bella, Beaumont, Grizzli, Indigenous, Kalala, Little Straw, Off the Grid, Mount Boucherie, Mission Hill, Quails’ Gate, Rollingdale, The Hatch and Volcanic Hills.
Black Hills Winery in Oliver is touting new releases, 2016 Cellar Hand Punch Down Red ($30) and Alias white ($19), as ideal pre-dinner and dinner drinks for Valentine’s Day.
Punch Down is a juicy blend of Syrah, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Carmenere, which boasts the unexpected, but welcomed, aromas and flavours of cherry cola.
Alias is one of those off-dry everything-but-the-kitchen-sink blends of Riesling, Pinot Blanc, Gewurztraminer, Schoenburger, Muscat and Ehrenfelser.
Its hint of sweetness and aroma and tastes of passionfruit means its versatile for pairing with a hot and spicy main dish or dessert.
While this shindig isn’t until June, the B.C. Wine Institute is billing tickets to Chef Meets BC Grape as a thoughtful gift for your Valentine.
To be held at See Ya Later Ranch Winery in Okanagan Falls on June 23, the festival is a mish-mash of tastings from 40 wineries, food stations, chef demonstrations and seminars.
Tickets are $115 at WineBC.com.
Monkfish
If you want to commemorate Valentine’s Day with delicious, yet relatively unknown, fish and wine, then monkfish with Chenin Blanc is a consummate pairing.
My wife, Kerry, discovered a macademia-nut-and-pankocrusted halibut recipe she wanted to try on TheOrganicKitchen.com.
However, when we arrived at Codfathers Seafood Market in Kelowna, we were told halibut is out of season right now.
So, we walked out with monkfish, which is often referred to as poor man’s lobster for its firm white flesh, which has a texture similar to lobster.
The finished dish of crusted flash-fried and then-baked fish complemented the aromatic Discovery Series Chenin Blanc 2016 ($17) from Inniskillin in Oliver.
The wine is fresh and crisp with a nose and flavours of ginger and honey followed by pear and lime.
New chef
Meat doesn’t have to be the star of every meal.
That’s the new mantra of Jeremy Luypen, who just started as chef at Summerhill Pyramid Winery’s Sunset Organic Bistro in Kelowna.
“Always focusing on protein as the centre of the plate leaves vegetarians with the short end of the stick,” said Luypen.
“So, at Summerhill, we are doing the opposite. While we will definitely still continue to serve Oceanwise products from Codfathers Seafood Market and grass-fed meats from Two Rivers Specialty (in North Vancouver), we fundamentally believe a plant-based diet with better, not more meat, is the way to go.”
Luypen will source most of his vegetables for the new menu locally and will also use produce from Summerhill’s own biodynamic gardens.
Luypen comes to the winery from Predator Ridge Golf Community near Vernon, where he was executive chef at the course’s high-end Range restaurant for four years.
Before that he helped open the Train Station Pub and Mission Tap House in Kelowna in 2013 and was the original owner and operator of Terrafina restaurant at Hester Creek Winery in Oliver from 2010-13.
Luypen is also an instructor for Okanagan College’s culinary arts program, was the Okanagan Chefs’ Association’s chef of the year in 2016 and was honoured as a Top Forty Under 40 nominee in this newspaper in 2015.
Spring fest
It’s not too early to be thinking spring.
The Spring Okanagan Wine Festival to be exact.
The 24th annual edition of the fest will feature 90 events up and down the valley from May 2-13.
Tickets for events, ranging from mass tastings and seminars to wine-pairing dinners and Mother’s Day brunches, went on sale this week at TheWineFestivals.com.
The fest kicks off with the Best of Varietal Awards announcement and reception May 2 at the Penticton Trade & Convention Centre, followed by two nights of WestJet Wine Tastings at the Rotary Centre for the Arts in Kelowna on May 4 and 5.
“Spring is a special time for all the member wineries and tourism partners of the Okanagan Wine Festivals Society,” said society chair Lindsay Kelm of Quails’ Gate Winery in Kelowna.
“For us, this festival is the unofficial kick-off to the busy summer season and gives us the chance to celebrate the new spring releases.”
The society also puts on the marquee Fall Okanagan Wine Festival to celebrate harvest, a winter fest at Sun Peaks Resort near Kamloops and a summer party at Silver Star Mountain Resort near Vernon.
Steve MacNaull is The Okanagan Weekend’s business and wine reporter and columnist. Reach him at steve.macnaull@ok.bc.ca.