NARAMATA NIRVANA
Hike, bike, SUP and sip in B.C. wine country’s secret corner
On a sunny day last summer, Wharf Park Beach in Naramata, B.C., is all but deserted. Apart from a group of sunbathing teens and a few paddle boarders in the distance, my husband and I have the sandy shore to ourselves. We can’t resist plunging into the lake’s glassy water for a midday swim after a challenging hike in nearby Okanagan Mountain Provincial Park.
This sleepy village is where Kelownians like us come to escape the packed beaches and busy tasting rooms that define summer in our own city. Each time we venture down the valley, we’re amazed that chill Naramata remains a secret corner in B.C. wine country. What’s less surprising is that locals hope it stays that way.
“We love Naramata, and we want to keep it as the shire that it is,” says longtime resident Eileen Meehan, who owns the Hawaiian-themed Sun n’ Sup paddleboard shop on Robinson Ave., the main drag.
Wedged between the Kettle Valley Rail Trail to the east and Okanagan Lake to the west, the fertile Naramata Bench does indeed feel like J.R.R. Tolkien’s fictional Shire. With a population of about 2,000 residents, but with more than 40 wineries and numerous vineyards and orchards unfurling south to Penticton, the hamlet is a peaceful and idyllic spot.
The community’s colourful downtown surf shop, lakeside location and lush mature trees imbue Naramata with island vibes. It feels like a laid-back, landlocked Hawaii, where you can follow standup paddle boarding with leisurely wine tastings that don’t require a reservation.
Naramata was founded in 1907 by real estate developer J.M. Robinson. He had a vision that the fledgling town’s sun-drenched beaches, manicured gardens and fruitful orchards would pull in vacationers arriving by sternwheeler and — after the Kettle Valley Railway was completed in 1915 — by train.
“He wanted a cultural enclave,” explains John Verde, a docent at the tiny Naramata Heritage Museum. “He foresaw there would be tourism here.”
In its early years Naramata boasted an opera house, and the town hosted glamorous regattas every summer. Robinson built a mansion in the Mission style popular in California at the time; it’s now the restored Naramata Inn.
A century later, Naramata has evolved into a lifestyle enclave. We see kids free ranging around the safe community on foot and by bike, and tourists pedalling in from the Kettle Valley Rail Trail, a decommissioned railroad turned recreational pathway. Mountain biking and hiking trails are close at hand, and the village’s three beaches are easy access points for water sports.
“Naramata’s old school,” says Meehan. “It reminds me of when I was a kid. It hasn’t changed, except there’s some higher-end wine in the Naramata (General) Store.”
Indeed, vineyards have replaced orchards, and wine tourism is a main draw (one that Robinson probably didn’t foresee).
We head off on a self-guided jaunt to sample some of the region’s approximately 50 grape varieties. The new Aikins Loop links up four wineries and a distillery for an easy 1.5-kilometre walking tour of whites, reds, fruit wine and craft spirits.
“Everything you taste here is grown within two kilometres of this building,” says winemaker Robert Van Westen inside the barrel room at Van Westen Vineyards.
We try a patio-pleasing white blend and a smooth Pinot Noir while the vineyard dog sleeps on the floor of this garagiste (garage) winery, which makes only about 2,500 cases of wine a year.
A block farther along the Aikins Loop, we settle in for a tasting on the patio at the family-run Deep Roots Winery. Over generous chilled samples of Pinot Gris and Viognier, winemaker Will Hardman speaks frankly about the winter freeze that impacted the grape yield, and jokes about how he’s a farmer who ferments. “It’s a lot of praying to Bacchus, the god of wine,” he says.
Later that evening, we run into Van Westen at the new Eliza wine bar, named after Naramata founder Robinson’s wife, and fittingly located in the Naramata Inn. We chat like old friends, and it feels like we’ve been welcomed into the community.
As always, we head back home sun-kissed and refreshed, and plot our return to this low-key lakeside hamlet.