Things got off to an upbeat start. Matt from Experience Wine Tours picked us at eight-thirty, right on time. The van quickly filled up with ten paying customers in surprising comfort. Matt drove us off towards the Naramata Bench, a fertile hillside that slopes from a clifftop rising from Okanagan Lake, an hour south of Kelowna. Our new companions were a reasonable crew, friendly but not intrusive, interested in wine but neither snobby nor obsessed. These are important attributes for folks with whom I would spend seven hours in a van.
As were headed down the lakeshore Matt gave sparse but informative commentary, a relief since over-talkative tour guides can be most irritating. On the contrary, Matt had us introduce ourselves – something many a second-rate tour guide will neglect to do – and asked almost as many questions as he answered.
A column of smoke marked another wildfire in the forest not far from our destination. For the rest of the day, lake water-skimming tanker planes flew low overhead on their way to pick up and dump huge quantities of water on the blaze, a dangerous business.
Today, though, was all about the wine. I had looked forward to this day more than any other we had planned. To start at the end, I will say I was not disappointed – to the contrary, the tour surpassed my expectations. [For those readers amongst of you who complain that I complain too much, nyaah.]
Continue reading 12. Wine Whine
