Mission Hill

Just finished a week of drinking only BC wines (that's British Columbia, not wines from "Before Christ"...). A highlight was a visit to the Mission Hill Estate on Lake Okanagan. These guys do a very good winery tour if you feel like spending 40 bucks. You get access to their Sommelier (in our case, Jon Randle, who was an excellent host) who shows you around and answers all your questions (for instance, land suitable for vineyards goes for $60,000+ per acre in this region!!, new oak barrels cost about $800 each...). We also get to taste "the good stuff", as he puts it...with hors d'oeuvres to boot. Jon pulled out some of their older wines from the cellar, including a wonderful Chardonnay and a most delicious Merlot Family Reserve 2001 that cost a measly $21 (he sold us a few bottles to take "home" from their remaining stocks, you won't find it any more in the shops). We also got to taste their top wine, the Oculus 2003. It is young, thick and mouth coating. It is also one of the most expensive Canadian red wines you can buy ($60). I thought it was worth buying a trio of bottles to try in a few years; Jon mentioned that he thought that the 2004 was going to be even better. And, surprise surprise, we found out that you can order the wines directly from the Estate and they will ship them across provincial boundaries...no more waiting for Vintages releases!! The only disappointment was that their "SLC" line of wines that we tasted/bought seemed overpriced at about $40 per bottle; they will improve with age but I still don't think they're worth that much (especially when compared with the 2001 reserve merlot at half the price).
So, if you're in the region, I suggest you take the tour, sample the goods, and , if their restaurant is open, eat the food too!!
Cheers...