Travels with Chili: Be A Pal

We saw this on a grocery store shelf in Penticton and dissolved into hysterics. No beating around the bush here!

Travels with Chili: Magical Moment

This road trip through Canada's Okanagan could easily be titled the Magical Mystery Tour if some pesky little English boppers hadn't already coined the term. After all, we were traveling through country we'd never seen before and knew little about, following (most times, anyway) a path laid out for us by someone I'd only met once before. It could have been disastrous, full of blah people, blah food and even blah-er wines. But, like the previous couple of days, it was turning into a voyage of discovery (yes, I know, that's taken, too) with fascinating people, great food and terrific, quaffable wines around every corner.

Tinhorn Creek Winery.

The next stop on the itinerary was at Tinhorn Creek winery, founded by Kenn Oldfield and his wife, winemaker Sandra Oldfield. Planting their first grapes in 1994 and implementing sustainable practices, they've become the first Canadian winery to become completely carbon neutral.

While that's commendable all by itself, their wines, mostly pinot gris, merlot, cab franc and gevurtz, are what's really impressive. And we loved their rosé, which was a private project of Sandra's. Told that a rosé wasn't a good fit with the rest of their list, she made some in secret, even keeping it away from her assistant winemakers, stashing the barrel in the back of the winery. When it was ready, she poured a glass and took it to her husband. He tried it, asking whose it was. "Yours," she answered. And a sellout success was born. Gotta love a gal like that!

The inimitable Mr. McAuliffe.

Our dinner that night was at their restaurant, Miradoro, a joint project of Tinhorn Creek and Vancouver restaurateur Manuel Ferreira, owner of one of my fave restos in that city, Le Gavroche. Jutting out of the steep hillside next to the winery, its wraparound deck soars out over the valley with a commanding view of the entire Golden Mile Bench. Our winery guide, Lindsey White, turned us over to General Manager and Sommelier Justin McAuliffe, who showed us to our corner table on the very edge of the deck (top photo).

Now, Dave and I are both a tad acrophobic, but that view was so spectacular that we completely forgot our fears. Justin's first question was "how deep" we wanted to go in the menu, and I tried to say we'd been eating non-stop for days and that three shared courses would be more than plenty. I could tell from his reaction that this wasn't the right answer, and when the first course arrived I knew we were in deep trouble.

Zucchini fritters, crab salad, cherry tomatoes.

It started off innocently enough, actually, with a rosé from 8th Generation Vineyard in Summerland, a winery up north near Kelowna. The fresh, cool, lightly pink wine perfectly counterpointed the warm late summer evening, but then Justin brought out two little glass orbs filled with a milky golden liquid. A fresh corn purée topped with the tiniest of pickled chanterelles, it was the taste of summer condensed into a couple of spoonfuls. To finish off the course he poured some of Tinhorn's rosé, a heartier version due to being made from 100% cab franc, yet still completely lovely. That's when he mentioned that the BC police are notoriously hard-nosed about drinking and driving. Why would he bring that up? Hm.

A glass of Tinhorn's Two Bench White kicked off a platter of zucchini fritters garnished with tiny sprays of unopened fennel blossoms (minty and surprising), a Dungeness crab salad and halved cherry tomatoes with a peach vinaigrette and pickled onion slivers. Such flavor! Then what I thought must be the entrée (I said three courses, right?), a chanterelle risotto with local grilled summer squash and small Walla Walla onions from Covert Farm with an elegant smear of eggplant purée, came with a glass of Tinhorn's pinot. Sigh…so good!

Chanterelle risotto, summer squash.

We just about to gather up our things and head back to the hotel when who should materialize but Justin, with a pitcher of their '00 Cab Franc and a plate of tenderly braised lamb neck, about which I'd heard but had never tasted, surrounded by little lamb meatballs on a caponata of eggplant, tomato and hazelnuts, sautéed kale with lemon zest, roasted cauliflower and pea shoots.

Okanagan beef.

At this point we'd lost count of the courses in the wonderful onslaught of great wines and beautifully made food. As we enjoyed the last of that crazy good cab franc, our interlocutor, Justin, poured splashes of a delicious '08 Tinhorn Merlot to accompany the Okanagan beef, the cousins of which, he'd pointed out, were grazing just across the valley. The thinly sliced beef was set on olive oil crushed potatoes garnished with pea shoots and pickled onions, all set on a smear of harissa, all of which was amazing.

The blessed cheese plate.

Dessert finally arrived, thank the gods, a cheese course of local aged pecorino and a Poplar Grove Blue, served with candied salted hazelnuts, poached plums and a spring of mint, all drizzled with local honey, along with a stack of housemade sesame crackers. Then, just to really mess with our heads, Justin brought out a cup of chocolate budino with orange cream of which I could only manage a small spoonful. (Was that a glint of devilish glee in his eye?)

When we got back to the room, I sent him the following e-mail:

“We made it back to the hotel safely after a couple of high-speed chases with the BC police, but they were no match for our Mini. Thought you'd like to know.

“Tonight, as I hope we made abundantly clear, was truly an amazing night. The view, the wines, the food, the service were all spectacular, right up there with the best we've ever had. Thanks for making it a truly memorable evening.”

Details: Tinhorn Creek Winery and Miradoro, 32830 Tinhorn Creek Rd., Oliver, BC. 250-498-3743.

Read the other posts in this series, The Great Okanagan Road Trip, Okangan's Lake Country, Perched In Penticton, Penticton Personalities and Crazy for Kelowna.

Travels with Chili: Okanagan's Lake Country

It helps if you think about BC's Okanagan region as a squished Willamette Valley, only instead of a river running its length, there is a series of long lakes glistening from its head in Kelowna to its toes in Osoyoos. And rather than being cloudy and/or raining 222 days a year, it has about that many sunny, dry days. Which means the irrigated floor of this narrow valley is lush farmland known for its fruit orchards, and the hills that enclose the valley, unlike the lush green found here, are dry and scrubby.

In addition to orchards, the area was historically known for growing table grapes and producing some pretty mediocre (to put it kindly) wines. Then about forty years ago some visionary started planting vinifera grapes on the drier "bench" lands between the valley floor and the hills. The soil of these benches is primarily sand and gravel left from the Pleistocene-era glacier that carved out the valley, perfect for growing wine grapes.

Gene Covert with McIntyre Bluff behind him.

So it was appropriate that our first stop was to visit Gene Covert, owner of Covert Farm Organics and co-owner of Dunham and Froese Estate Winery. The land was purchased by Gene's grandfather in the late 50s and was conventionally farmed until the late 90s. That's when Gene and his wife Shelly decided to convert the farm to organic agriculture. Located at the narrower northern end of 14-mile-long Osoyoos Lake, the winds that blow up the valley are blocked by a large rocky promontory called McIntyre Bluff. The air circulation from these winds helps Gene grow grapes and vegetables that don't grow as well in other parts of the valley.

During the conversion to organic, a friend and local restaurateur, Mary Theodosakis, introduced them to a new revenue stream in the weeds they'd formerly fought with pesticides. On a visit to the farm with her young family, Mary saw, growing among the farm's tomatoes, the "horta," or greens, her mother used to prepare in Greece. And now Coverts' purslane and amaranth are featured in the farm's store and on some of the valley's hottest restaurant menus.

Our next appointment was at Hester Creek Estate Winery, with dinner at Terrafina, the property's brand new Tuscan-themed restaurant. The winery also boasts five "villa" rooms that look like they'd be a nice splurge for a night or two, considering their gorgeous views of the lake. Our tour guide, the bubbly Sarah Lefebvre, tasted us through the wines—we particularly loved the reserve cab franc—then escorted us to our terrace table for dinner. Restaurant co-owners April Goldade and Chef Jeremy Luypen came out and introduced themselves, insisting we sit down and eat while our seared scallops (above right) were still warm. For a restaurant that's only been open a few months, Luypen is presenting an ambitious menu that shows potential to become a real showcase for the region's cuisine.

A tasting at Road 13 winery the next day included an introduction to their new winemaker, J.M. Bouchard (left), a handsome young French-Canadian with big ambitions. He said his job thus far had been as babysitter to the wines made by the vineyard's previous winemaker, known for big, juicy, internatonal-style pinots. He was obviously excited to start his first harvest at the winery, which, like Oregon's, was delayed due to the cool temperatures early in the summer.

Wine tasting first thing in the morning had us longing for lunch, so we zipped back to Osoyoos and into Dolci Deli, where owner Annina Hoffmeister has become known for her house-made bacon and a German-style dried, smoked meat called bündnerfleisch. She said that in the southern part of Germany where her family hailed from, the meat was traditionally hung in the large fireplace opening where the exterior would become blackened by the smoke from the fire. I can only imagine how delicious that might have been, if her version is any example. She also makes and sells her own jams, which made nice gifts to bring home, though I saved her rhubarb rosemary for myself.

All this wine tasting and eating made us feel like we needed to insist on having a light dinner that evening at Tinhorn Creek winery and their new restaurant, Miradoro. I should have known better.

Read the other posts in this series, The Great Okanagan Road Trip, Magical Moment, Perched In Penticton, Penticton Personalities and Crazy for Kelowna.

Travels with Chili: The Great Okanganan Road Trip

There's nothing like a road trip to clear your mind and open up your head to new possibilities. Especially when those possibilities involve lots of good food, wine and folks.

Flourishing orchards, dry hills.

It had been a good long while since Dave and I had taken an extended vacation, just the two of us, so we decided to head out on the road and explore some new territory up in British Columbia's Okanagan wine country. Not to be confused with Washington's Okanogan (note different spelling), basically the southern half of the same valley. Go figure.

Driving up the Gorge, turning left at Biggs Junction then heading up through Goldendale, Yakima, Ellensburg and Wenatchee, we crossed the Columbia River three times, surprised that it seemed just as big way up north as it does here (top photo). North of Yakima the rich river basin turns into lush orchard land, reminding me of Washington's reputation as the apple capitol of the Northwest. Most look like conventional operations, so we weren't tempted to stop and pick the ripe red, green and yellow fruit, plus we were pretty sure they wouldn't survive the Canadian border inspection.

The Methow Valley Inn in Twisp.

After seven hours of driving we could have made the two-hour dash to the border but, fortuitously it turns out, we decided to stay in the tiny town of Twisp, Washington, at the Methow Valley Inn. A historic hotel with a barn-like Dutch roof, we were greeted by affable co-owner Peter Morgan, who showed us around the simple but elegant inn, pointing out the indentations in the stairs made by decades of loggers' caulk boots.

Peter Morgan of the Methow Valley Inn.

Clean, quiet and comfortable, our third floor room had its own balcony that overlooked the garden patio shaded by a giant silver maple. Rather than hanging around our room, at this point we were more interested in finding dinner and a well-deserved beverage. We'd heard about the local brewpub, but Peter pointed us toward, believe it or not in a town of just under one thousand souls, an authentic Sicilian restaurant called Tappi.

Tappi, a Sicilian outpost in Washington's Okanogan.

The son of Italian immigrants, John Bonica had always wanted to open a restaurant dedicated to the foods he grew up watching his mother prepare. With the recipes he learned in her kitchen and with a wood-fired oven as the restaurant's centerpieces, he's dishing out food that would hold its own against the best Italian places in Seattle or Portland.

When we walked in, John had just pulled a cast-iron skillet of polenta out of his oven and was putting in small rounds of his sourdough "cuscino" (pillow) loaves that he offers as appetizers with ricotta or roasted tomatoes. Both went on our mental "must order" list, and to go with them we splurged on a bottle of Produttori del Barbaresco "Torre"…I mean, it was our anniversary, for pete's sake. Without going into lugubrious descriptors, my braised beef with romaine was astonishing, and Dave's pork sugo with penne was sublime in the way that meat in its falling-apart stage can be. Dessert? Forget it. But as soon as John heard it was our anniversary, he brought over a bottle of the house dessert wine…yes, he has one…a Colosi Malvasia, rich and delicious. Needless to say we barely remember the two-block walk back to the inn or much of anything else before we fell sound asleep.

Our early departure was delayed by a discussion with a French documentary filmmaker…I should have known this was a foreshadowing of the amazing people we'd run into on this trip…but depart we did, and crossed the border without incident to start our Okanagan adventure.

On to Osoyoos!

Read the other posts in this series, Okangan's Lake Country, Magical Moment, Perched In Penticton, Penticton Personalities and Crazy for Kelowna.