Make Time for Wine

Since the turn of this century, B.C. has aggressively scaled the wall of winemaking mastery with a speed and passion that has left the rest of this world doing a well-deserved double take. And if there is anyone to thank for their contribution to putting B.C. on the global wine map, it is Howard Soon, master winemaker for Sandhill Wines. Innovation and expertise mark his style of winemaking (Soon is approaching his 20^th year with Sandhill and 35 years as a winemaker), and his list of awards and accomplishments are dizzying. When you win a Gold Medal at the Chardonnay du Monde in France, the world starts paying attention. And then when you produce B.C.’s first Super Tuscan, the world starts knocking at your door.

Sandhill’s Urban Winery is located in the heart of Kelowna, and under Soon’s masterful eye, they produce single-vineyard wines from six unique vineyards across the Okanagan and Similkameen Valleys, with a stress on a non-interventionist approach. This means that each wine they produce exhibits inimitable characteristics that naturally reflect the soil and terrain from which they are grown. It is an impressive winemaking philosophy, and from it, they have produced impressive wines.

Although Sandhill has been producing wine for almost 20 years, their Urban Winery is only a few years old, and exhibits a true sense of passion and excitement not only for winemaking, but also for sharing it with people. Architectural intentions showcase the landscape of the Okanagan Valley and of each Sandhill vineyard, and spatial design allows for social and didactic interaction. Enjoy daily wine education sessions, a variety of interactive wine tasting sessions, virtual tours of the vineyards, a tasting room and a wine lounge. Every detail has been perfected. —Vitamin Daily

Creep their Instagram account (@sandhillwines) for wine memes and spectacular photography: Tonight’s forecast: 99 per cent chance of wine.

1125 Richter St., Kelowna. 250-979-4211. www.sandhillwines.ca

Grape Minds is a multi-part summer travel series exploring British Columbia’s incredible array of wineries. This post is brought to you by Sandhill Wines.