There’s a winery touring area a relatively short drive away, where the people speak a slightly different language and use completely different currency, but welcome all as they go about the art of melding winemaking with hearty hospitality.
We rightfully focus a lot of our attention on the wine regions of Eastern Washington. In places such as Chelan, Prosser and Walla Walla, there are great wines and memorable experiences for those of us eager oenophiles willing to make the hop over the mountains.
On the west side of the state we can’t ignore the mushroom cloud of new and exciting wineries exploding in Woodinville Wine Country as well as the wineries on the Olympic Peninsula, in the islands and along the I-5 corridor all the way up to Blaine.
When we think about wineries beyond Blaine to the north, the first thing to come to mind is the equally explosive wine region of Canada’s Okanagan.
However, there is a little secret wine region just a hop, skip and sip over the Canadian border in the expansive Fraser River Valley. This under-the-radar region has played second fiddle to the much more recognized and celebrated Okanagan Valley appellation, which has become the northernmost serious wine region in the world.
The Fraser Valley wine region (aka Lower Mainland, B.C. wine region) is home to 17 wineries (and counting) and stretches from Hope, in the northeast, to just south of Vancouver, following the course of the Fraser River as it flows to the sea.
The Fraser Valley is surrounded by the Coast Mountains to the north, the Fraser Canyon and Cascade Mountains to the northeast, the U.S. border to the south and the Strait of Georgia to the west.
Most of the wineries in this region are nestled among the rolling hills and tucked into the rural countryside in such a way that, without adequate signage, you’d be hard pressed to locate them.
After years of zipping by on the way up to Vancouver or Whistler, I decided to make a pilgrimage to the heart of this little-known B.C. wine area to see (and taste) for myself what the Fraser Valley wine scene is all about.
We took Highway 539 out of Bellingham, bypassed the sleepy town of Lynden and crossed into Canada.
It didn’t take long to find signs of wine life in the Langley countryside, seeing winery postings within a few miles of the border.
Our first stop was a winery that sounded (if my pronunciation was correct) like it belonged in the highlands of Scotland rather than the lowlands of British Columbia. Glenugie Winery (named for the original family farm in Scotland, which was in a glen by the river Ugie) turned out to be the perfect introduction to this new and personally untapped wine region.
The tasting room was abuzz with a local family in their Sunday best, celebrating the birthday of “Mum,” and after Mum spilled a little wine on the bar, they asked for a serviette. (I told you they spoke a slightly different language. That’s a napkin, by the way.)
The wines from this estate winery were surprisingly delicious, and the delightful hostess couldn’t have been more hospitable. As it turned out, the winery was recently sold, and the new owners have big plans for the facility, including a name change.
Our next stop was the Domaine de Chaberton Estate Winery. It’s not only the granddaddy of the wine region, having 55 established acres of vines and 20-plus years of winemaking experience, it’s also home to an awesome Zagat-rated restaurant.
We hastily tasted through the winery’s complimentary lineup of wines, finding an off-dry white blend quite delicious and a gamay noir that screamed, “Have me for lunch!”
And so we did, as we ventured into Bacchus Bistro, adjacent to their tasting room, and found a little culinary nirvana.
Township 7 Vineyards and Winery was next up as we glided blissfully away from the warm Bacchus embrace of Domaine de Chaberton, vowing to return.
Township 7’s little five-acre estate also has a second location, in Naramata, on the shore of Lake Okanagan. These wines have been brought to my attention over the past couple of years, but given the tight border restrictions on wine, a bottle had yet to pass into my possession.
We were heartily greeted by Stan “The Man” as we entered the tasting room and the tasting commenced with vigor and verve. When the dust settled, the verdict was in — Nice juice!
Stan recommended another winery that specializes in fruit wines just outside Fort Langley, fittingly called The Fort Wine Company, and so off we went.
The charming heritage-style winery was a complete delight, even given that my preference for wine has yet to include many wines off the traditional viniferous grape grid.
They do an apple wine that sees a bit of oak, which I found fascinating. Also enjoyable were many of their dessert wines, including an iced green-apple wine and a decadent raspberry sticky.
The town of Fort Langley was also a wonderful surprise with its historic Western motif, quaint shops and restaurants and the authentic fort itself, preserved to the smallest detail for touring.
There are many other wineries we weren’t able to visit, but do indeed intend to after a thoroughly entertaining first visit to this slightly off the radar screen wine region, a charming antithesis of glitzy.
I discovered a few of the Fraser Valley’s best-kept secrets, and if you enjoy wine in an environment that may just mimic what some of the other wine regions of the West Coast were like in their infancies, you might want to do the same — just don’t tell anyone.
For more info on the Lower Mainland/Fraser Valley wineries, visit www.winesofcanada.com/bc_fraser.html.
Jeff Wicklund can be reached at 425-737-2600, 360-756-0422 or wick@purplesmilewines.com.
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