The words Okanagan and wine are nearly synonymous. Today, Okanagan wine country encompasses wineries from Granite Creek north of Vernon to Nk’Mip, near Osoyoos in the south. Most of the wineries stretch along either side of a four-lake daisy chain (Osoyoos, Vaseux, Skaha, and Okanagan) tucked neatly into the Okanagan Valley.

While there is evidence of wine being made in the Okanagan as early as 1859 by Jesuit missionary Father Charles Pandosy, the first commercial wines were bottled in the 1920s. By the early 1980s, there were 13 wineries. Fastforward to 1990 and B.C. wines start to improve after unremarkable old varieties of grape are pulled out and replaced by premium varietals.

Since then, B.C. wines have made their mark, and today they stand with the best anywhere—and they’ve got the medals to prove it. Early milestones include Mission Hill’s 1992 Grand Reserve Chardonnay, winner of the prestigious Avery Trophy for the World’s Best Chardonnay at the International Wine and Spirit Competition in London in 1994. Summerhill Pyramid Winery’s 1991 Cipes Gabriel Cuvée took gold in the sparkling-wine category at the 2000 Chardonnay du Monde, besting entries from 38 countries. If you visit B.C. winery Web sites, you’ll find countless more award winners.

B.C.’s winemakers share a deep love for the land, the grapes, and their wines. A look at their CVs reveals an eclectic group that hails from just about everywhere: South Africa, the U.S., Australia, New Zealand, Germany, Switzerland, France, even Ontario. Increasingly, Canadian-trained winemakers are joining their ranks, resulting in a great intermingling and exchange of ideas.

The wine community is small, energetic, cohesive, and accessible. Increasingly, they’re banding together to create a regional identity and awareness, and to market their wines. Cases in point? The red-hot Naramata Bench Wineries Association spearheaded by market-savvy Laughing Stock Vineyards, and the recently formed South Okanagan Winery Association. The granddaddy is the British Columbia Wine Institute, a trade association of 60 or so member wineries that produce 96 percent of the province’s wine. Its focus is marketing, communications, and advocacy.

Harry McWatters, founder and president of Sumac Ridge Estate Winery, is stepping down after 40 years in the industry. The influential McWatters is also the founding chair of the Okanagan Wine Festival, the B.C. Wine Institute, Wines of Canada, VQA Canada, and the B.C. Wine Information Society.

In an interview, he recalls that the Okanagan Wine Festival got its start 27 years ago as “Septober, the longest month of the year” after a brainstorming session by him, a restaurateur, a hotelier, and a tourism official on how to extend tourism in the region beyond its abrupt Labour Day ending. The first Septober was a four-day affair in 1981. Today, there are four seasonal wine fests: the Summer Wine Festival, the Fall Wine Festival, the Icewine Festival, and the Spring Wine Festival. (See www.owfs.com/ for details.) This year’s 14th annual Okanagan Spring Wine Festival is a 10-day celebration featuring 80 wineries and 100 events, up from the first edition’s 25 wineries and four days.

Author John Schreiner probably knows more about the B.C. wine scene—the people, the wineries, the wines—than anyone. He’s walked the vineyards, interviewed the players and tasted their wines, and documented all in 10 books. Today, there are between 150 and 175 licensed wineries (depending on who’s counting), and about 33 more pending. Schreiner predicts that within 10 years we’ll top 200, although vineyard land prices are “nearly uneconomic”.

In an interview, Schreiner notes that some of the more influential players include “Mission Hill and the Vincor group, who control 40 percent of all the vineyards, have the largest technical teams, well-equipped wineries, and good sales groups. Mission Hill’s [Anthony] von Mandl has a strongly focused vision to attract the attention of the world to the Okanagan and to his winery.” He says that Quails’ Gate makes terrific Pinot Noir, and that CedarCreek has “one of the best winemaking teams, focused viticulture, and a clear quality focus”. According to Schreiner, Burrowing Owl, whose wines are in major demand, has created a clear focus for the south Okanagan, raised the bar environmentally, and closed the wine-tourism loop with a fine restaurant and luxury accommodation.

Also notable is the Osoyoos Indian Band, which has been growing grapes since the 1960s and partnered with Vincor Canada to create Nk’Mip Cellars (pronounced “in-ka-meep”), North America’s first aboriginal-owned and -operated winery. Awards and accolades for the winery and its stellar wines just keep coming.

Some investment comes from farther afield. Osoyoos Larose Estate Winery is a joint venture started in 1998 by Vincor Canada and France’s Groupe Taillan, owner of esteemed Château Gruaud-Larose and other Bordeaux properties, reflecting serious confidence in the wines being produced in this province. California wine giant Kendall-Jackson has been looking at the region, and a few years ago Wine Spectator famously outed the Okanagan, calling it “Canada’s Napa”.

Looking ahead, McWatters says, “We have a continued bright future, but it’s important to push the envelope on the breadth of varieties of grapes, quality, and intensity of flavour.”

That’s exactly what master winemaker Howard Soon is doing at Sandhill. In addition to his regular line of wines, he’s making standout Small Lots Program (read: small production) wines, and having remarkable success with grapes rarely planted in B.C. like viognier, sangiovese, malbec, and barbera.

So, too, is Hungarian-born Sandor Mayer, Inniskillin’s 20-year winemaker and viticulturist, who makes deeply flavourful wines from malbec, sangiovese, zinfandel, pinotage, and chenin blanc under Inniskillin’s Discovery Series label. There’s even a little tempranillo, marsanne, and roussanne in the ground.

“We have 163 wineries right now [in B.C.]. Many are very good, but there are too many small wineries producing faulted wines and lots of opportunity to raise the bar on quality. It’s very important for the industry that this happens,” McWatters says. He feels it’s crucial that wineries understand that the industry is market-driven—consumers demand quality wines, but “Our wineries must not price themselves out of the market.” Schreiner agrees, noting that Mission Hill’s Oculus tops the B.C. charts at $70: “At the moment, price resistance sets in around $40.” That said, it’s remarkable how B.C. consumers and restaurants have embraced B.C. wines.