...eighth of many sips....
I had to ask...and according to Wikipedia and loosely corroborated by Professor H20 - a bench is a long, relatively narrow strip of relatively level or gently inclined land that is bounded by distinctly steeper slopes above and below it. Benches can be of different origins and created by very different geomorphic processes. In layman's terms - good, well-drained grape dirt that enjoys the sun's bounty.
We needed to head back to Naramata Bench...we weren't near done yet.We started out from OK Falls passing the church in town that is rumoured to have stood on the current spot that is Blasted Church. Seems that one well placed stick of dynamite was enough to loosen all the nails so that the church could be moved to its current sight in Okanagan Falls. We headed along the east side of the shore less traveled on Skaha Lake. It's a beautiful drive. Lots of winding turns right along the water and plenty of deer.
Part way up, we took the turn that brought us back to Basted Church - we hadn't seen it during the day. What a beautiful spot. The view of the lake was incredible. Behind us there were several stunning homes that were higher up on what looked like to be a cliff - I can only imagine how wonderful the view would be from those homes (still don't know how you would get up there)- no such thing as a bad day when you wake up to that kind of splendor.
The tasting room of Blasted Church is built over the winery and the larger wooden doors were very striking. As we opened the door, a blown blur shot out and jumped into the back of the truck. This was my first meeting with Mocha - the wonderful chocolate lab that lives on the premises. She was such a sweetie and totally contrived a back scratching opportunity - rascal. I think she sensed that I was missing my dog and set out to fix that. It totally worked - Thank you Mocha!
There seemed to be a bit of a theme that we started picking out. Most places had beautiful ornate doors and many wineries had Bacchus-friendly gentle canine guardians. How could I not dig the Okanagan!
After a delightful visit with the super-friendly and wonderfully genuine folks at Blasted Church, we headed towards Penticton. As luck would have it, we spied a sign indicated the way to Painted Rock Winery - not one to pass up brown sign emblazoned the silhouette of a wine glass - we turned right. The road was very windy and we were definitely heading to much higher ground. The Bluffs above Skaha like present some of the best technical climbing faces in North America with over 650 developed routes. It is home to many species at risk and hats off the the foresight of the Land Conservatory of British Columbia and others for making the investments to keep it that way.
Painted Rock Winery is small, but features wines with a big taste.We brought back some bottles of the full-bodied Red Icon and the ever-so satisfying Cabernet Sauvignon. I see that all of their whites are now sold out - not surprised.
Meatgoddess Recommendations:
Painted Rock Winery - Red Icon, Cabernet Sauvignon
Musical Pairings:
Mocha of Blasted Church: Big Mama Thornton Hound Dog
Painted Rock Winery - Red Icon: R.L. Burnside Someday Baby
Painted Rock Winery - Cabernet Sauvignon Laurie Morvan Band It Only Hurts When I Breathe
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