On Wednesday (October 25), I attended an event called the Italian Wines of the Okanagan: Un Lavoro d’Amore - A Labour of Love at the Laurel Packing House in Kelowna. The purpose of the evening, sponsored by the Kelowna Italian Club, was to highlight the many Okanagan wines that are made with Italian grapes. It was a very enjoyable evening that included some new grapes that I had never tried (or seen for that matter).

After a glass of welcome wine (a Pet Nat from Sperling vineyard - tastes like a natural ferment) and some schmoozing, we sat down for the welcome presentation. The guest panel featured John Schreiner, a famous Okanagan wine author (actually, the most prolific Canadian wine writer) who is one of the premier wine critics in BC, Luke Whittall, another wine author who has written a great history of the Okanagan wine industry called Valleys of Wine, Simone Castellarin, from Italy, who is an expert on Italian wines and is the Canadian Chair of Viticulture at UBC, and the pseudo host, Donna Senese, the Associate Undergraduate Dean of UBCO, who is admittedly not a big wine expert but did a great job of hosting.

The panel gave an excellent overview of the history of wine in the Okanagan and its Italian roots. They then proceeded to taste their way through five or six of the wines that we were going to have the opportunity to try. All were very good to excellent according to these experts and they weren’t wrong!

After the panel, we were given the chance to drink and have a wine pairing with most of the wines.

I didn’t do a detailed tasting nor keep detailed notes, nor take a bunch of photos, but I did jot down a few comments when I returned home.

Mooncurser - I love Mooncurser and their wines. They have numerous wines that are rare to see in the Okanagan (Tannat, Touriga Nacional) and their Dolcetto (which I’ve had many times before) is as good as Dolcetto I’ve had from Italy. The wine that I tried was the 2022 Arneis ($30), a white wine grape. It was a crisp, delicious white that has a distinctive flavour and is very food friendly. It was paired with Pernod Prawns which were very tasty and I really enjoyed as I like the anisette flavour the Pernod gave them.

Speaking of Dolcetto, our next winery was Stags Hollow. I have had great wines from there and sometimes wines that were a bit blah but the two wines we tried were very nice. First was their 2020 Dolcetto ($26) which is unoaked so a bit more subdued and fruitier than others I have tried but still very tasty.

Then we tried their 2021 Teroldero ($35), a grape I haven’t hear of, that was quite purple and tasted of dark fruits and some tannins. I really enjoyed this one! The food pairing was with the Dolcetto and was a Polpette which is pork and veal meatballs in a marinara sauce with asagio cheese. Yum!

Next up was Sandhill - honestly a winery that I have stayed away from since we moved to Kelowna. It is a bit tainted in my mind due to the fact that it began as Calona wines which was good because they helped begin the Okanagan wine industry but is also bad because much of their wine was terrible. However their 2018 Barbera ($40) was sooooo good! I’ve only had Barbera from Italy so I was delighted to try an Okanagan version and it was not disappointing. It was a super food friendly red with lots of red fruits like cherry and strawberry. It was paired with brisket bites which were just fine.

Time for another double! Blasted Church had two diametrically opposed wines (in my mind). The first was one of my favourite grapes, a 2021 Small Blessing Nebbiolo ($40). It was as full of tannins as the Italian versions I have had, but it still packs a punch for a wine that looks like a mild pinot!

Second was the 2020 Small Blessings Lagrein ($40) (another grape I hadn’t heard of) which seemed the opposite as it was low in tannins and a fruity, flavourful wine. It was a beautiful purple colour as well! The food pairing for the Nebbiolo was with the Orecchiette Ragu (the pasta is called ear pasta because of its shape) which was one of the two best pairings of the evening!

D’Angelo winery is located in Naramata bench. I was lucky enough to speak to the winemaker and he is originally from the Abruzzo region of Italy and his Montepulciano (probably around $40) did not disappoint! He is on the bench between the road and the lake (a location he waited a long time to purchase) and so his crop of grapes are just fine this year, despite the cold snap last winter, thanks to the warming lake influence. Unfortunately I couldn’t find the vintage or price of this one so it must be a very new release or a wine club exclusive. This wine is a beautiful, tasty red that is so food friendly and paired well with a salami and pepperoni pizza. Delicioso!

Bonamici had two wines - the first was another 2021 Barbera (wine club exclusive) which was also delicious - and cried out for food!

The other was their 2021 Sangiovese (also a wine club exclusive)- a classic Italian food wine - that was very versatile in that it could go with so many different food dishes. The Barbera was paired with an Arancini - one of my favourite Italian snacks - and stood up well to the tastiness.

High Note is a newer winery that I hadn’t heard of before. They served a Super Tuscan (Italian grapes mixed with Bordeaux grapes) which was super delicious. The 2021 Cadenza ($40) is a blend of Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Sangiovese, and Cabernet Sauvignon and was a delicious melange of dark fruits and oak. It was paired with the pork tenderloin which was my other food favourite and paring favourite.

Our final tasting was the La Stella 2021 Fortissimo ($36) which was another wonderful Super Tuscan (Merlot, Cab Franc, Cab Sauv, Sangiovese). This one was so good that it made me want to go back to Italy. Many years ago, before I knew a lot about wine, I was in Tuscany staying at a farmhouse that made Sassicaia - which was a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc and is considered one of the first Super Tuscans. Now, I want to return to Tuscany and try many more of the Super Tuscans!! The wine pairing was supposed to be with their Pinot Grigio but the chicken breast with lemon sauce - which was delicious - was just fine with the Fortissimo!

It was a wonderful night out. Tickets were $75 which I thought was well worth it for the many sampling of food and wine as well as an expert panel to kick things off. And now, when people say that they want to taste Italian wines, I know were I am going to take them!