Kelowna is the city to travel to if you are interested in locally grown fruit and locally produced wine, cider, and beer. The Okanagan valley is all about embracing what naturally grows here, and taking advantage of the excellent agriculture we’re surrounded with. Kelowna is home to numerous wineries, multiple cideries, and many breweries, all who embody the local mindset.
Ricco Bambino
Ricco Bambino is Kelowna’s most Instagrammable winery. With blush-coloured suede seats, natural exotic plants galore, and aesthetic crystal tealight holders, you’ll want to snap selfies while sipping wine and take photos of your friends laughing while watching old movies projected onto the wall.
Ricco Bambino is Kelowna’s only micro boutique winery, conveniently located in the heart of downtown on Pandosy Street. The winery carefully selects grapes grown from all over the Okanagan to produce beautifully natural wines aged in their in-house concrete and stainless steel casks.
Ricco Bambino uses natural yeast and prefers natural carbonation, or the minimal addition of sulfur dioxide. Owner Jason Alton is passionate about producing unfined, unfiltered, naturally fermented, and purely excellent wines.
Photos retrieved from https://riccobambino.com/
Truck 59 Ciderhouse
Truck 59 Ciderhouse is home to a cozy and picturesque tasting room with an excellent view of Westbank winery The Hatch’s vineyard, with Lake Okanagan in the background. With high quality cider and beautiful lake views, Truck 59 is the place to meet up with friends and enjoy some patio drinks.
We visited for the first time in December and were lucky enough to be able to taste the Winter Warmer flight, which included four tasters of cider and a mug full of warm, mulled cider (and as a bonus, we got to take the mugs home!).
The cidery has big plans for the future, including sharing a property with new winery Crown and Thieves next winter, and establishing both a distillery and a brewery by next summer.
Photos retrieved from: https://www.instagram.com/truck59cider/?hl=en and https://truck59cider.com/
Copper Brewing Company
Copper Brewing is the best place for relaxing with genuinely good beer. The brewery hosts four retro gaming consoles (two Nintendos and two Super Nintendos) a wooden crib board with the Copper logo burnt into it, and a foosball table.
Copper boasts 19 taps of excellent beer and 1 tap of East Kelowna-produced cider, Okanagan-produced wine, and a menu of beer-inspired cocktails created by Kelowna cocktail company Born to Shake. The brewery has snacks including popcorn, munchie mix, and pepperonis, and has partnerships with restaurants MTL Real Food and Midtown Station, for those with a bigger appetite.
Copper has something for everyone with two sours, two stouts, a variety of ales and lagers, and multiple IPAs on tap. Something new is always brewing at Copper, especially on newly established cask nights, which occur on the first Friday of every month where a specialty surprise cask of beer is unveiled for that night only. Copper is a must-visit brewery for any type of beer enthusiast.
Photos retrieved from: https://www.instagram.com/copperbrewing/?hl=en
