Wine column: Time to get your 'winter wine fest' on!

Grab your wine glass, it's Okanagan Winter Wine Festival!

The fest flows this weekend and next weekend with wine-centric events in Oliver, Penticton and Kelowna.

- Saturday, Jan. 20 and Sunday, Jan. 21 the District Wine Village in Oliver will be home to Winterfest.

Buy a Winterfest TASTE Passport and receive six vouchers for elevated tasting experiences at six of the 11 wineries (there's also a distillery and brewery) clustered around the village's courtyard.

By the way, the courtyard is also home to the new skating rink.

The Passport tastings run 11 am to 4 pm both days and tickets are $65 at www.thewinefestivals.com.

- Saturday, Jan. 21 from 7:30 to 9:30 pm the party moves to the Penticton Trade & Convention Centre for the Valley First Winter SIPS South tasting.

Wines poured will be from the South Okanagan.

There will also be small bites and live music.

Tickets are $95 at www.thewinefestivals.com.

- On Saturday, January 27, Kelowna gets its turn with Valley First Winter SIPS North at the hottest new venue in town -- Revelry Food+Music Hub.

From 2 to 4 pm wine lovers can go station to station trying the cool-climate varietals the North Okanagan is famous for -- Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Riesling.

Revelry provides the food and live music.

Tickets $75 at thewinefestivals.com.

- The wine fest notes that Okanagan Dine Around runs Jan. 17 to Feb. 11, so there are deals at restaurants with suggested Okanagan wine pairings.

Check out www.dinearound.ca.

Time will be there

Time Family of Wines loves the Okanagan Winter Wine Festival.

Time -- which has the labels Chronos, McWatters Collection and Evolve -- is based in downtown Penticton, but it also has a satellite winery at the District Wine Village in Oliver.

That makes it handy for Time to pour samples at the winter wine fest events this weekend and next.

Here are six excellent Time wines to seek out to sip at either the fest or buy by the bottle at the wineries or liquor store.

- Chronos 2021 Riesling ($29) (lush, yet zesty, lime and peach)

- McWatters Collection 2020 White Meritage ($30) (a classic blend of Sauvignon Blanc and Semillon inspired by the White Bordeaux wines of France)

- Chronos 2020 Cabernet Sauvignon ($40) (rich and velvety with aromas and flavours of blackberry and fig)

- Chronos 2020 Syrah ($40) (pleasingly purple violet-blueberry-and-herbs profile)

- McWatters Collection 2020 Chardonnay ($35) (heady baked apple, vanilla and cream)

- Evolve Effervescence ($23) (a fun sparkler with a lemon-and-melon profile that won a double-gold medal at the 2022 All Canadian Wine Championships)

Steve MacNaull is a NowMedia Group reporter, Okanagan wine lover and Canadian Wine Scholar. Reach him at smacnaull@nowmediagroup.ca. His wine column appears every Friday afternoon in this space.