The Wine Knows

Are you starting to think about where you'll go on vacation this summer? Consider heading north to British Columbia's Okanagan Valley. And if you go, put CedarCreek Estate Winery on your to-do list.

This Kelowna-area winery is celebrating its 20th year and is making some of the province's finest wines. American ex-pat Tom DiBello (formerly of Claar Cellars and Washington Hills) is the winemaker, and his stuff is consistently great, from Chardonnay to Pinot Noir to Merlot to Cab to ice wines.

CedarCreek is south of Kelowna. To get there, cross the floating bridge into town, then look for signs that direct you to the right. It's about 10 minutes south of the downtown area.

Kelowna is the largest city in the Okanagan Valley, so there is no shortage of hotels, motels, B&Bs, etc. My favorite place to stay is Otella's, which is near downtown. Hands down, it is one of the finest breakfasts I've ever had.

For meals, Kelowna has a lot of restaurants. One of the best is Fresco, where I had one of the greatest meals in my life.

From Seattle, the drive to the Okanagan is probably six or seven hours. You can head north to Vancouver then head over the mountains, or go to Wenatchee then north to cross the border at Osoyoos. Given the choice, I'd avoid the Blaine crossing at all costs.

U.S. citizens can bring back as much wine as they want. You'll need to pay a 21 cents-per-liter tax to the IRS (collected at the border), and Washington residents might need to pay a state liquor board tax, but I haven't been asked to pay that in the past two years.