Okanogan Estate and Vineyards
Okanogan Winery offers two different tasting locations to sample their estate wines – one in Leavenworth and the other in Oroville near British Columbia on Highway 97.
Most visitors experience Okanogan Winery at their Wine & Gift Shoppe in Leavenworth on Highway 2. By your third sip, you might be surprised to learn that the fruit used for Okanogan Wines comes from their estate vineyards in the Okanogan Valley. Their orchards (along with their winery and tasting room) are located north on Highway 97 before you enter Canada’s premier wine-growing region in British Columbia’s Okanagan. (By the way, that’s not a typo – on the American side, it’s spelled Okanogan but on the Canadian side it’s spelled Okanagan.) As they state in their brochure, “The vineyards are located on the valley’s sandy, desert sage benches and on the sunny slopes amongst the orchards of this fruitful valley that sits at the edges of beautiful Lake Osoyoos.” Wow, a desert-like climate in northern Washington? Yep.
But for many tourists that flock to Leavenworth throughout the year, they experience Okanogan in a glass at their Wine & Gift Shoppe. Here you can sample a full slate of dry and sweet white wines (e.g., Pinot Grigio, Riesling, Gewürztraminer, and Late Harvest Sauvignon Blanc) as well as classic reds (e.g., Merlot, Pinot Noir and Bench Rock Blend). Formerly using the moniker “Gold Digger Cellars” after the name of their fruit orchards, the renamed Okanogan Winery is proud of the fact that their wines don’t rely on grapes trucked in from Yakima Valley or other points south. The friendly tasting room staff also can advise on where to eat, sleep, and shop in Leavenworth.
If, however, your wine related travels take you north on Highway 97, Okanogan Winery’s downtown Oroville location is a fun pit stop. Oroville is an old mining town and you will want to budget time to poke around and experience Oroville’s charm. You just need to dig around a bit.