South Upper Bench Road

Above the flat of the city the land steps up into benches, and those benches are where the valley grows most of what it is known for. Vineyards climb both sides of Penticton, north toward the Naramata Bench across the water and east above the city itself, on slopes that catch sun long after the streets below have gone into shade. The address at 170 Upper Bench Road South puts this one among them.

The drive itself deserves a word. Bench roads are narrow, they climb, and they carry farm equipment through much of the growing season, so the pace is slower than the map suggests. Sort out who is driving before anyone tastes anything. The reward is the view back across the city to the water, which is the reason people who move to Penticton give when asked why they picked this end of the valley over the busier towns to the north.