Wineries
Heaven's Gate Estate Winery
About Heaven's Gate Estate Winery
Height matters on this side of the lake. A few dozen metres of elevation changes when a block ripens, how the frost settles and what the view does, which is why the wine properties above Summerland are scattered up the slope rather than gathered in one spot. Heaven's Gate Estate Winery is at 8001 Happy Valley Road in the Giant's Head area, on 778-516-5505, with heavensgatewinery.com for anyone mapping a route in advance.
Estate wineries generally grow, make and sell in the same place, which is the work the word estate is doing in the name. In practice that means whoever is pouring stands close to the vineyard itself, and questions about the site tend to get real answers. Seasons shape the visit more than anything else. Tasting rooms across the valley generally run hardest between May and October, and the quieter months elsewhere can bring shortened days or appointment only visits. Groups of more than half a dozen are best arranged ahead anywhere in this valley.
Getting there is part of it. The roads on the bench climb and turn, orchard blocks alternate with vineyard rows, and the lake appears and disappears between them. Penticton sits across the water, and the heritage steam railway runs its excursions through the same landscape on summer weekends, so a wine stop slots easily into a wider day out. Whoever is driving should be counted out of the tasting from the start, and flights are best spaced with food and water rather than stacked back to back.
Visiting Heaven's Gate Estate Winery
Getting there
In the Giant's Head neighbourhood of Summerland.
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More places near Giant's Head
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