[squiggs96]

I spend a lot of time going to wineries in the Okanagan. Although I haven't been to all of them, I've been to most of them, and I've been to the good ones many times. If it's your first time, pick an area and visit a bunch in there. You'll want to spend a lot of time at the wineries instead of travelling. There are wineries on both sides of the lake and from 50th Parallel to Nk'Mip it's a 160 km drive. If you have one day, here is the tour I would do.

1. Platinum Bench
Start here at 10:00 am. They are also an artisan bread company and the bread is fresh out of the oven at 10:00 am. Yes, it comes out throughout the day, but this way you are guaranteed to have it fresh and not surrounded by that many people.

2. Black Hills
The best wine (in my opinion) in the Okanagan is the Black Hills Nota Bene. They have an amazing tasting room that overlooks the pool and the winery. Their Syrah and Ipso Factor are also excellent.

3. Stoneboat
I discovered this one a few years ago and I now buy more of their bottles than any other winery. That is saying something for me, as I have a 400 bottle wine cellar. They are a Pinot Noir specialist and the customer service is amazing. They are the ones who introduced me to Platinum Bench.

4. Have lunch at Miradoro Restaurant at Tinhorn Creek
It's the best view from a restaurant in Oliver and the food is excellent. Skip the Tinhorn wine. This used to be the best value of any winery around, and it wasn't close. I used to buy cases of the wine each year for parties as it was relatively cheap and good quality. Over the years the quality and customer service went down and the price went up. Then they went and introduced The Creek, which was priced at $75 per bottle. This was absurd from a winery that producing $18 bottles. They've lowered it, but I won't go back.

5. Cassini Cellars
This is a must visit for me each time I'm in town. Their Quattro and Maximus are amazing.

6. Burrowing Owl
I used to buy a lot of Burrowing Owl. I still like it and they probably produce the best group of reds. Others may have better individual bottles, but Burrowing produces so many different bottles that are all good.

Now, start heading back towards Kelowna.

7. Stag's Hollow
This is a great winery on the back side of the Skaha Lake.

8. Blasted Church
It's a good winery, with a great food truck, and excellent views. People enjoy the wine here much more than I do. It's on the way to the next stop.

9. Painted Rock
It's easily the best view of any winery in the Okanagan. It's better than Mission Hill and Cedar Creek and the wine is substantially better. I can't say enough good things about it.

10 Mission Hill
I like Mission Hill. The view are nice and some of the wine like Quatrain and Occulus are amazing. The rest of the wine is meh. It's super touristy. The restaurant has amazing views, but it's pricey. It's frustrating to order a bottle of wine from the restaurant that is five times more expensive than it is from the store 100 feet away.

Other wineries I'd include if you have more time:
Quinta Ferreira, CC Jentsch, Phatom Creek (not sure if it's open yet), French Door, Hidden Chapel, Nk'Mip, Road 13, Bench 1775

Food places that are worth the visit:
El Sabor De Marina - Mexican place on side of the road where all the Mexicans eat
Hammer's House of Hog - BBQ served in a parking lot

Places I would avoid:
-Silver Sage - Literally the worst winery I've ever been to
-Jackson Triggs - Awful wine
-Church & State - It's the most over priced wine in the Okanagan
-Poplar Grove - By far the worst customer service I've ever had. I could fill multiple pages up with how bad I think they are and all the things they have done poorly. The wine is excellent, but not worth dealing with the people.
-Cedar Creek - Beautiful views, but the wine is terrible and it's way out of the way.
-Summerhill - Same thing as Cedar Creek, but they are close to each other, so you can visit both in the same trip if you like terrible wine with great views

I only drink red wines, so my picks and suggested trip likely won't work if you are into white wines.