Here at the wine column, we're all about squeezing every last second out of summer.
That's why we're drinking pink like crazy, still going out on the lake and swimming and waterskiing and generally denying it will be fall soon enough (Sept. 22 for those who are counting).
Rose wine, in all its chilled pink glory, is associated with summer and sunshine, patios, picnics, barbecues, laughter, friends and sunsets.
Who wouldn't want that scenario to last and last?
So, extend your summer and grab a glass of rose.
Sip it slowly or gulp it.
Let it be your comrade in fun and pushing off autumn as long as possible.
There's an Okanagan rose to match every late-summer mood -- lightly hued for a warm afternoon outdoors, mid-pink to go with charcuterie and darker numbers to pair with salmon or pork tenderloin off the grill.
Here are 8 pinks to savour as summer winds down:
-- Kismet 2025 Infinity Rose ($25) from Oliver
Delicate in colour and clean on the palate.
Here's roses' classic strawberries and cream profile.
Polished without feeling serious.
Kismet says its three roses have personalities with Infinity being the poised one.
-- Kismet Phulkari Rose ($30) from Oliver
Phulkari -- named after the traditional Punjabi art of floral embroidery -- is the graceful one.
Here rose branches out to deliver aromas and flavours of raspberry, watermelon and rose petal.
-- Kismet Kamal Rose ($25) from Oliver
The one that starts the party.
Darker, but bright with a candied fruit and floral probile, built for poolside sipping or spicy tacos.
-- Laughing Stock 2024 In the Pink Rose ($25) from the Naramata Bench
Right on -- add cherry and pomegranate to the typical strawberry profile here.
-- Culmina 2024 Saignee Rose ($26) from Oliver
This pink is made in the Bordeaux-style of saignee, which in French means 'to bleed'.
Some juice is bled off after red grapes have been lightly crushed.
The 'bleed' is used to make rose, the rest is made into a bolder, more concentrated red wine.
-- Blasted Church 2025 Blaufrankisch Rose ($28) from Okanagan Falls
Bet you haven't heard of Blaufrankisch?
Well, it's a black grape with Austrian origins, but it also pops up in other central European countries where it's called by different names such as Lemberger in Germany, Frankovka in Croatia, Servia and Czechia, Kakfrankos in Hungary and Franconia in Italy.
Blasted Church's rose version of the varietal has a pink grapefruit, cranberry and white pepper profile.
-- Hester Creek 2025 Rose Cabernet Franc ($23) from Oliver
The winery's darker rose for purposeful sipping and pepperoni pizza pairing.
-- Hester Creek 2025 Rose Pinot Noir ($28) from Oliver
The winery's lighter rose for glasses on the patio and pairing with a goat cheese salad.
6 from CedarCreek
Every spring, CedarCreek Winery in Kelowna throws a Rose Soiree to launch the drink pink season.
I feel another soiree on the cusp of fall would also be apropos to encourage people to drink rose year-round.
CedarCreek currently has 6 roses in circulation with some being easier to get your hands on than others.
The widely available ones are the 2025 Reserve Pinot Noir Rose ($26), 2025 Platinum South Slopes Pinot Noir Rose ($42) and 2025 Sparkling Pinot Noir Rose ($42).
Harder to get are the 2023 Platinum Pinot Noir Rose ($42), Platinum 2024 Open Claim Vineyard Pinot Noir Rose ($42) and 2020 Aspect Sparkling Rose (an Aspect Club exclusive).
Come on back
After August's wildfires and smoke in the Okanagan scared off wine tourists and locals alike, there's a call to welcome visitors back to experience the magic of grape harvest.
Wine Growers BC wants to let everyone know that wine country is open and ready to welcome guests with exceptional wine, food and fall experiences.
The Thompson Okanagan Tourism Association and Destination Summerland are touting 'Our Doors are Open'.
"This fall, the best way to support wine country is to show up," said Wine Growers BC CEO Jeff Guignard.
"Book the tasting, Stay for dinner. Visit a winery you have never been to. Buy a bottle to take home."
New board for Wine Growers BC
Speaking of Wine Growers BC, it has a new board of directors to represent the 277 wineries across that province that drive the $4.1 billion a year industry that attracts 2 million tourists annually and generates $783 million in tourism and tourism employment-related economic impact every year.
-- Chair: Paul Sawler, Dirty Laundry Winery (medium-sized winery director)
-- Josh Stewart, Arterra (large wineries director and vice-chair)
-- Vincent Ong, Andrew Peller (large wineries director)
-- Joey Cotroneo, Iconic Wineries of BC (large wineries director)
-- Angela Lyons, Quails' Gate Winery (medium winery director)
-- BJ Tumanut, JoieFarm Winery (medium winery director)
-- Mike Dowell, Liber Estates (small winery director)
-- Michael Bartier, Bartier Bros. (small winery director)
-- Lauren Skinner-Buksevis, Painted Rock Winery (small winery director)
-- Lorne Folick, Dolden Wallace Folick Lawyers
-- Jeff Guignard, CEO Wine Growers BC
Steve MacNaull is a NowMedia Group reporter, Okanagan wine lover and Canadian Wine Scholar. Reach him at [email protected]. His wine column appears every Friday afternoon in this space.
