West Kelowna makes list for best winery restaurants in the world

This has been a good year for critical acclaim for wineries in West Kelowna, and a winery just made another list to put the region on the culinary map.

Quails’ Gate Winery’s Old Vines Restaurant made it onto Wine Enthusiast’s list of the 57 best winery restaurants in the world. Pear Morissette Winery was the only other Canadian winery on the list.

“Nearly every table here comes with a view of Okanagan Lake, a perfect setting for British Columbian dishes like white king salmon cured with the cylindrical, tart-sweet blue haskap berry or lamb chops with a spruce-tip jus,” Wine Enthusiast wrote.

Kelowna became a UNESCO Creative City of Gastronomy and it made it onto National Geographic’s list of 15 best places in the world for food right now.

Even though there are great places to eat in Kelowna that aren’t high-end, white tablecloth restaurants, wineries on the west side of the lake are the ones getting praise from critics around the world.

National Geographic pointed out all of the winery restaurants in West Kelowna like Volcanic Hills, Little Straw Vineyards, Mission Hill Family Estate, including the Old Vines Restaurant at Quails’ Gate Estate Winery.

“These aren’t just spots for a meat-and-cheese platter between pours. They are destinations to plan trips around and gain a deeper understanding of the wine regions they call home,” Wine Enthusiast wrote.