Soak up Summer with Aboriginal Okanagan

An Ancient Terroir

Few places in B.C. provide more with a glass of wine than Nk’Mip Cellars (pronounced “in-ka-meep”). North America’s first aboriginal-owned and operated winery serves up premium VQA wines and locally inspired and sourced cuisine in an iconic desert setting overlooking Lake Osoyoos. Wine lovers from all over the world visit this award-winning cellar owned and operated by B.C.’s Osoyoos Band and designed by Robert Mackenzie, a Penticton-based winery architect. The 18,000-square-foot facility boasts varietals like Pinot Blanc, Riesling, Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah, Riesling Icewine and a blended Meritage. All grapes are true to the land, gathered from the Band’s own Inkameep Vineyard as well as the vineyard located adjacent to the winery. With wine in hand, visitors can tour the architecture, designed and constructed to display native art and artifacts, and stroll the unique nature of the wild sage desert surroundings.

nkmipcellars.com | 250-495-2985

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A Grape Night’s Sleep

Next door, the four-season Spirit Ridge Vineyard Resort & Spa is one of the most luxurious properties in the Okanagan, featuring a bounty of world-class golf, an architecturally stunning desert cultural interpretive centre at one with the surrounding desert, and the luxurious Solstice Spa with unforgettable, one-of-a-kind, aboriginally inspired treatments.

But this being the Okanagan in the summer, the outdoors beckon with the celebrated Sonora Golf course skirting the sparkling waters of Lake Osoyoos, while the luxurious one- and two-bedroom villas and suites embrace the ancient landscape with outdoor lap pools, a private beach and easy lake access. The epic days end at Mica Restaurant at Spirit Ridge, casual fine dining amidst vineyards and orchards high above Lake Osoyoos. Both the patio and indoor sightlines are designed to optimize the stunning views of the lake and surrounding mountains for the eyes, while the locally sourced menu of “wine country comfort food,” washed down with the best of South Okanagan wines, satisfies your palate.

spiritridge.ca | 250-495-5445

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Much-needed Context

The Secwepemc Museum and Heritage Park whisks you back to the Okanagan before wine tours and wakeboarding. Listen to local storytellers share oral history and explore a treasure trove of historical photographs, illustrations and artifacts. The 12-acre Native Heritage Park on the banks of the South Thompson River features short, easy trails through the archaeological remains of a 2,000-year-old Secwepemc winter village site, four reconstructed winter pit houses and a summer village.

secwepemcmuseum.com | 250-828-9749

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Local Cuisine, Ancient Inspiration

For a taste of the ancestral cuisine of the B.C. Interior, grab breakfast or lunch at the casual Kekuli Café, a First Nations-inspired restaurant in Westbank. The fast, casual aboriginal cuisine celebrates bannock – the flat quick bread and aboriginal staple – in iterations like the Buffalo Bannock Burger, Buffalo Stew or Indian Taco, in addition to plenty of inventive salads. The Saskatoon Berry-inspired desserts showcase another ancestral hand-picked staple.

kekulicafe.com | 250-768-3555

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