First Visit to Road 13 Vineyards

Road 13 Winery, formerly Golden Mile Cellars, has been on the tip of my to-do list for quite a while, but for some reason I had never made it there. I’ve tried the Road 13 Honest John’s Red before at restaurants around the Okanagan based on hearsay, good word-of-mouth, and the price. In an area where wine prices seem to be going up into the next stratosphere, it can be a bit tough to find that diamond in the rough that blends great value and quality — particularly  in a red wine. Road 13 has delivered on this for me, and with visitors coming up the last couple of weekends for pre and during Spring Wine Fest  it was time to make the pilgrimage out to the castle that is the Road 13 Vineyards tasting room.

While I like pretty much all of the wines I tasted for their bright and unadulterated quality, the most notable trait across all of the reds in particular was a very distinct signature — a through-line that is the mark of a winemaker with distinct style.

The winery overall has a very unpretentious feel. Many of the bottles have descriptions that focus on the story rather than the specific details. I’m paraphrasing here, but a Road 13 label might read: This wine contains X, Y, and Z, but mostly X, not that it really matters anyway. It makes me step back and think about whether I could tell the difference between 65% Cab Sauv, or 85% Cab Sauv, and to be honest, I’m not sure that I can.

Road 13 feels like a real celebration of wine. The winemaker Michael Bartier has put his own stamp on a bunch of fun, unpretentious, and tasty wines that should bring enjoyment for rookies and aficionados alike. At the end of my two different days of tasting I seemed to have ended up with some Honest John’s Red, Jackpot Syrah, Rockpile, and Pinot Noir. Not a bad haul for a couple of tastings, but I’m sure it won’t last long.

This isn’t wine I want to put away in a cellar, this is wine that I want to drink now with some fun loving hedonists.