Black Hills Estate Winery

Black Hills Estate Winery is one of the South Okanagan's most storied names, with vineyards planted along the sun-drenched slopes of Black Sage Road between Oliver and Osoyoos. The winery built its reputation on Nota Bene, an age-worthy Bordeaux-style red blend produced in limited quantities from selected parcels on the estate; it was the first wine ever bottled at Black Hills and remains the flagship, blending multiple clones of Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc and Merlot from the property's sandy benchland. The wine's near-cult following helped put the Black Sage Bench on the map as one of Canada's premier red wine terroirs, and the winery's releases remain among the region's most sought-after bottles.

Visits centre on the winery's Wine Experience Centre, a modern tasting venue surrounded by panoramic views of Mount Kobau and the rolling estate vineyards, where the team leads seated tastings and shares the stories behind each bottle. The atmosphere is polished but welcoming, designed for wine lovers and curious explorers alike, and the setting, desert benchland, big skies and vineyard rows running toward the mountains, captures the South Okanagan at its most dramatic. The winery sits an easy drive from both Oliver, which styles itself the wine capital of Canada, and the lakeside resort town of Osoyoos, making it a fixture on Black Sage Road tasting routes alongside the bench's other acclaimed producers. For visitors who want to understand why collectors line up for South Okanagan reds, a tasting at Black Hills, ideally including Nota Bene, is about as definitive an answer as the valley offers. Booking ahead is wise in peak season.