Monte Creek Winery

Monte Creek Winery has put the Thompson Valley on Canada's wine map, operating just ten minutes east of Kamloops on a spectacular 1,200-acre property that includes 75 acres of vineyards above the South Thompson River. As the largest winery in the Kamloops area and a flagship of one of BC's newest recognized wine regions, Monte Creek offers travellers a different vision of British Columbia wine country: open grassland benches, river views and big skies in place of the lake-and-orchard scenery of the Okanagan. The winery recently marked ten years of operations and has built its reputation on quality, innovation and sustainability, farming with regenerative practices on a property it describes as biodiverse. The portfolio is broad and crowd-pleasing, spanning white, red, rosé, sparkling and fruit wines as well as canned options, with award winners among them, so tasting flights can suit both serious wine lovers and casual visitors. The tasting room welcomes guests year-round, with longer hours through the May-to-October high season, and from May through early September the Terrace Restaurant serves an artisan menu celebrating British Columbia ingredients on a patio with sweeping views over the vines, the river and the surrounding bluffs. The setting alone justifies the stop: the winery sits conveniently close to the Trans-Canada Highway, making it an easy and rewarding break for road-trippers travelling between the Rockies, the Shuswap and the coast, and a destination in its own right for Kamloops locals and visitors. Wine touring in the Thompson Valley still feels like a discovery, and Monte Creek is the region's anchor producer, demonstrating how well cool-hardy grape varieties and thoughtful farming can perform in this dramatic landscape. Reservations are recommended for the restaurant in peak summer season.