Platinum Bench Estate Winery & Artisan Bread Co.

Platinum Bench Estate Winery & Artisan Bread Co. brings together two crafts under one roof on Oliver's celebrated Black Sage Bench, pairing estate wines with bread baked fresh on site every day. The winery sits at 4120 Black Sage Road, on the sandy, west-facing slopes that have made this bench one of the Okanagan Valley's premier growing areas for bold reds. The portfolio leans into that strength with Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon and Syrah among the flagship reds, plus whites including Pinot Gris and Viognier; the San Francisco Chronicle has described the house style as big, Napa-style Syrah and Cabernet Franc alongside a lighter Gamay Noir. What truly distinguishes a visit, though, is the bakery: owner Fiona Duncan oversees the production of sourdough Epi loaves baked daily in outdoor double ovens, and tastings pair the wines with freshly baked bread, with five specialty varieties matched to different styles in the lineup.

The result is one of the more distinctive tasting experiences in the Oliver area, equal parts wine education and bakery stop, and guests leave understanding both the winemaking process from planting through aging and the daily rhythm of artisan baking. Reservations are recommended, and tastings are often held outdoors among the vines. Black Sage Road itself is one of the South Okanagan's essential wine drives, lined with respected producers between Oliver and Osoyoos, and Platinum Bench makes a memorable anchor for a morning or afternoon on the bench, particularly for visitors who time their arrival to catch the bread still warm. For travellers assembling a picnic to carry through wine country, it is hard to imagine a better first stop than a winery that sells its own sourdough alongside bottles grown a few steps from the oven.