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IN LATE NOVEMBER, full of optimistic enthusiasm, I made my first trip to the Okanagan Valley, about a four-hour drive from Vancouver. The first thing I learned is that late November is really not the best time to go - snow and ice in the mountain pass made the drive rather nerve-wracking and slow going. Next year, I plan to go in early October when the weather will be nicer, the vines will be redolent of fall color and the annual Okanagan Wine Festival will be going on.

As it was, I ended up in the Okanagan for what were probably the only two days of snow all year. When someone mentions the name Canada, those of us who don't live there tend to think of one word: cold. Then, oh yes, perhaps also trees, mountains, moose, maple leaves. So it's rather surprising to learn that the southern half of the Okanagan Valley is actually a desert, with cactus, rattlesnakes and everything!

With its unusual climate in mind, it's hard to believe that the Okanagan Valley is at the same latitude as Rheingau (50°). Normally that would be too far north for any kind of viticulture, but both areas work for viticulture because of their unique situations.

Rheingau (and the rest of Northern Europe) benefits from the macro-climactic warming influence of the Gulf Stream in the Atlantic Ocean, as well as the proximity of der Vater Rhein and the steep, south-facing exposition of its vineyards.

The Okanagan Valley also has south-facing vineyards, though not so steep as Rheingau, and the mitigating influence of the long, narrow Okanagan Lake. What makes the difference in the Okanagan is the incredibly warm 'pocket' desert at the southern end of the valley, where most of the finest grapes are grown. Last summer, I was told, they had several days that reached 130°F (51°C) on the valley floor - not exactly the image of Canada that I had in my head before my visit. Even in summer, however, the nights are usually quite cool, which is very important for Riesling because it helps the grapes retain acidity.

The biggest drawback in the Okanagan Valley is that the growing season can be fairly short compared to other wine regions around the world - even Germany. That often translates into moderately ripe wines without the hang time necessary to develop characteristics of terroir, something that is extremely important for a slow-ripening variety like Riesling. In cellar-speak, the Okanagan gets enough heat units to ripen most grapes, but they come in a compressed time frame.

Because of the long summer days that come as a result of their northerly location, the region actually gets more sunlight-hours per year than any other viticultural area in North America. In addition, as Olivier Combret of Domaine Combret pointed out, "There's no air pollution up here, and that makes the intensity of the sunlight much greater."

As for soil, the Okanagan Valley is extremely varied, which you would expect of a valley carved out of the earth by a glacier. Like slicing through a seven-layer cake, the end of the last ice age exposed just about every type of geological deposit imaginable. In general terms, however, the soils in the north tend to be heavier silt and clay, whereas down south they are mostly lighter glacial gravel, often with a fair amount of granite.

All signs, therefore, point to the Southern Okanagan Valley as having the greatest potential for Riesling. My experiences there would seem to bear that out, but that's not the kind of blanket pronouncement I can (or want to) make after just one brief, snow-hampered visit. There were several highly-regarded producers I was unable to visit and whose wines I failed to find for our tastings. For now, all I can do is recount for you my "Tales of the Okanagan, Part One," and give you a brief glimpse into the Riesling Revival, Canadian-style.

Southern Okanagan

My first full day in the valley started out in blizzard conditions as I toured the Southern Okanagan. It was a dry snow, however, so driving was not as treacherous as it could have been. Amazingly enough, I made all of my appointments on time!

Gehringer Brothers

Walter and Gordon Gehringer are the greatest proponents - and possibly the finest producers - of Riesling in the Okanagan Valley. Virtually everyone I asked in Canada (including a number of other winemakers) recommended Gehringer Brothers as the place for a Riesling lover to visit first. I'm glad I took their advice.

Gehringer Brothers is in the Southern Okanagan near the town of Oliver. Their winery and vineyards are located on a southeast-facing bench known as the "Golden Mile." The brothers, born of German immigrants, both learned their winemaking skills in Germany. Walter graduated from the famous winemaking school in Geisenheim with an engineering degree in viticulture and oenology. Gordon studied the more down-in-the-trenches aspects of vineyard and cellar management at the wine school in Weinberg. Together, they make a terrific team.

As you might imagine, the style of winemaking at Gehringer Brothers is decidedly Germanic. Walter is an intelligent, articulate man with the bright, alert eyes of a child and a staggering depth of knowledge about every aspect of wine. I knew he was my kind of guy when he said, "Riesling is really the only true food wine; everything else is just for drinking pleasure." This remark came after a brief discourse on Riesling's singular ability to accompany food, as well as to activate the salivary glands and aid digestion.

Walter and Gordon make four different Rieslings, starting off with dry and medium-dry wines in their "Classic" series. Both are made from the same base wine; the off-dry version gets dosed with a bit of sweet reserve to give it more body. The best non-dessert Riesling we've tasted from the Okanagan is Gehringer's Private Reserve. It is made from a selected site with lower yields, resulting in a deliciously fruity and well-balanced wine that makes your eyes light up (maybe that's where Walter gets the sparkle in his).

Lastly come the dessert wines. Every year the Gehringer's leave a few plots unpicked, hoping for a freeze so they can make ice wine. In 1999, they also had occasion to make a Riesling they call "Select Late Harvest," because one of their plots didn't freeze. They didn't harvest the grapes until Valentine's Day - February 14, 2000 - and they picked only absolutely healthy fruit for a big, botrytis-free Auslese style of wine.

True ice wine, though, is what most of Canada's fine wine reputation is built upon. In the opinions of many producers, this is the only style of Riesling worth the effort. Often they are correct. For most, making an ice wine is the only way to get enough concentration into the wine to balance the naturally high acidity. For the Gehringers, however, ice wine is just the natural summit of their full line of Rieslings.

Jackson-Triggs

This huge winery in Oliver is owned by Vincor International, the fifth largest winery operation in North America. vincor produces nearly half of all the wine made in Canada. It also owns Inniskillin, as well as several other estate wineries in the Okanagan, and is in the process of planting another 600 acres of vines north of Osoyoos Lake, across the valley from the Golden Mile.

Jackson-Triggs, named after CEO Donald Triggs and VP Allan Jackson, is the brand name Vincor uses for its VQA wines. The Riesling focus here is on big-time, award-winning ice wines. They also make a basic dry Riesling, but we recommend that you stick with their impressive ice wines.

Inniskillin Okanagan

Inniskillin is a name very familiar to sweet-wine lovers because of the renowned ice wines made in Ontario. In 1996, Inniskillin established a partnership with the Okanaquen Tribe of the Inkameep Indian Band, who have 265 acres of vineyards planted with Vitis vinifera varieties.

Until recently, most of the vineyards in the Okanagan were filled with native Vitis labrusca varieties or oddball hybrids. These varieties do the job for sweet, alcoholic beverages, but they cannot make interesting, well-structured fine wines. Aside from a few early experiments, such as the first 20 acres planted by the Inkameep Band in 1968, most of the vinifera plantings have occurred in the past 20 years.

Inniskillin purchases grapes from the Inkameep Band on contract. It also owns the former Okanagan Vineyards, a 20-acre site on the Golden Mile bench, which was planted in 1990 by Hungarian immigrant Sandor Mayer. The soft-spoken Mayer is now Inniskillin Okanagan's winemaker and general manager. Here, too, the focus for Riesling is on ice wine. In fact, it's the only Riesling they make, usually in quantities of around 2,500 to 3,000 half bottles a year.

Northern Okanagan

The second day of the trip I ventured north from my base in Penticton, which is conveniently located midway between the northern and southern ends of the valley. Penticton is an interesting place because it has two lake fronts: the long, narrow Okanagan Lake (170 kilometers long and only about 1.5 kilometers wide at the most) to the north and the much smaller Skaha Lake to the south. This is a quiet little mountain town (population 33,000) that swarms with outdoorsy vacationers in summer. Now there's even a casino for the terminally bored.

I was only able to visit three estates in the Northern Okanagan, and with disappointing results. At Cedar Creek, Summerhill and Mission Hill, Riesling does not appear to be a priority, losing out to the likes of Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Merlot. It's a shame, too, because the people here are so unbelievably nice and hospitable that you really want to like the wines. They can be decent values, especially for U.S. citizens because of the favorable exchange rate, but I just can't recommend spending $9 or $10 for a merely pleasant New World Riesling when you can get a truly wonderful QbA from the Middle Mosel for about the same price.

All the same, these are fun and interesting places to visit if you ever make a trip of your own to the Okanagan. At Summerhill, for instance, you'll find a one-eighth-size replica of Egypt's Cheops Pyramid, in which the bottled wines are aged. Proprietor Stephen Cipes is a big believer in cosmic energies. He is convinced that wines age better when stored in the pyramid, which was built with no metals and aligned to true north.

The Mondavi of the Okanagan is Mission Hill in Westbank, opposite Kelowna, and is well worth a visit. Mission Hill's proprietor, Anthony von Mandl, has embarked on a massive construction campaign. He's turning what was already a large winery into a huge commercial facility and a tourist destination for food and wine lovers. We can't recommend the Rieslings here, but their breakthrough wine, the Grand Reserve Chardonnay, is sleek and elegantly oaked. The 1992 vintage was the first made by John Simes after he moved halfway around the globe from Montana Wines in New Zealand. That wine received the trophy for best Chardonnay at the 1994 International Wine & Spirits Competition in London.

In conclusion

Of the nearly 60 wineries in the Okanagan Valley, we were only able to visit seven, so it would be a little presumptuous of us to proclaim any hard conclusions about the region's potential for Riesling. Still, the best of what we tasted does point to a promising future for crisp, clean, fruit-driven Rieslings from this beautiful and picturesque slice of the New World.

In spite of a trade agreement between us, Canadian wines are difficult to find here in the states. That means another road trip is in store. I've heard good things about a number of other wineries, with names like Hawthorne Mountain, Tinhorn Creek, Hainle and Quail's Gate, and I'm looking forward to discovering their wines on my next expedition north. In the meantime, I've got to go out and get a new set of snow tires.