The Similkameen Valley might be tiny but it is certainly mighty. This stoney, steep-sided valley is dwarfed in size by neighboring Okanagan Valley, but on par with any exciting emerging wine region worldwide. The bracing, cleansing wind that blasts through the Similkameen Valley every evening is one reason why the area has been able to embrace organic agriculture, and sustainability is an understood way of life here. Sustainability and Orofino Vineyards are twinned. They are the only winery in Canada to be constructed of strawbales, a 200-year-old technique designed with ecofriendly and earthy 21 inch thick walls, providing striking and superb cooling insulation from the desert heat. The 2012 Celentano Vineyard Gamay was pulled from this single vineyard that was planted in 1999 on granitic shale, and yields a bright, fresh red with cured meats, wild strawberry and dusty, fine spiced tannins with an alluring swipe of bitter cherry on the finish. Serve slightly chilled. Go Gamay Go!
