One of the Okanagan’s original winery restaurants celebrates a major milestone, deliciously

Diners take in the view from the Old Vines Restaurant patio at Quails’ Gate Estate Winery. Photo courtesy of Quails’ Gate Estate Winery

A few weeks back I had dinner at Old Vines Restaurant at Quails’ Gate Estate Winery in West Kelowna and it was just as magical as the very first time, which was longer ago than I’d like to admit.

There was that same mesmerizing view down the valley, the setting sun casting a rosy glow on the hills across the lake. There was that familiar warm hospitality, the elegant but unpretentious room, the menu sprinkled with names of local producers like Wise Earth Farm and Tanto Latte Cheese, and, of course, executive chef Roger Sleiman’s terrific food, each dish impeccably paired with the winery’s refined Pinots and Chardonnays.

It’s roughly the same formula you’re likely to see at winery restaurants from Block One at 50th Parallel Estate Winery near Vernon to The Bear, the Fish, the Root and the Berry at Nk’Mip Cellars in Osoyoos: wine-friendly dishes made from locally sourced seasonal ingredients, served in an approachably elevated setting with a spectacular view.

But Old Vines was among the first to establish that wine-country-dining formula and, 25 years after it opened, its execution is still among the very best.

Roger Sleiman, executive chef of Old Vines Restaurant, pictured in the dining room. Photo courtesy of Quails’ Gate Estate Winery

Farm to table

Today winery + restaurant seems as natural a pairing in the Okanagan Valley as Pinot Noir + mushrooms or Chardonnay + buttered popcorn. In reality, the winery restaurant is a relatively new phenomenon in B.C. After all, VQA was only established in 1990 and while the idea of opening a restaurant was appealing to more than one winery owner, back in the ’90s the logistics were a tangled and highly daunting mess of red tape and stacks of application forms.

As with so many pioneering initiatives in B.C., the late, great Harry McWatters was the first to open a winery restaurant, way back in 1980 at Sumac Ridge, the province’s first estate winery. He could only pull it off because there was a golf course attached to the project. It took nearly two decades for someone to do it again.

Old Vines opened in 1999 followed in 2002 by both The Terrace at Mission Hill and The Grapevine at Gray Monk (now The Lookout). Today there are at least 65 wineries in the valley that offer some sort of culinary experience. That’s quite possibly the greatest number in any wine region anywhere, and just one more reason to love the Okanagan Valley.

Those experiences range from charcuterie or tapas to pizza ovens, food trucks, the Joie Hot Dog Lounge, Indian-flavoured Manzil Restaurant at Kismet Winery and several other full-service restaurants including Terrafina at Hester Creek, the Sonora Room at Burrowing Owl, Miradoro at Tinhorn Creek, Home Block at CedarCreek and, expected to open sometime next year, the three restaurants that are in the works at O’Rourke Family Estate.

And then there’s Old Vines at Quails’ Gate.

The winery and its restaurant were the vision of the Stewarts, a family whose deep roots in this region date back to 1908 when Richard John Stewart arrived here from Ireland and established Stewart Brothers Nurseries soon after. It was his son, Dick Stewart, who bought the former Allison Ranch property on Mt. Boucherie Road in 1959 and planted the first vines on what is now the Quails’ Gate estate. In 1989, the year the Canada-U.S. free trade agreement took effect, Dick’s son Ben established Quails’ Gate Winery, one of only 19 in the province at the time.

A decade later, the Stewarts surmounted the considerable obstacles of opening a restaurant at the winery. From the beginning, when it was just a simple dining patio, it championed local farmers, foragers, producers and suppliers—a mission that was amped up when executive chef Roger Sleiman joined Old Vines in 2006 after 12 years of cooking in Whistler.

Hall of fame

Over the nearly 20 years he has been at Old Vines, Sleiman has created iconic dishes such as the game hen with smoked paprika, the roasted spring salmon with pommes Anna and the grilled summer peach and burrata salad (see recipe), several of which are making cameo appearances as “then & now” features on the menu this year. (In celebration of its quarter-century birthday, the restaurant is also offering a collection of limited seasonal specialties, including its own wildflower honey, quince paste and preserved cherries for the holiday season.)

In recognition for his role as a champion of all things local and for celebrating “farm-to-table” dining long before it became a trend, this fall chef Sleiman is being inducted into the BC Restaurant Hall of Fame. It’s just the latest in a barrel full of accolades that include OpenTable’s Top 100 Restaurants in Canada, Top 100 for Outdoor Dining in Canada, and Top 100 for Brunch & Lunch, as well as a nod from Vancouver magazine as one of the Best Okanagan Restaurants.

“From the beginning, our approach has been to showcase the best of the Okanagan—what grows together, goes together,” says Sleiman. “This restaurant is a reflection of the land, the people, and a philosophy of care and craft that goes far beyond the kitchen and beyond the plate.”

Even without all the anniversary treats and hoopla, Old Vines is still as delightful a place to visit as it was the first time I set foot in it all those years ago.

Old Vines Restaurant is located at Quails’ Gate Estate Winery, 3303 Boucherie Road, West Kelowna, quailsgate.com.

Joanne Sasvari

Joanne Sasvari is editor of Vitis and The Alchemist magazines. She also writes about food and drink for WestJet and Vancouver Sun, and is author of the Wickaninnish and Vancouver Eats cookbooks.