singletree tasting roomThere are some days that cannot be improved upon. In late June, my husband had to chair a meeting in Mission.  The location was a private home overlooking the mountains on the north shore of the Fraser River.  We drove through the back roads from Walnut Grove to Mission, thus avoiding Hwy 1 traffic.  The farms and fields were green and lush as we wound our way through the rural roads.  It was a warm sunny day.  The blues skies afforded us an impeccable view of Mt. Baker until we turned towards our destination.

On the way home, I suggested we stop at one of the wineries we had spotted along the route to Mission. We had a choice of Seaside Pearl or Singletree wineries along Harris Road.  I picked Singletree for a brief “degustation”.

Located on Mt. Lehman Road, Singletree winery is a family-owned business. It offers lovely grounds to host events such as weddings or paint parties.  On this day, the traffic coming through the entrance was rather heavy as a wedding had just ended.  We managed to see the bridal party being photographed among the grapevines.  A beautiful setting!

singletree vineyard

I chose a flight of 6 wines which included whites, reds and a rose.  Some of the varietals are grown on their property, while others are brought in from the Okanagan. Over the past years, I have tasted many different wines, both in Canada and abroad. I had never heard of Gruner Vetliner. This white wine is said to have aromas of citrus, peach and honey.  The grapes are 100% grown on their estate.

Of all the wines I tasted, this one really pleased my palate. I purchased a bottle as a souvenir of this perfect day and stored it for future enjoyment.

When we lived in Australia, someone told us that 80% of the wines were purchased for consumption within 4 hours.  I admit to having those shopping habits.  It is a bit unusual that I would hold on to a bottle for more that a week.  Imagine my delight when I opened the Gruner Vetliner a few weeks later and realized what a truly delicious wine it is!

Here’s to sunny days and discovering great wines in the Fraser Valley.  Cheers!