Oliver & Osoyoos Wine Tour: Black Sage Bench tastings

Taste Bordeaux and Rhône varietals from Canada's hottest vineyard slopes

A full-day private wine tour of Oliver and Osoyoos visits five wineries across the Golden Mile and Black Sage Bench, with a live English-speaking guide, seated tastings at your own table, and lunch reservations arranged. You taste premium Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc and Syrah shaped by the region's desert climate and deep sands, then move through the next winery while your guide explains the terroir and winemaking approach behind each stop.

Step-by-step itinerary

Private wine tasting tour in Oliver & Osoyoos

• Guide provides winery background
• Seated tasting of four wines outdoors
• Visit Maverick winery, learn winemaking
• Seated tasting with optional food pairings
• Explore Black Hills Estate vineyards

The experience

Six hours gives you time to move through five wineries without rushing the tastings themselves. Your guide picks you up in Osoyoos, Oliver or Okanagan Falls and handles the driving between stops, so you taste without worrying about the road. At each winery you sit at your own table for a guided tasting: four wines poured and explained, with the option to add seasonal food pairings matched to each flight if you want the full tasting menu (at extra cost). The guide arranges your entry and provides background on the winery before you arrive, then stays with you through the tasting to answer questions about what you're drinking.

The Oliver and Osoyoos region produces wines distinct from anywhere else in Canada. The Black Sage Bench and Golden Mile sit on some of the hottest, driest and sunniest vineyard land in the country: more sunlight hours than Napa Valley during the key growing months of June through August. That intense heat ripens the grapes fully, while cool nights preserve the acidity, creating the minerality and complexity the region is known for. Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc and Syrah thrive in these conditions, and each winery you visit has its own approach: some follow Old World, by-hand methods. Others focus on careful viticulture to coax the best from the terroir. The wines taste different from one winery to the next because the soil, slope and microclimate shift across the region.

Lunch is your responsibility to book, but your guide makes the reservation for you at a restaurant of your choice. Chilled bottled and sparkling water are provided throughout the day. Tasting fees are included. If you want to take bottles home, you pay for them at the winery. Alternate wineries are available on request if you have preferences, and the tour operates year-round, though the region's hot summers and dry climate make late spring through early fall the peak season for visiting.

What’s included

• Tasting fees at five wineries.
• a live English-speaking guide for the full day.
• seated tastings at your own table with wine explanations.
• lunch reservation arranged by your guide.
• chilled bottled and sparkling water.
• pickup and dropoff in the Osoyoos, Oliver and Okanagan Falls area.

Before you book

Days and timesEvery dayDepartures at 10:00, 11:00 and 12:00

Book up to12h before

AgesAdult (19 and older) · Under 19: can't be booked

GroupPrivate

Live guideEnglish

Meeting point and pickupHotel pickup included.

Cancellation and refundsFree cancellation up to 24 h before the start. After that, no refund.It may be canceled if the minimum number of travelers isn't reached. If that happens, you're offered another date or a refund.

Prices and times updated yesterday

Good to know

Low physical effortInfant seats availablePets welcomePublic transport nearbyNot recommended during pregnancy

Operated by Sagebrush Tours

Is this one for you?The six-hour commitment means you taste five wineries without a rushed pace, but it leaves the rest of your day free. You're back by early evening. Book the morning departure if you want to explore the region's restaurants or shops afterward, or the afternoon slot if you prefer a leisurely breakfast before the tour starts. Minimum age is 19 to participate in tastings.

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Top questions

What wines will I taste on this Oliver and Osoyoos tour?

The tour focuses on Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc and Syrah: the premium red varietals that thrive in the region's desert climate and deep sands. Each winery produces its own expression of these grapes, so you taste how different terroir and winemaking approaches shape the same varietals across the Golden Mile and Black Sage Bench.

How many wineries do I visit in the six hours?

You visit five wineries across the day, with seated tastings at your own table at each stop. Your guide drives between them, so you're tasting, not traveling. The six hours includes the full experience from pickup to dropoff.

What makes the Black Sage Bench and Golden Mile wines different from other Canadian wines?

The Oliver and Osoyoos area is B.C.'s first wine sub-region, recognized for wines with unique flavours, aromas and minerality found nowhere else. The Black Sage Bench sits on one of Canada's hottest, driest and sunniest vineyard sites (more sunlight hours than Napa Valley in the peak growing months) with west-facing slopes and deep desert sands that ripen grapes fully while cool nights retain acidity. That combination creates intensely flavourful wines with the complexity the region is known for.

Is food included with the tastings?

Tasting fees and chilled water are included. You can add the Chef's selection of seasonal food pairings matched to each wine flight for an extra cost. Lunch is separate. Your guide arranges the reservation at a restaurant you choose, and you pay for it there.

What time does the tour start and where do I get picked up?

Pickup happens in Osoyoos, Oliver or Okanagan Falls. Your guide collects you from your accommodation or a meeting point in the transportation zone. If you're staying outside the regular zone, a nominal surcharge applies. The full day runs six hours from pickup to dropoff.