12 reviews for The Burrowing Owl Winery
12 reviews in English
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Review from Bill N.
2/26/2012
Last time we were here I think there was no restaurant. There was a huge tasting room where the restaurant is now. Now the tasting room is next to their hotel. That's a lot of businesses for a winery. We paid $2 each to taste 3 wines. Good stuff but nothing super memorable. I don't think we bought anything
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Review from Mary Mary C.
Port Moody, BC
10/24/2011 4 photos
The 5 stars are for the resturaunt. I'm not rating the winery as a whole.
The food is amazing. The service fantastic. I ate lunch here in late October and they had just changed the menu to the fall. I had the special which was the lamb chops and I was blown away. They were cooked to perfection, the presentation was fabulous. Its a little pricy, but worth it. We did our wine tour after the summer rush, so it wasn't too busy. The waitress was prompt without being pushy and everybody was superfriendly (even after my cell phone rang, oops - sorry...).
Desert was also amazing. I had the carrot cake with the goatcheese icing, and now I am googling how to make goat cheese icing. It came with ginger icecream, which wasn't too overbearing. Perfectly complementary. My friend got the bread pudding with the wiskey icecream. She loved it as well.
Healthy - Yes. Lots of healthy options.
They offer wine suggestions on the menu so you know what to drink. -
Review from Cathy S.
8/2/2011
Burrowing Owl is a lovely resort winery destination. They have a luxurious guest house with 10 rooms and a suite, a fine dining restaurant, winery tours and a beautiful tasting room. And it was easily 200% busier than any other winery that we stopped at. So why not 5 stars? We were totally turned off by all of the lemmings packing the tasting room and monopolizing the tasting counters.
The unquestioning devotion is not entirely baseless as we tasted a 2009 Chardonnay and a 2008 Cabernet Sauvignon, both of which were worthy of high praise, but even so, in our opinion they were not the best in the Okanagan or worth the prices that were quite a bit higher than their competitors.
Good on you Burrowing Owl, through successful marketing, a lovely environment and a decent product you have managed to convince a large contingent of people with disposable income to desire your product above any other. Interestingly enough this was the only tasting room that pushed the tasting fee even if you made a purchase.Listed in: South Okanagan Wine Tour
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Review from K.Allen E.
7/6/2011
Gorgeous place!! Worth the trip just for the view....but that may be it. The wine was OK but nothing more. In comparison to their rivals, I'd put them in the average....nothing piqued my interest enough to want it again.
Stop for the view, restaurant, and do try the wine but just don't expect the best for the area.
The grounds are some of the best for the area, and the staff are quite nice and fairly well informed. It is a bigger winery, and with it's attraction, the tasting room does get quite crowded at times.
Price points are a bit high for quality, but do try the restaurant....especially if you can sit on the deck outside. -
Review from Drew M.
Vancouver, BC
12/7/2010
We were introduced to Burrowing Owl when some friends dragged us here. At first we didn't understand why, but we soon discovered that this place is awesome. Impressive wine, friendly staff, and a nice restaurant make this a top notch place to visit.
I just wish we'd bought more wine while we were there.. -
Review from John W.
Vancouver, BC
4/12/2011
Can I give them 4.5?
Already well known as a great OK winery. I think that their grounds will soon rival Mission Hill, although not quite the same scale. Guest house, tower, restaurant, fields, ... fabulous!
And the wine of course. -
Review from Mike P.
6/26/2010
The Burrowing Owl was the last stop after a few wineries so we were kind of running a bit out of steam. The place is beautiful featuring what appeared to be a nice restaurant and 10 guesthouses that apparently are VERY busy during the summer (we asked to see one but they were all booked).
The wine shop itself is quite nice, tasting were $2 per person. They they donate the $2 to an owl charity. This was the only winery that didn't refund the tasting when we bought a few bottles of wine from them (but as it was going to a charity this was definitely acceptable). Their higher end wine was more expensive than the other wineries we visited.
Room rates (2010) are (min stay required during peak season):
feb 12 - apr 1 - $175
apr 2 - apr 30 -$225
may 1 - june 24 - $275
june 25 - oct 11 - $350
oct 12 - oct 31 - $250
nov 1 - dec 19 - $175
To me this seems VERY expensive, the rooms did not appear very big, but judging by the brochure the rooms looked very nice. I would love to come back and stay here, but at that price it would tough to fork over that sort of dough. -
Review from Sheila W.
BC
1/21/2009 1 photo
Burrowing Owl is an imposing winery way up on the hill of the Black Sage Bench. You can get a fabulous view of the South Okanagan Valley from their patio. The winery has a self-guided tour with lots of written material posted around for you to educate yourself about the wine making process. It's one of the major wineries to visit when you're in the area.
The wine shop is usually busy, since Burrowing Owl wine is developing a cult-like following with Vancouverites. You don't get the same personal face-time with winemakers as you often do at smaller wineries. Sometimes you get lucky, but not too often.
Burrowing Owl wines tend to be a bit more expensive, for example, their Meritage is $45. Whites are still around the $25 mark.
Be sure to check out their restaurant! It's worth the wait to get a seat on the patio. I love Okanagan summers!Listed in: South Okanagan Wineries
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Review from Kyrsten J.
New Westminster, BC
8/23/2010
You want a picturesque vineyard? you got it here!
I was highly tempted to bribe an employee just so I could take a few laps in their pool at the guest house overlooking the vineyard.
The restaurant is excellent, with good food, and my friend SWEARS by the Flame Caesar. For those of you that don't know, Flame is a ice-wine with a jalapeno, made by another vineyard nearby. Amazing. -
Review from Nadine N.
Vancouver, BC
10/14/2008 7 photos
When I first tried Burrowing Owl's Gerwertztraminer several months ago, I became an instant fan of gerwertztraminers. Last night I enjoyed their gerwertztraminer at their restaurant. Today, we returned to the wine shop. Unfortunately, they did not have any gerwertztraminers available, but we tasted three other wines that they had available. We chose the 2006 chardonnay. I can't wait to open the bottle!
If you are looking for an off season getaway (through Dec. 15), call Burrowing Owl about their Guest House. They have 10 guest rooms and one penthouse. For $119/person ($127.50 on weekends), stay at the Guest House and get breakfast and a 3-course dinner at their Sonora Room Restaurant.Listed in: Places of Note in South…
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Review from Carolyn C.
Vancouver, BC
1/27/2009 2 photos
Burrowing Owl Estate Winery had its first commercial wine release in 1997, however its vineyards were planted earlier in 1993. Since then, the winery has received widespread accolades for its wines, particularly its red vintages, resulting annually in sold-out inventory.
The Burrowing Owl winery site is perched on a hillside on an eastern bench of the South Okanagan. The fortress-like building is difficult to miss from a distance, and is now even more imposing with the recent addition of a 10-room guesthouse, which features a sizeable outdoor swimming pool and breakfast room.
Burrowing Owl features a four-star restaurant, The Sonora Room, offering full lunch and dinner service as well as afternoon tapas. The winery's wrap-around patio has beautiful views of the valley, and is a lovely setting for lunch or dinner. Be sure to make reservations in advance for dinner, as evenings tend to be busy during the summer season. (1-250-498-6202 for reservations).
Burrowing Owl's vineyard location enjoys long afternoon sun exposure, creating a great setting for the development of rich flavours. Wines can sell out quickly, particularly Merlot and Meritage, so it is advisable to contact the winery in advance. Visiting the winery is the best way to acquire wines.
Last word:
Be sure to enjoy the self guided tour that is offered and pack a camera - the view from the bell tower is nothing short of stunning. -
Review from Evelyn M.
10/8/2010
Very pleasant; beautiful setting. The food was beautiful and some of the food (the heirloom tomato and mozzarella salad) pretty tasty. Understandable that the chef might not want to shift the salad around to make it easier for me to share the salad with my non-vegan companion. Understandable to keep the presentation intact. Unfortunately while understandable perhaps not so friendly. Only three stars though because the pasta with garlic and olive oil was only passable and certainly underwhelmed considering the high standards for presentation. Can't even remember what my companions had.
