My brother and his wife (know good wine from bad...not geeks) are leaving Wednesday for B.C. and asked me for info on Okanagan Valley wineries they should visit. Can anyone help me out here?

These are my choices. There are other, better wineries in the area but most of the best are sold out of their small production by now and have nothing to taste. Even some of the wineries below will be sold out of their best reds. From South to North:

Thornhaven, Oliver
Burrowing Owl, Oliver
Black Hills, Oliver - only one red but one of BC's better.
La Frenz, Naramata
Mission Hills, Kelowna - just for the "mondavieque" winery
Quails Gate, Kelowna
Summerhill, Kelowna - good sparkling wine
Cedar Creek, Kelowna

I highly recommend the restaurants at Burrowing Owl, Quail's Gate and Summerhill.

Plusvini's got a pretty comprehensive list, but i'd add a couple of other wineries in the south end: Gehringer Bros. for Riesling and icewine, and Blue Mountain (by appt. only, I believe) for Pinot Noir, Gamay, Pinot Blanc.

Red Rooster in Naramata (just outside Penticton) makes some decent Gris and Gewurtz, and has a nice tasting room. There's also a nice restaurant in Naramata called The Country Squire, which has a pretty good wine list.

Though their wines are variable (whites much better than reds) Wild Goose has a nice tasting room also, and the winemakers are often pouring themselves.

The VQA store in Penticton (Vintners' Quality Alliance) has probably the best wine selection in the Valley, and the friendly staff there would be glad to help with restaurant or destination planning, I'm sure.

Hey Seaq, Blue Mountain is totally useless. Except for the lovely view of Vaseaux lake. All their reds sell out on release as do most of their whites. You need an app't just to pick up your wine if you are lucky enough to get some. Their idea of a tour is to let you in to the room where the cash register is, to pay for the wine that you are lucky enough to get.

Seriously, I was up last month and I think they only had a few bottles of Chard and Sparkling Rose left.

So what are you saying, plusvini? Arrogance is bad??

Not a slag against Blue Mountain at all. I like their wine and the few people I've met there have been very pleasant. But I don't recommend them for tours... It is frustrating that all the better wineries are like this now. Even Burrowing Owl sold out of every last bottle of red at the Spring Festival.

I sure appreciate these quick replies. Thanks guys!