We were in the Okanagan for a couple of days and had planned a few meals at some of Kelowna’s most notable wineries. This list included lunch at Mission Hill Family Estate’s Terrace Restaurant. Where they had a set two-course wine-paired lunch.
As taken from their press release, “Perched high above Okanagan Lake, the award-winning Terrace Restaurant is an open-air seasonal restaurant that celebrates the best of the Okanagan Valley, from its farm-fresh ingredients to the vibrant vineyards. Open from May through September, The Terrace is rooted in a deep commitment to local sourcing, celebrating the flavours, traditions, and talents of the region’s farmers and artisans.”
“Guided by the culinary vision of Executive Chef Patrick Gayler, each menu is thoughtfully inspired by the estate’s vibrant gardens and locally sourced farms, artfully weaving European influences in creative ways that honour both the integrity of the ingredients and the rich heritage of the Okanagan Valley.
Enjoy a lunch tasting experience set against the stunning landscape of vineyards, mountains, and Okanagan Lake. Each dish is expertly paired with estate-made wines to highlight the fresh, seasonal flavours.”
We caught them and this feature right at the end of this season, and on a sunny day to boot. So unfortunately, if you visit in the near future, the chances are The Terrace will be closed and this menu will not be available.
You check in at the entrance of the property, where there is a host stand that is equipped with glasses and bottles of their sparkling Exhilarat!on Brut Rosé. We would each get a glass and then directed to stroll into the property, turning left towards their perched restaurant.
Most recently Mission Hill Family Estate has been crowned the 45th best winery out of the world’s 50th best vineyards, which is the first for any Canadian property. And they have maintained their Winery of the Year crown, as the best in Canada for the 6th year in a row.
As we got settled into our seats we started with their Okanagan Artisanal Cheese board served with their country pate, cured meats, dried fruits and nuts, plus seasonal preserves. This made for lovely grazing as we saved our full appetite for the stunning dishes to come. Made only more appetizing and elevated against the view of the winery’s clock tower, sculptures, and vines.
The two course lunch is $75 per person and includes wine pairings. But for a little more opulence you can opt in for the enhanced wine pairing at $20 more, like we did.
Seeing as we were two people we were able to try both options for each course, so basically the full menu. To start we had the BC Mushrooms on Sprout Sourdough with Okanagan herb patch celery root fondue, caramelized onions, and Hayden’s rye miso. The mushrooms were cooked saucy with a buttery finish and a sweetness from the onions. I don’t know why I thought the cheese in this would be stringy, considering the menu describes it as a fondue, that is more like cream based sauce.
The elevated pairing gave us the 2025 Terroir Collection Rosé, Willamette Valley as our wine coupling. I got green strawberry leaves and stem on the nose with light notes of rose and raspberry on the tongue. Together this was a light lunch appropriate appetizer.
However, I preferred the Okanagan Heirloom Tomatoes just because my preference for the vegetable-fruit. It was freshly cut, in a variety of colours with double smoked bacon, whipped goat cheese, and a peach vinaigrette made from local peaches. This was wonderfully fresh and well balanced. I could eat this every day.
Its wine pairing was the 2024 Terroir Collection Sauvignon Blanc, NZ. The white was pretty with floral notes and green peppercorn. Dry with high acidity, I liked how it was different on the nose than on and palate. Savoury zest like biting into a raw pepper with a slightly tropical after note. So unique and so memorable that I bought a bottle to take home, to be able to relive this one of a kind bouquet of the wine.
For entrees the Pan Seared Scallops with Estate Chorizo Wise Earth ginger, sweet corn and kuri squash felt lost against all the punchier ingredients. This offered up fall warmth with curry and spice where the squash is the star, offering a sweet cakey mouthful.
Paired with it we had the Legacy Collection Perpetua. It had a buttery gasoline nuance on the nose and finished with a thicker lemon curd in the mouth.
The second entree is Pan Seared Duck Breast basted with thyme nasturtium mustard, toasted herb spaetzle, and the first chanterelles. The flavours were unexpected. Typically you see a lot of red fruit and berry partnered with duck and here we got lean and green.
Instead, we get our nostalgic longing for dark red fruit from the wine. The duck was salted and cured, the chew and green of the green spetzel helped to balance out some of the saltiness from the duck.
The 2021 Terroir Collection Cabernet Franc pairing was juicy cherry, produced using the top 3 of grapes in the Okanagan. This wine is only available at the restaurant for drinking and purchasing. For fans of Mission Hill, this gives you an extra and bonus and reason for dining-in.
Not part of the lunch set menu, but available à la carte is the following two desserts. The Estate Honey Basque Cheesecake includes
vanilla pear sorbet, granny smith apple, candied hazelnuts and more of the light and effervescent Exhilarat!on Brut Rosé that we had to start. Its neutrality helped to cut into some of the sweet richness of the cake, like how the apple slices offered the brightness of acid.
The staff turned the Stave Smoked Dark Chocolate Cake into a birthday cake for by guest by placing a single lit candle atop of it. I am typically not a fan of chocolate, but this was a fluffy cake and all the accompanying fruit it had alongside it, made it come across as less dense. The highlight was the grape ice cream with concord grape gel and roasted strawberries.
Naturally the pairing for this was the 2022 Reserve Merlot, a red but not bold enough to over power the fruit.
In conclusion, this meal was such a treat. Delicious and memorable, given the quality, setting, and the fact the wine came directly from the land we were on. What a wonderful experience to have when visiting Kelowna.
Mission Hill
1730 Mission Hill Road, West Kelowna, BC V4T 2E4
250-768-6400
missionhillwinery.com
