Vancouver Island and the Gulf Island enjoy the mildest temperatures in Canada. With its sunny and warm summers and rolling hills the Cowichan Valley is ideal for growing wine grapes.

From mountains, pastures and ocean views, the landscapes around the vineyards are alone worth the trip. The Cowichan Valley has long dry summers along with ideal grape growing soils which make it just right for vineyards.

The Napa Valley of Canada

The Cowichan Valley in Southern Vancouver Island, known as the Napa Valley of Canada, is a flourishing wine producing area. Vancouver Island’s sun-drenched slopes on the eastern and southern portion are ideal grape growing areas.
Similar to northern Europe, the Cowichan Valley grows some of the best cool-climate grapes. The Valley also has excellent conditions for growing high quality cider apples comparable to the famous cider-growing areas of France and England.
Here are the vineyards and wineries in the local Duncan area – in no particular order. We suggest you confirm the open hours before you begin your vineyard tour adventure.

Venturi-Schulze Winery

The Venturi-Schulze winery, started in 1987, offers estate grown wines, balsamic vinegars and verjus, a very acidic juice made from unripe grapes.
Hours: Saturdays, Sundays and holiday Mondays from 10:00 am to 5:00 pm (4:00 pm November & December) and other times by appointment.
Contact Information:
4235 Vineyard Rd, Cobble Hill, British Columbia V0R 1L5
Tel: 250-743-5630 Fax: 250-743-5638 Website: www.venturischulze.com

Zanatta Winery & Restaurant

The Zanatta Winery is part of a 120 acre farm with some 30 acres for wine grapes. Their wines only use the fruit from the farm and have been producing since 1990. Their main varieties are: Pinot Nero, Ortega, Cayuga, Auxerrois, Pinot Grigio, and Madeleine X Sylvaner. They also have a number of other varieties for specialty wines and for experiment.
The Vinoteca is a vineyard restaurant and wine bar in a restored farm house. It is open for lunch service Wednesday to Sunday starting at noon. The fare is “created on the simplicity of country life, incorporating food which is grown either on the farm or as local as possible”. Hours: Wine tasting and sales 12 to 4:30pm Wednesday to Sunday
Contact information:
Zanatta Winery
5039 Marshall Rd, Duncan, B.C. V9L 6S3 Telephone: (250) 748-2338 Fax: (250) 748-2347
email: Winery@zanatta.ca

Vinoteca Restaurant info and reservations: (250) 709-2279 email: fatima@islandnet.com
Website: www.zanatta.ca

Averill Creek Vineyard

The Averill Creek Winery is named after the creek that runs down from the slopes of Mount Prevost. However the passion of this Cowichan Valley vineyard comes from physician Andy Johnston, who over a 30 year period honed his wine making skills by apprenticing in vineyards in France, Italy and Australia. They are open daily 11-5 for the 2011 season. The main floor of the winery and the outdoor Piazza can be tented for events, receptions and parties
Contact information:
Averill Creek Vineyard
6552 North Rd, Duncan BC V9L 6K9 Phone: 250-709-9986 Fax: 250-709-9987
Email: weddingandevents@averillcreek.ca
www.averillcreek.ca

Blue Grouse Winery

The Blue Grouse vineyard and winery was started by the Kiltz family who hail from Germany. It is one of the original Vancouver Island Estate wineries.
Blue Grouse is a family-owned and operated vineyard and winery. This amazing location, on an all-southern exposure, requires neither irrigation or fertilization.
It is open for tasting and sales on selected days depending on the season. Best to call in advance.
Contact Information:
Blue Grouse Winery
4365 Blue Grouse Road, Duncan, BC V9L 6M3 Tel. (250) 743-3834
Email: info@bluegrousevineyards.com
www.bluegrousevineyards.com

Meridale Ciderworks

Merridale Ciderworks in the heart of Cowichan Valley offers cider from BC’s first estate cidery. Their products include 7 ciders, 3 fortified dessert wines plus a selection of brandies and spirits. There is a store on location offering gourmet foods, baked goods and their own cider apple vinegar. You can also enjoy the day spa in the piece and quiet of a rural farm. Their location is a also available for weddings.
Contact Information:
Merridale Ciderworks
1230 Merridale Rd, Cobble Hill, British Columbia, V0R 1L0
Tel: (250) 743-4293 Fax (250) 743-9310 Toll-free 800-998-9908
http://www.merridalecider.com/

Rocky Creek Winery

Rocky Creed Winery is an award-winning boutique winery in the heart of Cowichan Bay offering Ortega, Wild Blackberry, Pinot Gris, Pinot Noir, Sparkling and Rose. In their wine cafe you can enjoy wines with cheese, biscotti and other snacks.
In 2009, Cowichan Bay became North America’s first Cittaslow community, joining over 119 Cittaslow towns in 20 countries. These communities are brought to life by the people who take the time to build community relationship and enjoy a quality of life.
Contact Information:

Rocky Creek Winery 1854 Myhrest Rd, Cowichan Bay, BC V0R 1N1 Phone: (250) 748-5622 Fax: (250) 748-5633 Email: info@rockycreekwinery.ca
www.rockycreekwinery.ca

Duncan Accommodations

There are a number of hotels, motels and bed & breakfasts to pick from including our sponsors, Best Western:

Best Western Cowichan Valley Inn is a quiet sanctuary at the foot of Mount Prevost and conveniently located near the Cowichan Commons Mall and BC Forest Discovery Centre. The hotel features 43 well-appointed guestrooms and the convenience of onsite dining at Choices Restaurant and Station Pub Bar and Grill. The friendly, helpful staff at the Best Western Cowichan Valley Inn is ready to ensure a comfortable and memorable stay in Duncan, BC.

Contact info: Best Western Cowichan Valley Inn, 6474 Trans Canada Highway, Duncan, British Columbia V9L 6C6. Toll Free: (800) 927-6199 Telephone: (250) 748-2722 Fax: (250) 748-2207.
Email: info@cowichanvalleyinn.com
Enjoy all that Duncan has to offer and please tell your friends.
Creative Commons Attribution: Permission is granted to repost this article in its entirety with credit to Amazing Vancouver Island and a clickable link back to this page.

Located near Duncan BC on beautiful Vancouver Island’s Cowichan Valley, Duncan Meadows Golf and Country Club offers exceptional year-round golf. The nearly 7,000 yard Claude Muret designed course offers challenging play for every level of golfer. Duncan Meadow hosted the 2009 Amateur Men’s Championship and in 2011 hosts the Royale Cup Canadian Women’s Amateur championship.

Duncan Meadows is a impressive mix of golf links and parkland on the rolling landscape. In addition to great golf, you can enjoy the forest, mountains, valley views and wildlife–deer and bald eagles. The view of the magnificent Mt Prevost is breathtaking.

With excellent practice facilities including a large driving range, chipping and putting areas, Duncan Meadows is also a great place to polish your game. If you looking to improve your game or need some pro help you get instruction from Kelvin Trott.

Membership at Duncan Meadows Golf Course

Duncan Meadows offers a number of membership categories from regular to seniors to couples to corporate to juniors. Deepening on the membership level members get advance booking privileges, weekend and holiday tee times and more.

The course is open to the public but they ask for 7 days advance booking for non-members.

Weddings at Duncan Meadows Golf Course

Duncan Meadows is an ideal location for weddings in Duncan and the Cowichan Valley. Services and amenities include: banquet facility, full bar, outstanding views and outdoor garden.

Contact Information for Duncan Meadows

Owners: Ming & Grace Hui
6507 North Road, Duncan BC. V9L 6K9
Tel: 250-746-8993 Fax: 250-746-8955
email: golf@duncanmeadows.com
www.duncanmeadows.com

Getting to Duncan Meadows

• A few minutes drive from Duncan, BC. – take Highway 1, exit on Cowichan Valley Highway (BC 18) West, left on Somenos, right on Drinkway Rd, left on N Rd and you are right there.


• From Nanaimo – less than an hours drive south on Highway 1, exit right on Cowichan Valley Highway as above.


• From Victoria – about an hours drive north on Highway 1, exit left on Cowichan Valley Highway as above.

Duncan Accommodations

There are a number of hotels, motels and bed & breakfasts to pick from including our sponsors, Best Western:

Best Western Cowichan Valley Inn is a quiet sanctuary at the foot of Mount Prevost and conveniently located near the Cowichan Commons Mall and BC Forest Discovery Centre.

The hotel features 43 well-appointed guestrooms and the convenience of onsite dining at Choices Restaurant and Station Pub Bar and Grill. The friendly, helpful staff at the BEST WESTERN Cowichan Valley Inn is ready to ensure a comfortable and memorable stay in Duncan, BC.

Contact info: Best Western Cowichan Valley Inn, 6474 Trans Canada Highway, Duncan, British Columbia V9L 6C6. Toll Free: (800) 927-6199 Telephone: (250) 748-2722 Fax: (250) 748-2207. Email: info@cowichanvalleyinn.com.

Enjoy all that Duncan has to offer and please tell your friends.

Creative Commons Attribution: Permission is granted to repost this article in its entirety with credit to Amazing Vancouver Island and a clickable link back to this page.

With just one look at the majestic and lush wooded landscape of Vancouver Island, you know the forests have stories to tell. How did the early settlers cut these trees, before the chainsaw was invented? How did they move the massive fallen trees to a sawmill? What was life like for those pioneers?

The logging industry is integral to the Island and its stories are well-told at the Kaatza Station Museum and Archives in Lake Cowichan.

Your Trip Back in Time Begins in a 1913 Railway Station

To walk through the Museum’s door at the 1913 Esquimalt & Nanaimo Railway Station in Lake Cowichan is to step back in time.

See what lake life in the 1920’s was like through an award-winning twelve-foot mural. Picture yourself in the routines of a pioneer’s life with the Museum’s displays of a store and post office.

Feel what is was like to enter the first grade nearly a hundred years ago when you visit the Museum’s 1925 school house on the grounds. An exhibit inside helps you imagine being a student there in the 1940’s.

Glimpse into the logging business details through documents and artifacts from more than 50 forestry-related companies, including Bald Mountain Logging, Crofton Export Company, Deakin Sawmill and Mt. Sicker Lumber. Take a look at working conditions at the mine shaft exhibit and logging display.

Railroads were an important part of the commerce and culture of the day and the Museum has several pieces of rolling stock outside, to help you imagine the time when the railroads were a primary form of transportation. Envision the cinders flying from the 1927 locomotives from Shay and Plymouth; examine a hard-working log car and dream about seeing the landscape from a 1916 caboose.

Wilmer Gold Photo Collection

In 1902, Wilmer Gold was just nine years old when he had a life-changing experience: he took his first photograph. At 41, Gold was already an accomplished photographer when he moved to Vancouver Island in 1934 with his wife, Margaret and son, Holt. He focused his commercial photography business on the Island’s logging industry, even creating a portable developing lab modified from a Willys’ Overland chassis that he pulled behind his car.

Gold’s work appeared in the era’s most popular magazines, including Look, Life and Time. His book “Logging As It Was” documented the lives of loggers and the industry’s evolution on Vancouver Island.

The Museum has several Gold photos on display and is digitizing its collection of about 1,000 Gold photographic negatives.

Open Year ‘Round

The Museum is open daily during the summer (May through the Labour Day weekend), from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Its winter hours are 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Monday through Thursday. Admission is by donation.

Plan the rest of your visit with an historical and recreational map of Lake Cowichan and books about the area, available in the Museum’s gift shop. Send the story of your vacation back home with postcards and pins depicting the Lake Cowichan region.

For more details about and news from Kaatza Station Museum and Archives, visit http://www.kaatzamuseum.ca/

Duncan Accommodations

There are a number of hotels, motels and bed & breakfasts to pick from including our sponsors, Best Western:

Best Western Cowichan Valley Inn is a quiet sanctuary at the foot of Mount Prevost and conveniently located near the Cowichan Commons Mall and BC Forest Discovery Centre.

The hotel features 43 well-appointed guestrooms and the convenience of onsite dining at Choices Restaurant and Station Pub Bar and Grill. The friendly, helpful staff at the Best Western Cowichan Valley Inn is ready to ensure a comfortable and memorable stay in Duncan, BC.

Contact info: Best Western Cowichan Valley Inn, 6474 Trans Canada Highway, Duncan, British Columbia V9L 6C6. Toll Free: (800) 927-6199 Telephone: (250) 748-2722 Fax: (250) 748-2207.

Email: reservations@cowichanvalleyinn.com

Enjoy all that Lake Cowichan has to offer and please tell your friends.

Creative Commons Attribution: Permission is granted to repost this article in its entirety with credit to Amazing Vancouver Island and a clickable link back to this page.

Duncan is just off the Trans Canada Highway about half-way between Victoria and Nanaimo on the eastern side of Vancouver Island. It has all the charm and character of a real friendly small town. Duncan and the surrounding Cowichan region is the one of the most beautiful places you will ever visit.

Bigleaf Maple Syrup Festival

One of the fun events held each year, typically in February, is the Bigleaf Maple Syrup Festival held at the BC Forest Discovery Centre, 2892 Drinkwater Road, Duncan, BC. The admission is just $5 including train rides and a taste of local maple syrup provided by the Sapsuckers.

The Festival Events:

• If you have ever wondered where real maple syrup comes from you can take in a tapping demonstration.
• Get the inside skinny by attending a workshop with the professional maple syrup producers.
• Cooking demonstrations.
• Have a sniff of the real thing as the evaporator runs all day and you can watch how maple syrup is made.
• Grab the kids and jump on the museum’s train.
• Enjoy the live musical entertainment.
• Taste the local maple syrup provided by Sapsuckers, a group of local maple syrup producers.
• Watch the maple syrup competition which has participants from all over the Island as well as Vancouver.
• Visit the Duncan-Cowichan Visitor Centre for information about Duncan and the surrounding area.

Getting To Duncan

BC Ferry: From Vancouver – take the ferry from Horseshoe Bay to Nanaimo then south on Highway 1 to Duncan. Or from Tsawwassen to Victoria (Schwartz Bay), then north on Highway 1 to Duncan.

Accommodations in Duncan

A message from our sponsor.

Best Western Cowichan Valley Inn. The hotel near is Mount Prevost, Cowichan Commons Mall and BC Forest Discovery Centre where the Maple Syrup Festival is held. The friendly, helpful staff at the BEST WESTERN Cowichan Valley Inn are ready to ensure you have a comfortable and memorable stay in Duncan, BC.

6474 Trans Canada Highway, Duncan, British Columbia V9L 6C6
Phone: 250/748-2722 Fax: 250/748-2207

Creative Commons Attribution: Permission is granted to repost this article in its entirety with credit to Amazing Vancouver Island and a clickable link back to this page.