Cassini Cellars — Attraction in Area C (Inkaneep/Willowbrook)

Cassini Cellars

My girlfriend and I were on vacation through Okanagan wine country. Over six days, we visited sixty wineries. You can follow our various locations with this disclaimer. That’s sixty wineries, not an exaggeration. We ended the trip with 120 bottles acquired.

Despite being on the “we also went to” list of wineries, Cassini Cellars is a worthwhile visit. I’m not going to lie, it’s one of the smaller wineries, and it mimics the design of many of the others like Gold Hill and Tinhorn.

I said in my review for Tinhorn that there either must have been some collective agreement or there was a huge discount on mustard paint. So, given that single criticism of similitude, why do I love Cassini Cellars? Well, for one, it has an awesome name—I must come clean with that one. If I punch in “Cassini” in Google, that brilliant Skynet-like algorithm gives me neither the winery nor a town in Australia, but rather the name of the mission to Saturn.

You see, Cassini is a name synonymous with knowledge, with four generations of French/Italian scientists stretching two hundred years. So right from the gate, I’m predisposed to like Cassini Cellars. The name here refers to its owner and principle winemaker, so there could, in fact, be a genetic connection. Wouldn’t that be awesome?

I never asked. I should have.

The man himself greeted us and offered a quick tour. The tasting room is one of the best in the region, tall, with hundreds, perhaps thousands, of bottles dominating the walls and tables. I adore the fanatical dedication Cassini has with their wines, one of the few with colossal double magnums reinforced in steel and wood cages waiting for purchase. I couldn’t justify that, so a nominal magnum maximus was enough for me. Adding with a few others, we were eventually able to fill a box to ship back home. Yes, one the few places where we did that. The boxed maximus dominates my shelf to this day.

Ignoring the resemblance Cassini has with other wineries, it also holds the distinction of being one of the few that could transport you spiritually (not physically, I’m not the character from Jumper) to France or Italy. Despite not hawking tourists with tours, a restaurant, and some trained animal in the corner begging for treats, Cassini is still one of the must-see locations between Oliver and Osoyoos. I also found it cool that when I planned my trip, I contacted nearly every winery, and Cassini himself was one of the few people that responded. That's got an additional mark right then.

You can’t miss Cassini Cellars…literally. It’s on the highway between the two towns, so you would be factually improvident to avoid it. It would be like watching Rogue One and scoffing at Darth Vader’s final scene. It would be like going to Disneyland and not picking a fight with an underpaid actor in an unventilated foam body suit. Why go if you are going to skip the highlights? Cassini is another in a long list of must-see wineries in southern BC, and unlike the others, it’s not all polished paint over particle board; there is real wood underneath there. Yes, it’s not just a pretty face; the wines are actually good, and why else...

Went in there two times 2 weeks ago. I wanted to buy some pinot noir which I've had in the past and enjoyed. The gal at the tasting counter did not acknowledge our presence for the 10 minutes we stood in line. There was one other couple currently tasting. I'm in complete agreement with distancing, but there was plenty of room at the other end of the counter. As we were leaving she suddenly decided to tell us she'd be with us shortly. We left. Two days later, we tried again. Only two of us this time. She indicated (so we thought) to go to the other end as there was another couple there. As we proceeded to go she yelled at us to stand behind the rope. We left. I love your pinto noir and was anxious to taste the new bottling before I bought it. You won't miss my business, but the four of us all acknowledged this was the most unfriendly experience of...

An awesome winery right along Highway 97. They won the 2017 winery of the year award. There is a good selection of both reds and whites. I personally like their Pinot noir. They have a god father bottle for 80 dollars which was tempting. The staff were very knowledgeable, but when we visited on Saturday there were a ton of tours that showed up, so hard to have a unbroken conversation with the sales staff. Best visited during the week if you want a personalized experience. According to their sign they are open until 530 pm. Coll wine trucks out front to take pictures with. Bottles of white were between 20 and 30 dollars. Reds were from the high twenties to 80 dollars. They have a wine club which if you like their wines is...