Spierhead winery sucks…in that my damn auto-correct keeps changing the spelling. It’s S-P-I-E-R, named after the street the winery is located on. It’s at the top end of the road, the head you could say. This is another example of a winery that probably brainstormed a name for their winery for all of one minute and decided on the first thing that popped in their head.
Wait, I wasn’t saying the winery sucks. Why would anyone say that? Maybe it could be a disappointment if you came here after visiting Camelot Winery and The Vibrant Vine (which we did). However, we were sophisticated enough, cultivated even, to rate wineries individually and judge them on their own terms. And Spierhead is a worthy member of the Fab Five, also sharing space with The View and House of Rose. It has what I believe to be the best view of the lot. It’s the less gimmicky of the Fab Five, pushing their wines foremost to customers. I admit we might have skipped this one if it wasn’t for the recommendation from Camelot, reinforcing that I am referring to the winery and not the real Camelot (wait…did I just say “real” Camelot?), and that would have been a shame.
The wine was good, the location picturesque, and it’s a quick hop from other locations. It is by no means the worst of the Five (I’ll keep that to myself), and yes, it does play backup to Camelot and Vibrant Vine, but those are two of the best wineries in Kelowna. That’s like saying there’s a bad entry in the Fast & The Furious Franchise. Sure, there are weaker entries, but they are not all bad…and shut your mouth, Tokyo Drift was awesome.
The tasting room is classic with the dominant feature being a row of barrels looming over the view. It also has an incredible picnic area. Full disclosure, we did not pick up any wine on our last trip from them. We had been on a wine tour from Osoyoos to Kelowna, hitting up 60 wineries in a week. Spierhead’s offerings were good, but at the time, I just wasn’t feeling the urge. The bottles are more expensive than most of the other wineries. But this doesn’t mean the location isn’t worth visiting. At least do it to get your stamp.