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Spectacular Start to 18th Sun Peaks Winter Okanagan Wine Festival

Alpine Resort Sees Vintage Snow Conditions for Delectable Winter Wine Celebration

KELOWNA & SUN PEAKS, BRITISH COLUMBIA – JANUARY 11, 2016: The Okanagan Wine Festivals Society and Sun Peaks Resort are delighted to announce the start of the 18^th Winter Okanagan Wine Festival at Sun Peaks Resort this coming weekend.  A celebration of fine wine, local cuisine and legendary winter recreational activities, this year’s festival is the largest to date with 48 British Columbia wineries participating and an expanded lineup of festivities. Conditions at Sun Peaks are optimal this winter with abundant fresh powder, an alpine snow base of 142 cm, and all 135 trails open. The ten day festival from January 14-24, embraces winter with festive outdoor and indoor activities in the heart of Sun Peaks charming alpine village.

"We couldn't be more excited to have this amazing festival right in our own backyard.  The Okanagan Wine Festivals and Tourism Sun Peaks do a remarkable job each year to ensure the festival has lots of fun to offer everyone. As part of the new emerging wine region in Kamloops, we look forward to working with so many wonderful BC producers and making this festival the best one yet,” said Erik Fisher, General Manager, Monte Creek Ranch Winery.

“Six new events in 2016 invigorates and positions the festival as one of the leading winter wine festivals in North America," says Christopher Nicolson, President of Tourism Sun Peaks.  “The abundance of snow this year provides the perfect wintery backdrop for wine festival guests in our unique ski-through village.”

The largest winter gatherings of B.C. wineries, the popular festival is showing strong ticket sales with seven of the twenty events already sold out.  Tickets range from $39 to $90, with packages including accommodation starting at $259 per person for the weekend.  For complete event listings go to: http://www.sunpeaksresort.com/wine-festival. Tickets can be purchased through Tourism Sun Peaks’ Central Reservations at 1-877-212-7107.

The B.C. wineries participating this year are: Baillie Grohman Estate Winery, Bartier Bros., Bench 1775, Blasted Church, Blind Tiger Vineyards, Cana Vines, Conviction Wines & Calona Vineyards, Covert Farms Family Estate, Culmina Family Estate Winery, D'Angelo Estate Winery, Dirty Laundry Vineyard, Evolve Cellars, Forbidden Fruit Winery, Ganton & Larsen Prospect Winery, Gehringer Brothers Estate Winery, Gray Monk Estate Winery, Harper's Trail , Heaven's Gate Estate Winery, Hester Creek Estate Winery, Hillside Winery & Bistro, Intrigue Wines, Kismet Estate Winery, Little Straw Vineyards, Living Water Certified Organic Vineyard, Mission Hill Family Estate, Monte Creek Ranch Winery, Moon Curser Vineyards, Montakaran Estate, Okanagan Crush Pad Winery, Perseus Winery, Recline Ridge Vineyards & Winery, River Stone Estate Winery, Road 13 Vineyards, Rollingdale Winery, Rustic Roots Winery, Sagewood Winery, Sandhill Wines, Serendipity Winery, Sonoran Estate Winery, St Hubertus & Oak Bay Estate Winery, Summerhill Pyramid Winery, Sunnybrae Vineyards & Winery, Tantalus Vineyards, Therapy Vineyards, Thornhaven Estate Winery, Volcanic Hills Winery, Wayne Gretzky Okanagan, and Wild Goose Vineyards.

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Suggested Tweet: Spectacular Start to 18th annual @SunPeaksResort Winter @OKWineFests Jan 14-24, 2016 w/ 20 #BCWine events, tix http://ow.ly/WOuXM

About The Okanagan Wine Festivals Society

The Okanagan Wine Festivals Society is responsible for the development of the wine tourism sector in the interior of British Columbia. It is well known for producing two annual Okanagan Wine Festivals in spring to celebrate the bud break and in fall to celebrate the grape harvest. Its Winter Okanagan Wine Festival is run in partnership with Sun Peaks Resort near Kamloops. It is also responsible for Signature Wine Events including Mile High Wine & Music at Silver Star and two annual wine judging competitions including the British Columbia Wine Awards. www.thewinefestivals.com

About Sun Peaks

Sun Peaks is a four season resort community located in the interior of British Columbia. With the addition of two, new alpine ski zones for the 2014-15 winter season, it now ranks as the second largest ski area in Canada. Most recently declared the #2 Ski Destination in Canada by Canadian Living Magazine’s Reader Poll and Best Overall Resort #2 by the Editors’ Choice Awards in the SBC Resort Guide in 2013, Sun Peaks is continually rated one of the top ski experiences in North America. The award winning resort design features three mountains surrounding an intimate ski-in, ski-out village filled with shops, restaurants and hotels. In other seasons, Sun Peaks offers a diverse range of leisure activities including 18 holes of golf on B.C.’s highest golf course, both downhill and cross country mountain biking, lift accessed alpine hiking as well as numerous concert events and festivals. Sun Peaks Resort was the first ski resort in North America and still the only resort in Canada to receive the ISO 14001 designation recognizing the resort’s environmental policies and practices. Sun Peaks can be accessed by two airport gateways - Kamloops (45 minutes) and Kelowna (2.5 hours) and also by car; only a four hour drive separates Sun Peaks and Vancouver, B.C.

For media inquiries, please contact:

Lori Pike-Raffan, Public Relations Director, Okanagan Wine Festivals Society, [email protected], 604.808.6655             

Kyle Taylor, Media Specialist,  Tourism Sun Peaks, [email protected], 250.318.3633