MyGo Tour Preview of Some Cowichan Wineries

Established in 2001 Averill Creek is in north Duncan, high upon the side of Mount Prevost with sweeping vistas of the Cowichan Valley and looks out onto the Strait of Juan De Fuca.

Those on the MyGo Cheers Tour Bus love to take photos with the amazing view in the background. Selfies anyone?

Set outdoors with beautiful landscaping, Averill Creek Winery is a great first stop.

Averill Creek offers a five wine tasting, a mix of red and whites. The wines are brought to your table in 5 separate decanters from which you choose which wine you would like first. It’s a “play as you go” kind of thing. A description of each wine is provided for all the wines you will be tasting.

Averill Creek used to allow picnics on site. This is no longer allowed. They do provide their own snacks like Apple Cheese Fondue, Mussels Escabeche, and more.

A perfect start to the wine tour day.

Absolutely one of the busiest wineries on Vancouver Island, Blue Grouse Winery has an amazing view of the Cowichan Valley and the Blue Grouse Vineyard. Stunning is the best word to describe Blue Grouse. When talking to prospective tour clients, most request a visit to Blue Grouse.

With friendly, knowledgeable staff who pride themselves on excellent service, Blue Grouse is classy, sustainable conscious, opulent, and well….. you best make a reservation or you may be disappointed that there is no space for you.

Your server will serve 5 tastings with a combination of red and white wines. If it is knowledge of wines you are looking for, your server will discuss in detail the creation of each wine and answer any and all questions.

Blue Grouse has the capacity to serve indoors and outdoors. Weather will not stop Blue Grouse from sharing their wonderful wines. They are open all year with perhaps a brief vacation time for everyone in January.

Guests are welcome to bring in food. Chucuterie plates and other snacks are served.

A quote from Blue Grouse website:

“As stewards of the land, our aim is to leave a better place than the one we found.” 

One can’t help but be enchanted with Xaviera and Maria Clara, owners of Cherry Point Estate Wines. Talk about passion!

Cherry Point is located in Cobble Hill just south of Duncan.

A Cherry Point wine tasting is a stand up tasting located at their beautiful counter in their tasting room. The tasting includes red, white, and dessert wines. Extremely creative and friendly, the owners love to share their knowledge of their wines, the soil, their creativity, and the love they have for the earth. Any questions? They are more than willing to answer.

During the warmer weather Cherry Point has a bistro that serves west coast delicacies.

A must do stop on any wine tour.

Located in Cobble Hill, Damali Lavender and Winery is a favourite for tour guests. Not only do they have amazing wines but it’s a lavender farm too. You walk into the tasting room (a stand up tasting) and you are in a world infused with the scent of lavender.

It’s a perfect place to savour their five wine tasting. The lavender/rhubarb wine is a must.

Since 2011 Damali’s (as we call it) has been producing wines and converting space into their tasting room. Now, it’s a “have to go to” winery.

Check out their labyrinth … smell the lavender … drink the wine …  Perfect!

Located in Mill Bay, Enrico winery is known as “the fun winery”. Outdoor picnic tables and indoor barrel tables all add to the ambience of this beautiful winery. With easy going and wonderfully attentive, smiling servers, they even have live music on weekends. Amazing!

While there is plenty of fun to be had, one should not overlook the seriousness of Enrico Winery and their staff who create award winning wines. Over 30 award and counting!

Have a walk in their vineyard; walk out on the dock overlooking the pond; pose in the gazebo. There are so many photo opportunities here.

In operation since 2010, Enrico’s serves a 6 pour of various wines including red and white and sparkling. Knowledgable staff will speak to you in layman’s terms explaining about the grapes they harvest and the wines they make.

Along with the regular wines, order their version of Sangria. Another favourite is the Mango Slushie. Yup, a mango Slushie.

Want to have some extra fun at Enrico?  Get your tour guide to set you up with a surprise. Not giving it away.

We usually visit Enrico’s as a final stop on the tour. Tour guests are usually ready to sing their way home after visiting Enrico’s.

Located in Cobble Hill, Merridale Cidery and Distillery is one of the busiest venues in the Cowichan Valley. It always seems to be busy, busy there. Perhaps because it is the closest venue to Victoria, but I suspect it’s more that those visiting love the atmosphere, the delicious food, and the refreshing beverages.

The apples used in the apple cider are grown onsite from their own orchard. As a bonus they create all-natural, chemical-free and gluten-free fermentation in their cider.

The MyGo Cheers tour bus will spend an hour here for tasting and a bit longer if lunch is on the menu for you. We prefer groups of 10 or less to visit Merridale.

Alongside of their famous cider, Merridale has a distillery that boasts Gin,Vodka, Rum, Brandy and a Brandy liquer. Something for everyone.

Merridale serves flights. A flight typically consists of several 3 to 5-ounce pours of numerous different tastings. You create your own “flight”.

Merridale is the perfect place to hang out and take a walk through the orchard.

Inside and outside seating available.

Located in Cowichan Bay, just south of Duncan and very close to Blue Grouse Winery is Rocky Creek. Founded in 2004 it produces wines in a sustainable manner on 9 acres.

Established in a serene country setting with a pond, many people are surprised to find Rocky Creek has won over 110 medals for their wines. Many of those are for their wild blackberry wine harvested locally by hand.

In a world of chemicals Rocky Creek is minimizing their carbon footprint by reusing, reducing or recycling waste materials and selecting material that is less harmful to the environment.

MyGo Cheers Tours recommends a maximum of 10 people to taste at Rocky Creek. This is a standup tasting with friendly owners and staff imparting their knowledge for you. You can feel totally comfortable asking any question about their wines, their land, or their facility.

Located in Mill Bay, Unsworth is just a hop, skip, and a jump from Merridale Cidery.

Unsworth is a beautiful facility, wonderfully designed, always friendly and inviting. Sitting outside on the terrace with a waterfall pond in the background is the perfect setting for taking time out for a 5 wine tasting.

Brought to your table individually, each wine will be presented to you with knowledge and expertise informing you of  the Unsworth brand, one vine, one bottle, one blend at a time.

You might want to visit the Unsworth Restaurant only 30 steps away (no counting). A perfect place for lunch. The delicous meals served are well known throughout the Cowichan Valley and Victoria.

MyGo Cheers makes all reservations for lunch and wine tastings, ensuring your wine tasting tour goes off without a hitch.

We recommend wine tasting and then lunch at Unsworth (in that order).

Located just north of Duncan near the Cowichan Exhibition, Valley Cider is the new kid on the block.

Valley ciders are fermented and handcrafted in individual batches and aged for a minimum of one year. They use apples from their own orchards, from a BC family farm, and are some foraged locally.

Their botanicals and fruits are organic and sourced locally where possible, including many from the forests and pastures of their own farm.

Bruce, the owner, has named some of his ciders ” Soda Love Potion” (be careful who you put the spell on), “Attack of the Fuzzy Peach”, and “Bloo”. You simply have to taste these ciders. Bruce usually leads the tasting as he is a wealth of knowledge, passionate about his craft, and loves to share his passion with all who will listen.

This is a stand up tasting and will last as long as you keep asking Bruce questions!

The MyGo Cheers bus is usually full of boxed Valley Cider after the visit.

Located just west of Duncan near Glenora Hall is the cutest, oldest winery on Vancouver Island. This is where it all started.

The wine tasting portion of the Vineyard is located in the old farmhouse. It’s certainly a pleasure to sit out on the farmhouse porch and enjoy a 5 wine tasting.

This is mostly an outdoor wine tasting venue but the porch is covered providing either shade for those hot days or protection from a rainy day.

On those perfect days you can sit out on their terrace looking out to the rolling hills in the distance.

Zanatta is home to wedding events and more. Feel free to walk in their orchard or maybe bump into one of the cats and say hi. Zanatta is a dog free zone. No dogs please because the kitties are scared to death of them.

An excellent wine tasting stop for those who want to slow down, avoid the fancy wineries and just sit back, chat and enjoy the quiet.