Road 13 Vineyards

Beautiful building but the wine is not what it used to be. Seems that they got popular after a stellar year back in ²⁰¹²⁄₁₃ (appox) and bought up more land and the quality of the wine suffered.
Also, the guy running the place yelled at my kids for running around outside even though they weren’t hurting anything. Their playing was allowing us to taste/​buy his wine. He told them they should go play in the parking lot.

Road 13 has a weird castle appearance but is actually not too bad of a winery. They have some really nice blends in the Road 13 Honest Johns series that are pretty solid at an extremely good price point. I would seriously consider those for an event where you have a lot of people and you want to maintain some type of budget but provide a nice white, red and rose option.
We had a lot of fun with Donna, who handled our tasting, she was very personable. Also the winery owners have 2 little dachshunds — too cute!

Now I’m a fan of some bold Syrah’s, but Road 13 (used to be known as Golden Mile) takes the cake. White pepper blast! My wife didn’t seem to enjoy it, but I did.
The lineup is generally quite nice, with some standouts, and their price points are fair.
Update:
Upon returning, we find a very nice new tasting room, with their top tier wines called Jackpot. Throughout the lineup I’m finding less fruit forward, more acidity, and not as pleasing as before. I’ll try again, but it didn’t show as well this time.

Enjoy most of their wines. Rockpile Stemwinder and Honest Johns selections were what we last tried. Sometimes a little high in sulphites though if you are prone to reactions. Otherwise great price for quality.
Lovely buildings and tasting room. Love the story about the family dog on the label.

Huge fan! I have been reading about this vineyard for sometime and was finally able to enjoy their wines at the Parksville Wine Festival. Not only are the wines extraordinary they are priced right and the owners are so nice.
If you live in BC go to the nearest liquor store and buy yourself a bottle. If you are going to visit BC and can make it to the Okanagan wine region then stop in and say hello. Tell them Scott from San Francisco sent you. I can’t wait to go and visit them in July.

If you have any sort of princess fantasies, you can play them out here! As you drive up Road 13 you’ll be swept away by a fairytale castle. That, in itself, is enough reason to make a trip to Road 13 Winery.
The winery used to be called Golden Mile Cellars, but it changed hands in 2003. The new owners gave into pressure from their neighbours to change the name from Golden Mile, as that refers to the wineries located along Highway 97, between Fairview and Road 18. Road 13 was coming up a little short for that title!
The wines are made in three tiers: «Honest John» at the less expensive end of the scale, «Road 13» (varietal series) is their middle of the road wine, and their premium is «Jackpot».
Don’t let the castle fool you into thinking the royalty at Road 13 can’t get their hands dirty. They believe wine is all about the dirt: good wine starts in the vineyard with good grape-​growing practices.
You can drop in from Easter to Halloween to do tastings. If you want a special experience, book a private tasting and hit the Jackpot!