Okanagan wines:

"So... that's a tough question. Meritage from BC is usually a good place to start. There are some great ones.

My bias is that Nk'mip is good, but well marketed and a bit overpried. Their Meritage can be nice but as you said $63/bottle and I think there are other wines of equal quality for lower price.

Osoyoos Larose used to be $60 but is now $45. Its a cult wine, well marketed again, but has a big following. Marek, Ian and myself in various combinations have done blind tests and enjoyed it, but... The Petales d'Osoyoos is their second label. Usually around $25 I think, and not much different (you aren't paying for the label then).

Cerelia and Fort Berens both have really good Meritages if you can find them (Discovery or the wine museum would be your best bets). Fort Berens is from Lillooett but sources much of their Meritage grape from the Osoyoos region, Cerelia is a small estate winery from Keremeos.

Also from Keremeos is Orofino. Their Passion Pit Cab Sauv has been really tasty if you can find it (you can order it from them) and they make a Beleza blend (both $25-$38).

La Frenz on the Naramata Bench is great. Their Montage ($22) has gone really well with steak, but their Grand Total is that much better ($40/bottle) depending on how you are feeling.

Burrowing Owl (down near Oliver) of course is a generally good winery and if you can find their Meritage its worth trying a few bottles. We've also enjoyed the Athene and Cab Franc. (I think they are all in the $30 range).

If you want to spend more and can find it Hester Creek's "The Judge" is great, but needs to be aged. Le Vieux Pin's Syrah is really nice, their Equinoxe wines are big and need to be aged but tastes great!

Another caveat. Most of the wineries are selling their 2011 reds right now. I'm not a fan of these wines. I think the Okanagan gives nice rounded fruit characteristics and this was a more acidic year without the earthiness and tannin that can balance it. Depends upon the winery and such but often I've been dissapointed. 2010 and 2009 seem to have been better. 2012 may be a bit off, 2013 looks like it should be good.

Is that a good start?"