By Darina Kopcok - Photo: Helena McMurdo

WHEN MY AUNT SERVED OUR DINNER in a flowerpot, I worried that she had finally lost her marbles. I had been travelling with my family for almost seventeen hours, and arrived in the Balkans exhausted and famished. The smell of simmering stew was wafting through my aunt’s home, and my stomach rumbled like a truck down the highway. When she finally came into the dining room and set the terracotta dish on the table, my mother and I looked at each other, startled.

By Eagranie Yuh

Photo: Annamarie Klippenstein

Last August, driving back to Vancouver from the Kootenays, I stopped at a farm stand in the Okanagan. Fifteen minutes later, I was the proud owner of a bounty of summer fruit, notably a 20-pound box of peaches. Back home, I set the peaches gently on my kitchen counter. Neatly nestled against each other in a cardboard box, they looked like blushing pigs. I leaned in and inhaled deeply, wallowing in their perfume. And then, ever so gently, I nuzzled my cheek against their soft fuzz.

What could be more idyllic than spending a warm summer day exploring vineyards and the come-hither country roads that connect them? You might be surprised to discover just how many wineries are within a short drive of home—and just how worth a visit they are. First, twist the arm of someone to assume the role of designated driver, so passengers may sip to their hearts’ content.