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It was a revelation to visit the Okanagan Valley in British Columbia. The area has matured into a superb winemaking region. There are boutique restaurants and hotels, wonderful markets springing up everywhere and the feeling of a slower-paced, inspiring way of life. The weather is practically perfect and there's a buzz of excitement in the air.

Many of the small family-run wineries are making finely crafted wines. The boutique wineries that we loved were Stoneboat, which makes sensational pinot noir, and the Golden Mile Cellars, whose 2006 Black Arts Pinot Noir was a beautiful match for duck breasts. An elegant merlot from Poplar Grove winery went very well with veal chops. At Burrowing Owl Winery, we had a superb meal matched with their rich and spicy cabernet franc.

And of course the food. Most restaurants adhere to the "locavore" movement, which is easy in this region of abundance. Here are some examples of the exciting dishes they are creating:

Patric Leduc's Brined Pork Chops with Chipotle Sauce

Nk'Mip (pronounced in-ka-meep) winery near the U.S. border is the first aboriginal winery in Canada. Owned and operated by the Osoyoos band and partnered with Vincor, Nk'Mip produces excellent wine in a stunning space. The tasting area is adorned with native artifacts and opens out to a patio restaurant that also serves lunch. The menu is largely native-inspired. If you spend an afternoon there, you can also take in the museum and walk the trails through the wild sage desert.

In this recipe, adapted from Chef Patric Leduc, the sweetness of the salad mellows out the smoky, spicy flavour of the barbecue sauce. Enjoy it with nice glass of Nk'Mip pinot blanc.

What you need

Brine:

1 cup kosher salt

1/2 cup sugar

1 bay leaf

12 peppercorns

2 teaspoons chili flakes

4 cups water

4 boneless pork loin chops

Chipotle sauce:

2 tablespoons chipotle peppers in adobo sauce

1/4 cup honey

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 teaspoon chopped fresh rosemary

Caramelized red onion:

2 red onions, sliced 1/4-inch thick

1 cup red wine vinegar

1/2 cup sugar

Salt and freshly ground pepper

Salad:

4 slices diced cooked bacon

2 tablespoons honey

4 cups spinach leaves

1 tablespoon olive oil

what you do

Bring brine ingredients to boil in pot, stirring to dissolve salt and sugar. Cool and pour over pork chops to cover. Refrigerate overnight.

Preheat grill to high. Purée chipotle peppers with honey, olive oil and rosemary in food processor until they make a smooth sauce. Set aside.

Place onion in small saucepan with vinegar, sugar, salt and pepper. Bring to boil and simmer until onion is soft and caramelized. Remove chops from brine and brush with chipotle barbecue sauce.

Turn grill to low and grill 5 to 6 minutes per side.

For the salad, combine bacon, honey and caramelized onion in a skillet and warm over medium-low heat until honey is melted. Toss spinach with olive oil. Mix in bacon-onion mixture. Place on 4 plates and top each with a pork chop.

DANA'S PEACH GALETTES

Cam Smith and Dana Ewart are two enterprising Torontonians who used to work for uber chef Chris McDonald at the former Avalon restaurant. They were attracted to the nascent food and wine scene in the Okanagan and opened Joy Road Catering to showcase the area's food and wine.

We attended a winemakers dinner at an eclectic inn called God's Mountain Estate situated on a cliff overlooking Okanagan Lake. Dana and Cam matched the exceptional but simple food with very credible wines from Wild Goose Winery.

The Apple d'Or bed and breakfast in Naramata, where we stayed, served these wonderful galettes, which Dana also sells at the Penticton market, going through 300 or 400 each market day. In the following recipe Dana uses part salted butter and part unsalted. We used all unsalted.

what you need

Pastry:

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1 teaspoon sugar

3/4 cup unsalted butter

3 to 4 tablespoons ice water

Filling:

1/4 cup sugar

1 tablespoon flour

4 large ripe peaches, pitted and cut into 1/2-inch slices

1 tablespoon lemon juice

what you do

Combine flour, salt, sugar and butter and pulse in a food processor, or cut the butter into the dry ingredients with two knives until it is the size of small peas. Sprinkle in just enough water to bring dough together. Use your hands to gather dough into a ball. Wrap dough in plastic and chill for 30 minutes.

Cut dough into 4 pieces and roll on a floured surface to about 1/4-inch thick. Rounds will be about 7 inches in diameter.

Preheat oven to 375 F.

Combine sugar and flour. Add peaches and lemon juice and toss to coat. Set aside.

Place rolled out dough on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Pile peaches in the centre of each pastry round, leaving a 3/4-inch border around the peaches. Loosely crimp pastry so that you have an edge that stands up about 3/4 of an inch all around the peaches. Use your hands to fold the pastry edge in towards the centre to enclose peaches slightly. This will prevent pastry from collapsing.

Bake for 35 to 40 minutes or until pastry is golden and juices are bubbling. Makes 4 galettes.