Issue link: http://digital.canadawide.com/i/112499
Lactose friendly and lower in fat than regular ice cream, goat���s-milk gelato has a rich, intense ���avour, highlighted at Carmelis by in-season local fruits and imported Italian ���avours. (below) Not just a stunning vista: for Ofri Barmor, the family���s ���million-dollar view��� represents triumph over adversity. Ofri, named 2008���s Top Producer of the Year by Western Living magazine, handles sales, public relations and other business matters. Ofer oversees the cheese making, and eldest daughter Carmel (19) runs the shop while her sister, Lior (16), tends the goats. Up in the wood-panelled tasting room, Ofri introduces me to their unique product line beginning with several types of Chevre, a fresh, spreadable cheese infused with dill, onion, herbs or sun-dried tomatoes. Other selections are more complex. Moonlight is a mild Brie-like cheese that���s bold and creamy; Vintage is a hard cheese that has been soaked in Cedar Creek pinot noir; Goatgonzola is a distinctive, spicy, earthy blue cheese. All are produced using traditional techniques picked up by the Barmors during visits to Europe, with goat milk produced on their farm or purchased from a local organic goat farmer. Their best sellers: the Chevre, Goatgonzola and Goat Gruyere. Carmelis��� 24 varieties of goat���smilk gelato are also increasingly popular, particularly the Salted Caramel and Black Forest (cherry flavoured with chocolate chips). After the tasting session, I follow Ofri down to the aging cellar where rounds of hard cheese sit on wooden shelves, maturing and developing rich, strong flavours. From there we move to the immaculate dairy with its clean-white tiles and gleaming stainlesssteel vats. My tour then over, I return to the barn to snap a few photos of the goats, now munching on their feed of grain and alfalfa. One of the young kids spots me and jauntily trots over for a closer look. Ofri leans in and calls out to him, ���Say cheese!��� GET MOBILIZED Guided tours of Carmelis Goat Cheese Artisan farm, dairy, milking station, aging cellar and goat barn are available to groups of eight adults or more. The tours, which must be booked a week in advance, include cheese-platter tastings and cost $5 per person. Hours: seven days a week, March 1 to October 31. 170 Timberline Road, 12 km south of downtown Kelowna. 1-250-764-9033. info@carmelis goatcheese.com; carmelisgoatcheese.com/ Y Member savings and bene���ts for Okanagan travel: bcaa.com/okanagan WESTWORLD p20-23_Profile.indd 23 >> FA L L 2 0 1 2 23 12-08-17 1:45 PM