The Oven - Penticton

We first visited this winery in 2019 and had THE BEST experience. Not so much with the wine, which is good, but with the pizza. Fast forward to 2023. We had been to Naramata a few times since but because of COVID, Upper Bench was not serving food. Disappointing, but understandable. Anyways this year was our year. We were heading to Naramata from Edmonton for our annual pilgrimage. It took forever with wildfire delays, the rockslide on Hey 9u and other such issues, it we made it. Planned our entire day around getting an Upper Bench pizza. Glorious! We got there on a beautiful Saturday afternoon. Walked up to the host stand with sheer excitement. We were asked if we were there for a tasting and we enthusiastically stated we were there for pizza. We were met with oh the girl who does pizza called in sick today. Try to imagine the level of disappointment. I asked if there was anyone else that could make a pizza, as it seemed strange to me that only one person could make pizza and that if this person called in sick, the entire pizza operation shuts down. But it would seem this is the way it is. Again, sheer disappointment. Please do better.

We drove to Upper Bench from Osoyoos after seeing they are a creamery, as well as a winery! Our entire morning was spent scouring yelp social media looking for a winery with some gooooood charcuterie. Cheese is one of my love languages and we were excited to try it. It was PACKED when we arrived we ended up sitting at the bar where they make the pizza, then migrating to a table as it cleared out. We were only there an hour, but quickly found ourselves alone on the patio. We ordered the charcuterie, which had apples, cherries, a couple slices of bread, a red pepper jelly 3 small ish slices of cheese. They included their blue cheese, brie and whatever the 'gold ' cheese is. We 'd seen prosciutto on their boards on instagram and were really bummed that there wasn 't a meat included on the board. While the gold cheese was our favourite, the rest of it was honestly underwhelming for $29, which was a bummer considering it 's why we chose this place. However, we also ordered a pizza at the suggestion of our server just a margarita pizza, plus added proscuitto which was PHENOMENAL! My boyfriend lived in Italy for a year said it 's the closest to authentic Italian pizza he has found since living there in 2017! My partner enjoyed the Merlot, while I drank the Chardonnay the Chardonnay is hands down the best I 've ever tried. Honestly, I regret not buying more than 1 bottle! The service was prompt, our server was friendly checked in with us a few times. He made great suggestions ensured we were well taken care of. Overall, we 'd go back even if just for pizza alone next time we 're in Penticton or passing through but wouldn 't make the 1hr drive from Osoyoos just for the charcuterie! Lol.

Eaten Pizza in Naples and this is better than many places I ate at there.

Delicious, high quality neapolitan style pizza cooked right in front if you in a stone oven. Very good options for wine pairing as well. Beautiful location in a vineyard with water misting on hot days in the restaurant area. There are also really cute dogs running around the vineyard.

Awesomest pizza in the OK!!