Cold weather could mean 50% fewer wine grapes in B.C.

Vineyards across British Columbia were hard hit by a major cold snap last year, which could have a significant impact on production in the Okanagan.

Temperatures dropped in late December of last year, and in some areas of the valley dipped close to minus 30.

“It seems to be more and more common recently, but what was unique about this event is it seemed to be much more widespread all the way down south to Osoysoos,” said Wine Growers British Columbia president Miles Prodan.

Researchers performed a bud dissection which outlined potential damage from the extreme cold temperatures. According to Wine Growers British Columbia, there could be 50-per cent fewer wine grapes this year.

“Dr. Chang from the Summerland Research Center actually did what’s known as bud dissection. He went there and actually physically looked at a number of buds from a number of wineries and vineyards from a variety of different variety of grapes throughout the area,” said Prodan.

“We won’t know for sure until actual bud break comes, which is in the next couple of weeks, but the projection, the modeling, it’s having us prepare for the worst.”

The most damage is expected to be in the South Okanagan, an area that is known for its red wine varieties that need sun and heat to fully develop.

“Eighty per cent of grapes in the province are grown between Oliver and Osoyoos which makes it problematic because that’s where a lot of the red grapes are really located and that’s what concerning,” said Prodan.

Although it will take several weeks to know the full impact, Bordertown Vineyards and Estate Winery owner Mohan Gill says he hasn’t seen damage this bad, or at all in recent years.

“Our production at Bordertown is 80 per cent red and only 20 per cent is white. We are getting less production this year in comparison to last year, our production is going lower like 60 per cent. That’s the impact for the whole industry,” said Gill.

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“We have to live with the weather because that’s Mother Nature. We can’t protect the weather but we can protect other things.”

There were similar concerns last year regarding extreme weather events, however, the outcome was better than expected.

“It wasn’t as extensive as it is this year and it turned out not to have that big impact as we had feared,” said Prodan.

“Again, that’s our hope for this year but we do know how widespread it was, so being realistic about it.

Prodan went on to say that another growing concern within the industry is how the cold snap will impact B.C.’s wine tourism sector.

“The wineries aren’t going to have the grapes to make wine and if they only have half the amount of grapes they’re only able to produce half the amount of wine — that is the biggest concern,” said Prodan.

Wine Growers added that the ongoing extreme weather events may lead to some changes within the industry.

“I think indicative of climate change and we’ve been worried about this for a while. Climate change is affecting our wineries and vineyards specifically,” said Prodan.

“We’ve been working with the Ministry of Agriculture in B.C., and I’ve been able to put in place a re-plant program that will allow growers to actually replace those grapes that are maybe a little more susceptible to the climate change.”

Although the quantity of wine may be impacted, Wine Growers says the quality will not be.

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