Vancouver Island Summer of Cider

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DUNCAN - 2016 was a gift of a season for many of the fruit growers on Vancouver Island. The weather seemed to align for a perfect blend of good pollination, early establishment and fruitful ripening.

“Everything was a few weeks ahead of schedule this year,” says Roger Dosman of Alderlea Vineyard in the Cowichan Valley. “All of our grapes ripened fully and we were finished harvesting by Thanksgiving. We have great fruit, now it’s up to me to make good wine.”

Across the island, grape, berry and apple growers all reported excellent growing conditions and yields. Quinn Ehrler operates Pressing Matter, Vancouver Island’s only mobile fruit press.

“This year was probably the biggest year we’ve had crop wise. We’ve pressed over 200,000 pounds just this season,” says Ehrler.

Pressing Matter is in their fifth season of processing apples and pears for customers the Comox Valley to the Saanich Peninsula, as well as Port Alberni, Hornby Island, Quadra Island, and Saltspring. While they press fruit for commercial cideries, much of their business comes from events where people in the community can bring fruit from their own trees.

“It brings communities together, and people enjoy watching the press, it’s entertaining,” says Ehrler. “It seems like everybody has at least one tree. We need at least 100 pounds to run our machine, and at least 5000 pounds to make it worthwhile to mobilize to a location.”

Island Cideries Seeing Steady Growth

SAANICH - Craft cider has strong roots on Vancouver Island, and as the category continues to surge in popularity with consumers, the number of cideries is growing.

“It has been an interesting upsurge in the market. Both supply and demand have been growing in BC and the US,” says Kristen Needham, cidermaker at Sea Cider on the Saanich Peninsula. “For the public, cider is really relatable - ordinary people grow apples. The slow food movement, the local food movement, and the growth in the craft beer industry are also having an influence and creating opportunities for ciders.”

Sea Cider has been making traditional craft ciders since 2007. They produce a variety of single-variety and blended ciders using different varietals, yeasts and production styles to create unique and ciders ranging from brut dry to dessert styles.

In recent years the veteran cideries on the Island, Sea Cider and Merridale, have seen new cideries opening their doors to meet the demand. Blue Moon Organic Fruit Winery expanded to include a Ciderworx and launched their line of Raven’s Moon ciders.

“Our cider side is going crazy, we can’t keep up,” says George Ehrler, winemaker, and cider master at Blue Moon. “We’ve always made a still cider, but it was a hard sell. We took that same product and put bubbles in it and I can’t keep it on the shelf.”

Victoria-based Tod Creek Craft Cider has been making and selling craft cider since 2014, and opened their tasting room near Prospect Lake this September. Salt Spring Wild Cider is making cider from the heritage cider apples that grow on Salt Spring, and plans are rumoured to be in the works for a handful of new cideries from the Cowichan Valley to Denman Island.

According to the Needham, there is still room for the cider industry to grow.

“I welcome more cideries to come into the industry,” she says, with a cautionary note. “We’re still seeing strong sales growth in BC, but having said that, we have also been selling into the US for about six years, where there has been huge growth in the number of cideries. We’re starting to see the competitive pinch in the US, but hasn’t happened in BC yet.”

Coastal Black shifts focus to exports

BLACK CREEK – Export opportunities continue to grow for BC’s wine producers, including the Comox Valley’s Coastal Black Estate Winery. The growing business opportunity overseas has resulted in a shift to the business back home.

Coastal Black is one of the largest berry farms on Vancouver Island, growing over 80 acres of blackberries, raspberries and blueberries for fruit wines and the fresh market. Over the years they have also put a lot of energy into establishing the winery as an agri-tourism destination, including an outdoor bistro and seasonal attractions.

“We are scaling back on winery events right now,” says owner and winemaker, Abel O’Brennan. “The growth in our export market has allowed us to pull back from some of those other things that required a ton of effort.”

Coastal Black’s first foray into the Asian market came when they attended the Hong Kong Wine and Spirits Fair in November 2013. They started exporting 18 months ago, and have really seen sales take off over the past year. Currently 65% of their wine is sold internationally.

“It is all going into three different provinces in China. They are definitely loving the blueberry wine; that is primarily what we are exporting along with some meads,” says O’Brennan. “It has been a steady growth from the first orders of a pallet or two to where we are now sending full container loads.”