WGBC
Harvest is never the same twice, year after year winemakers approach the season with the mindset that they cannot know exactly what will happen. Despite that variability, winemakers in British Columbia will do what they do best – produce beautifully crafted wines.
During the summer months, wine farmers throughout BC spend the days carefully tending their vineyards; walking the vines, sampling grapes as they ripen under the sun, and anticipating the vintage to come. This year, the extreme heat experienced across the province ensured a swift transition from growing season to harvest time, with winemakers throughout the region reporting record-breaking start dates. “We harvested our Siegerrebe on August 24…the earliest we have ever picked.” says Sasha Masner of Larch Hills Winery in Shuswap. Meanwhile, in the neighbouring Thompson Valley, Winemaker Galen Barnhardt of Monte Creek Winery was equally enthusiastic to report “This marks our earliest harvest ever (beating 2015 by one day).” Monte Creek began picking their grapes for sparkling wine on August 18.
Wine Growers British Columbia is thrilled to spread the word of such an exciting start to harvest, with fruit coming in from the vineyard with “amazing concentration and ripeness” according to Barclay Robinson, Winemaker at Road 13 Vineyards in Golden Mile Bench, Oliver BC. While Barclay and other winemakers in parts of the province are reporting lower yields as a result of heat spikes and low rainfall, smaller berries with deeply concentrated flavours as Barclay described go hand-in-hand with high quality premium wines that consumers can look forward to enjoying.
It is important to note that just as one vintage is never the same twice, one growing season can present a different set of challenges and opportunities depending on where you are in the province; “British Columbia is a vibrant industry with unique regions, climate, varieties and styles throughout.” Says Miles Prodan, President and CEO of WGBC. And while 2021 was a year of extreme heat and wildfires, something wine regions around the world are facing, British Columbia has nine Geographical Indications (GI’s) and five sub-GI’s and every region and sub region within will have experienced those weather events differently. What each region has in common is the abundance of “hard-working visionaries who continue to innovate” says Prodan, “we look forward to seeing how the wineries embrace their fruit and create beautifully handcrafted BC wines.”
At this point in time harvest is coming to an end, with most wineries having brought in both red and white varieties off the vine. As the winemakers attention turns from vineyard to cellar, WGBC is celebrating all the passion and effort that went into the 2021 vintage with the launch of the winter ‘Year in the Life’ campaign. This month, WGBC will be shining a well-deserved spotlight on local BC wines and winery activities to enjoy over the holidays, as well as offering wine lovers the chance to win a truly incredible Grand Prize experience.