KELOWNA – Colleen Ingram’s enthusiasm for collaboration within the BC wine industry is so great that when she was named 2024 Grower of the Year by the BC Grapegrowers Association, she wanted to share it with the industry.
“Given the devastation we have had over the last three years, I feel like this award should be given to the entire industry,” Ingram says. “When you consider all the work we have done to see mostly just green leaves year after year, this award tells me that what we are doing is right, that we are on the right track, and we will get through this.”
BCGA executive director Tyrion Miskel describes Ingram as “a role model for resiliency and positivity,” and adds that she is always keen to share her knowledge.
Ingram has taught viticulture at Okanagan College for several years, presented at industry events and started the Okanagan Valley Viticulture Facebook page. “I am so adamant about giving back to the industry,” she says. “We are such a young industry, we should be sharing what we are finding [that’s] good, and bad and growing, asking questions and helping each other.”
Gaining and sharing knowledge has been a big part of a 15-year career that began when Ingram’s husband Scott of Terrabella Wineries Ltd. invited her to work with him in the original 10-acre vineyard at The Hatch winery in West Kelowna.
“It was an amazing vineyard with good old mature vines, that in its heyday was producing 11 tons to the acre,” Ingram recalls. “But my mindset was that I wanted to see all the rest of the vineyards and know all the issues that we’re having in the valley and know how to solve the problems.”
That keen interest, her experience consulting with Terrabella and a certificate in viticulture and enology from Washington State University landed her a job with Earlco, a vineyard services company based in Penticton.
“I was able to take most of my clients from Terrabella with me,” Ingram explains. “And I managed between 60 to 100 acres a year at Earlco, depending on the contracts.”
The attraction with Earlco, Ingram says, is that she got to work across the Okanagan Valley “from Lake Country right down to the border at Osoyoos,” on a wide variety of projects.
There were continuing management contracts, vineyard development projects, and requests for a couple of days’ work tying up vines or a couple of hours calibrating a sprayer.
“Colleen’s confidence in her knowledge and technical expertise is showcased by her ability to balance growing quality grapes with business priorities,” says Miskell. “As a vineyard manager for a management company, she is always in the middle of the grape-growing trifecta: the budget of the vineyard owner, the needs of the winemaker, and the expectations of her employer. The skill of Colleen is that she maintains good working relations with them all.”
Ingram credits most of her growth to Earlco.
“They really allowed me to grow into the role I am in now,” she says. “If they had me on a tight leash and didn’t allow me to do the things I was able to do, including teaching the viticulture course, I wouldn’t be where I am today.”
Shortly after she received her award in February, Frind Estate Winery invited her to join its team as a viticulturist.
“Now I’m helping to manage 500 acres, which seems like a lot, but it’s all in one spot,” she says.
Ingram cautions her students that viticulture isn’t a career where they’ll make money.
“But it is [richly satisfying] if you are passionate about growing, passionate about when harvest time is,” Ingram says. “When I’ve grown for a winemaker and they’ve given me a bottle made from my grapes, it is so rewarding.”
The award includes a $2,000 education bursary.
“There’s always room for improvement and more growth,” Ingram says. “It might be as simple as taking some Spanish lessons, or deep diving into a certificate in sap flow pruning. That is a huge thing for us.”
Updated: 6/13/25
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