With bud break underway, grape growers are finding that preliminary estimates of severe damage from an extreme cold weather event in late December are accurate. “Preliminary anecdotal reports indicate that our vintage 2023 winter damage modeling of a 50% crop decline is being realized,” a newsletter from industry association Wine Growers BC reported this week. …
Wine Growers BC
FCC supports wine sector
The significant losses anticipated to vineyards from the extreme cold in late December has triggered further support for wineries. While grape growers will benefit from recently announced provincial replant funding, federal farm lender Farm Credit Canada has announced openness to considering short-term support options for clients whose cash flow will be disrupted by this year’s …
Wine industry faces losses
Winegrowers across the province welcomed bountiful yields of high-quality fruit in 2022, according to Wine Growers BC in its annual vintage report released this week, but the coming season is likely to see yields significantly below normal. An extreme cold weather event on December 21-22 saw temperatures in the province’s major wine-growing regions fall below …
Weather-driven fruit shortfalls
New tools are helping growers anticipate and assess the impact of weather on their plants, but the truth of how resilient they’ve been in the face of extreme weather events is often not known until harvest. Data for 2022 released February 16 by Statistics Canada indicates that several fruit crops saw lower production last year, …
Ice wine intentions rise
An inflow of Arctic air pushed temperatures in Kelowna towards levels needed for ice wine this week, just as the deadline for producers to register their intention to make the sweet beverage approached. Temperatures approached -7° Celsius as midnight approached on November 7, a degree away from the -8° C that frozen grapes must reach …
Grape crop falls short
Despite optimism as harvest began, BC grape growers are reporting the shortest crop in years. “Despite wine grape growers’ best efforts, our forecasts suggest that the industry is set for yet another material short crop in 2021, perhaps the worst in at least nine years,” reports Miles Prodan, CEO of Wine Growers BC in his …