Prunings S


urprise and sorrowwere felt throughout the industrywithword that Joe Sardinha of Summerland,


awidely-respected past-president of the B.C. FruitGrowers’Association, had diedAug. 31 of a heart attack at the age of 52. Sardinhawas president from


2005 to 2011 and had served on the executive for four years prior to thatwhile Penny Gambellwas president. CurrentBCFGApresident Jeet Dukhia said his deathwas totally unexpected.Everywhere hewent,Dukhia said, people asked about Joe, and all had respect for him. “He loved his family, farming and the farm community. I speak for all tree fruit growers in sayingwe are deeply saddened by this news,” he said.Born in Portugal, Joewas pre-deceased just last year by his father and is survived by his wife Julie and two grown children... There are two newfaces on the


BritishColumbia outside of their positionswith their respective organizations.” TheBCWI expressed thanks to outgoing directors Ingo Grady ofMissionHill FamilyEstate Winery andBillEggert of Fairview Cellars for their contributions... B.C.’sLieutenant-


Sardinha


Governor Judith Guichonvisited 11 Okanagan-areawineries this summer, alongwith an entourage of 40 consular officials from18 countries around theworld and staff fromtheGovernmentHouse Foundation, to present the annualLieutenant- Governor’sAwards for Excellence. In all, 12wines


B.C.Wine Institute board of directors, elected during July’s annual general meeting. The seven votingBCWI directors representwineries of all sizes —large (sellingmore than 700,000 litres annually),medium(sellingmore than 90,000 litres), and themany small wineries. GregBerti ofAndrewPeller (large


winery),ChrisWyse ofBurrowingOwl Vineyards (mediumwinery) andBob JohnsonofBaillie-GrohmanEstate Winery (smallwinery)will continue their terms for onemore year. Theywill be joined by re-electedmembers Josie Tyabji ofConstellationBrandsCanada (largewinery) and ShaunEverest of TinhornCreekVineyards (medium winery), and newly-electedmembers DavidWilsonofMissionHill Family EstateWinery (largewinery) and SpencerMassie ofClos du Soleil Winery (smallwinery), all for two year terms.ManfredFreese of SunRidge Vineyardwill continue as the appointed B.C.Grapegrowers’Association representative.He andBCWI executive directorMilesProdanare ex officio members of the board. Tyabjiwill continue her role as chair andEverest as vice-chair. Prodan said theBCWI is particularly happy to have a SimilkameenValley representative (Massie) on the board. “We understand the time commitment it takes and sincerely appreciate thework that our volunteer board of directors and committeemembers do for thewines of


were judged fit for the award. This year’s was the largest in the competition’s 11- year history,with 402wines from109 of the province’s 214wineries submitted to the panel of industry professionalswho conducted the judging.Allwinemust be made from100 per centB.C.-grown grapes and be producedwithin the province.AlthoughGuichon admitted she isn’tmuch of awine drinker, she said shewasmore educated following the tour through theOkanagan and SimilkameenValleys. Thewinners are: BurrowingOwlEstateWinery -


Cabernet Franc 2010 CalonaVineyards -Artist Series


PinotNoir 2011 Church&StateWines - Coyote


Bowl Syrah 2010 EauVivreWinery - PinotNoir


2010 HesterCreekEstateWinery -


Block 3ReserveCabernet Franc 2010 InniskillinOkanaganVineyards


Winery -Riesling Icewine 2011 RedRoosterWinery -Reserve


Viognier 2012 andReserve Syrah 2010 Stag’sHollowWinery - CachetNo.


03 LimitedEdition 2010 StoneboatVineyards - PinotNoir


2010 SynchromeshWines Storm


HavenVineyard-Riesling 2011 WildGooseMysticRiver


Vineyard- PinotBlanc 2012 Applications are nowbeing taken for a


newprogramunder theGrowing ForwardTwo program, delivered by the InvestmentAgriculture Foundation—a renewed $3million Canada-B.C.Agri-Innovation Program focused on advancing agricultural innovation and competitiveness. It’s


British Columbia FRUIT GROWER • Fall 2013


open to industry, academia, value-added food processors, retailers and others for projects that involve late-stage research, including pilot projects that lead to the commercialization and/or adoption of innovative products, technologies and practices for the sector. Projects that help advance science; energy andwaste management; newproduct development and commercialization; soil,water and air quality improvements; and adaptation to climate changewill be given priority. Projectsmust be complete by Jan. 31, 2015. For details: iafbc.ca/agri-innovation.htm... Quails’GateEstateWinery


became the focal point of the first episode of a nationalCTVtelevision showcalledTheAmazingRace,with theWestKelownawinery selected as the Pit Stop in the first episode in July... While on a tour of the province in


August,B.C.’s newagricultureminister PatPimmannounced $85,000 in funding for theB.C.Associationof Farmers’Markets during a visit to the Kelownamarket. The association intends to use the funds to target new customers for next year’smarket season, involving all 100membermarkets around the province, using socialmedia tools such as Facebook and Twitter to raise awareness of farmmarkets. The primary targetwill bewomen 25 to 45. “We have a goal in our province to take the agriculture industry from$10.5 billion per year to $14 billion by 2017,” said theminister, adding, “This is one of theways thatwe’re looking at doing it.” Americanapplemarketerswill


face challenges inmoving a bigger apple crop this year, but SteveLutz believes consumer demand for healthy food and growing desire for niche varietieswill continue to support the category. Lutz, executive vice-president ofNielsen PerishablesGroup, told delegates to theU.S.AppleAssociation MarketingConference inAugust that apples showed the biggest retail sales growth of any topmajor produce category during 2012-13, rising about 16 percent over the previous year. The apple categorymoved ahead of bananas into third place in total retail sales, trailing berries and packaged salad in the 52weeks endingMay 29. Lutz said apple varieties enjoying retail volume gains in the past year includedPink Lady,Fuji,Pinata,Honeycrisp, RedDelicious,Ambrosia, Jazz, Granny SmithandGala, in addition to niche varieties such asLadyAlice, Envy,Opal and Junami...


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