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Wines expand market options


More berry producers are taking advantage of increased demand, and there’s a lot of interest in Asian export opportunities. By Tamara Leigh


A


growing consumer appetite for fruitwines is opening newmarket opportunities for berry farms looking to expand their product lines and open their


doors to the public. Fromlarge-scale exporters to boutique wineries for the localmarket, British Columbia is seeing an increase in the number of berrywineries across the province. In the summer of 2013,Krause Berry Farms opened the


doors to its estatewinery, featuring tablewines, sparkling wines and dessertwinesmade primarily fromberries grown on its property. “We consider thewinery a farmoperation because it serves


to smooth some of the peaks and falls of production,” says TomBowman, residentwinerymanager atKrause Berry Farms&EstateWinery. “When you come to the farmyou can get fruit at its best. The


winery allows us to use our fruit product to its optimumin a different facet, and invites our guests to spendmore timewith us over a glass ofwine.” According to Statistics Canada,most fruitwineries are small


family businesses that source their produce locally, and the trend holds true in B.C. There are 26 fruitwineries producing in the province, and of those, 15 specialize inmakingwinewith berries.Most of those are focused on the localmarket, but some, such as Sanduz EstateWines inRichmond and Coastal Black on Vancouver Island, areworking to expand into Asian


markets,where berrywines are becoming increasingly popular. “Latelywe have been crazy busywith exporting,” says Carol


Smiley,manager ofwinery sales for Sanduz. “As for actual numbers, Iwould say exporting is becoming the dominant market.We’ve grown from20,000 bottles to 50,000 bottles this year, largely for the Asianmarket.” We had to go looking formore tanks formakingwine


because of the increasing demand for blueberrywine overseas,” she adds. Sanduz EstateWines opened in 2006, and is one of the


largest fruitwineries in B.C. They growtheir own blueberries and cranberries, and buy raspberries and black currants from other farmers in the Fraser Valley. On Vancouver Island, Coastal Black EstateWinery opened


their doors in 2010with their first vintage of berrywines. Today their products are carried inmore than 80 private liquor stores and restaurants in B.C., and they areworking to find a distributor in the Asianmarkets. “The number of customers that flowthrough our tasting


roomis shocking. Thewinery is rapidly becoming ourmain focus,” says AbelO’Brennan, the owner, grower and winemaker. “InNovember, I amgoing to theHongKong InternationalWine&Spirits Fair, a three-day wine tasting eventwith over 20,000 buyers.” Making berrywines is very similar to the


process for grapewines. There are two essential differences: unlike grapes, berries can be picked and frozen before pressing and processing for wine. Berries are alsomuch lower in natural sugars than grapes, and as a result, often require sugar to be added to attain a similar alcohol content. “If you look at the brix, blackberries come in


around 18, cherries come in around 18, and grapes come in at 18-26,” explainsGeorge Ehrler, owner andwinemaker at BlueMoon EstateWinery in the Comox Valley. “If Iwant a tablewine of around 12 per cent, I have to add sugar to get there – it’s a process called chapetalization.” Perhaps one of the biggest differences in the process is time – berrywines can be completed


British Columbia Berry Grower • Winter 2013-14 7


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