In the Vineyard


How did we get here?


A look back at efforts to develop hybrid grapes that could survive and thrive in our climate.


By Gary Strachan W


hile browsing through some ofmy old files Iwas reminded of articles Iwrote five and six


years ago about some of the people who contributed to the evolution of British Columbia viticulture. These were the peoplewho asked the questions that hadn’t been answered yet. If youwould like a copy of these articles, just dropme a line or call. The past fewdecades have seen huge


changes in viticulture, not only in our own backyard, butworldwide.During the 1960s itwas assumed that only interspecific hybrid vines could survive our coldwinters. A fewpioneering growers had planted vinifera vines but within the industry theyweremore of a novelty than a basis for economic farming. The reality is thatmany hybrids are


mildewresistant, can be self-rooted and are productive. The downside is that it requires greater skill tomake wineswith the accepted flavors of classic vinifera varieties. During the 1960s and 1970s an


ambitious project to breed and select hybrid grapeswith vinifera character was led byDon Fisher at the Summerland Research Station (now PARC). The laborious job of assessing vineyard performancewas Lyall Denby’s responsibility. The assessment ofwine performancewas given to DarrylWood, and later tomewhen I replaced him. Shortly after I took over the


winemaking project, the vines of the Becker project came into production and I agreed to conduct thewine


28 British Columbia FRUIT GROWER • Spring 2014


Geisenheim 31158, one of the grape varieties assessed in the Becker


Project.


established in 1979 in Peachland. Although thewinery buildings and vineyard are still there, the company has gone throughmany owners and reorganizations during the past decades. The secondmilestone


was the Bilateral Free Trade Agreementwith theUnited States, (FTA) followed quickly by the General Agreement on Trade and Tariffs (GATT)with Europe.


assessments. Based on the inroads set by the Becker Project, further assessments of European vineswere conducted in the Cowichan Valley on Vancouver Island, and at the Research Station. Therewere two politicalmilestones


that had a profound effect on our industry. The firstwas the creation of a newclass of tourism-oriented license in which direct sales ofwine to customers bore no Liquor Boardmarkup. The first of the newclass ofwinery was Chateau Jonn de Trepanier,


Our grape andwine industry viewed these as a death sentence because all barriers to the importation ofUS and Europeanwine had to be removed. Howcould a small newindustry in a hostile climate competewith the huge, efficient producerswho had been established in the greatest grape growing regions of theworld for the past centuries? The provincial and federal


governments nodded agreement and set aside a compensation package for growerswhowished to pull their vines


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