were squeezed from the other sectors of his life. He says Bielert put in many extra hours as well during those early years of what is today a successful global player in the competitive wine and grape industry- albeit a young one.
Bielert remembers that in 1980 there were just a few fairly large commercial wineries like Growers Wines, Calona Wines, Casabello, Andres and Jordan and St. Michelle, until smaller growers began making wines of their own and the estate winery designation was created. Those early estate wineries included Sumac Ridge, CedarCreek (named Uniacke, at first), Mission Hill, Gray Monk, Claremont, Gehringer Bros and Vinitera (later Okanagan Vineyards). They were followed by such family- owned wineries
as Quails’ Gate and Hainle Vineyards. Largely as a result of the Becker Project (spearheaded by George and Trudy Heiss of Gray Monk), they began making use of vitis vinifera grapes, to make higher-quality wines, instead of the lowly labruscas. That involved experimental growing of 33 European vinifera vines throughout the valley to determine winter hardiness and how best to treat them to survive Okanagan winters. As well, the association produced a climate and soil atlas of the valley, including aerial mapping and field sampling. It’s been digitized and is now on the BCGA website. With the signing of the North American Free Trade Agreement in 1989, the federal government funded a grape pullout program for growers to remove the old labruscas and replant with viniferas. This was intended to help the teetering industry make a transition to production of top-quality wines, instead of a rapid death under competition from imported higher- quality wines under the new agreement. At the time, there were just 13 wineries in the province. These were tumultuous years, as the B.C. Grape Marketing Board — which was run independently but for
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which Bielert also worked in the same office — did some intense soul-searching and decided the best way forward to ensure a quality wine industry developed in the Okanagan was to disband.
It’s never an easy decision to end the life of an organization you’re involved in. ALPHABET SOUP
The B.C. Wine Institute was formed in 1990, sharing office space with both the BCGA and the B.C. Grape Marketing Board, and Bielert moved over to the BCWI for the next decade — during the transition — under the theory that the BCGA would not be
onto the VQA program for a variety of reasons. They formed the B.C. Wine Growers, which later dissolved and even later became the B.C. Wine Grape Council. Today, it organizes an annual Enology and Viticulture Conference (July 18 and 19 this year, in Penticton) and directs research, funded in part by levies from growers. At the same time, during the 1980s, the valley’s table grape industry went through a revolution, moving from varietals such as Cambell Early, Bath and Patricia to the locally-developed Coronation table grape, bred at the Summerland Research and Development Centre.
Although the BCGA was put on the shelf once the BCWI was created, after a decade or so, it became obvious to growers there was still a need for a grower body as the BCWI was more about wines and wineries. The BCGA was re-activated. Bielert opted to return to work for the growers.
required any more, but she continued doing BCGA business off the corner of her desk.
Those were turbulent times and Bielert admits, looking back, there was a lot of controversy in the industry and at times “it was quite stressful.”
In 1990 the Vintners’ Quality Alliance (VQA) program started up, overseeing maintenance of a quality standard for B.C. wines. Tasting panels were set up by Marjorie King and Bielert handled the administration for those as well. Again, there was turmoil among growers and some decided not to sign
Today, the BCGA functions as a grassroots organization based on agriculture, educating growers and representing growers, whether working with government or on other issues such as starling control, Bielert explains.
Looking back, she says it was an exciting time to be involved in the wine and grape industry in B.C., and it felt good to be a part of it. “I learned so much from some very smart people.
“One of the best things was the friendships I made. There were lots of interesting people, but, at times, it was like finding a safe way through a mine field,” she admits with a wry grin.
British Columbia FRUIT GROWER • Summer 2015
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