Wine and Grape Conference Helping to bake a larger ‘pie’


Wine industry amajor factor as visitor numbers in the Thompson-Okanagan region continue to rise.


By Susan McIver “C


reate exceptional experiences for visitors” was the take- home message delivered by Glenn Mandziuk and Ellen Walker- Matthews at this summer’s viticulture and enology conference in Penticton. Mandziuk is president and chief executive officer of the Thompson Okanagan Tourism Association and Walker-Matthews is in charge of experience development.


“People will pay good money to help you pick your grapes,” Walker- Matthews said. “They’re interested in how grapes grow, how wine is made and they want hands-on experiences. Visitors to Noble Ridge Vineyard and Winery in Okanagan Falls pay to attend the annual Harvest Work Day in early October.


The day starts with a tour of the crush pad and a lesson on how to assess grape ripeness before visitors hand- pick grapes and sit down to a


Mediterranean-style lunch.


The Thompson- Okanagan region, with its excellent wines and outstanding chefs, is rapidly becoming the Tuscany of North America, Mandziuk told conference attendees.


SUSAN MCIVER


Ruth Manoff, who owns Silk Scarf Winery in Summerland with husband Roie, pours a taste for Liz Vallejo of Chicago at the Heard It Through the Grapevine festivities in June.


“We had guests from Vancouver to Calgary and, of course, many from the Valley,” said winery association marketing director Sara Crockett. Shuttle buses brought guests from several locations in the South Okanagan.


The second annual Heard It Through the Grapevine held in mid-June, with two days of touring the wineries and enjoying special events along Summerland’s Bottleneck Drive, attracted visitors from the Lower Mainland, Alberta and even Chicago.


Tourism in the Thompson Okanagan is growing at a faster rate than in four provinces, all three territories and any other area in B.C., Mandziuk said.


Glenn Mandziuk


“We couldn’t have made this claim 10 years ago, but we can now,” he said. A number of wineries attract visitors with gourmet dinners featuring award- winning wines and special musical and artistic events.


This year the Similkameen Wineries Association held its seventh annual BBQ King event, which attracted several hundred visitors.


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Two million people go through the Kelowna, Kamloops and Penticton airports each year, according to Mandziuk. Not all of those arrivals are tourists, but during the last 18 months there has been a significant increase in the number of visitors from China, the United States, Japan, India and Europe.


The downside, as Manziuk explained, is that 80 per cent of tourism occurs during the summer months.


Bottleneck Drive is helping to expand the season by holding Light Up the Vines in conjunction with


British Columbia FRUIT GROWER • Fall 2016


Summerland’s Festival of Lights the last weekend in November.


“I’ve even picked grapes at midnight,” said Walker-Matthews, referring to Summer Gate Winery’s Moonlight Harvest held as part of the festivities. “In return for helping, volunteers enjoy a barbecue and take home a bottle of wine along with a sense of being part of the harvest,” said Gillian Stohler, who owns the business with husband Mike. It’s not uncommon for volunteers to return to Summer Gate with friends and relatives and proudly say that they helped pick the grapes that are now wine.


Mandziuk stressed the importance of partnership between businesses and TOTA in expanding the region’s tourism industry.


“It’s about making the pie bigger, not competing for ever smaller slices,” he said.


The Vibrant Vine Winery recently helped the pie grow when it was named TripAdvisor’s best winery experience in Kelowna.


TripAdvisor is one of the largest travel websites in the world. The winery bills itself as having the world’s only three-dimensional tasting room. Upon entering, visitors put on 3-D glasses that enhance the impact of the psychedelic art on the walls and the stereoscopic quality of upside down, shrink-wrapped labels.


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