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temperatures.
pockets for the purposes of his study,
He did not use vines in frost G
M
ris.
erlot, Shiraz, Pinot Blanc and Pinot they might have.
nor vines where other factors could
have influenced cold hardiness, such
most heavily-planted varieties in the
Ironically, those include two of the are very much in tune with what
However, overall, he said growers
as proximity to a mountainside.
province, Merlot and Pinot Gris. The
wineries want. “They’re no longer
other two are Chardonnay and Pinot
growing for tonnage. Grower
handled temperature—without side
“It was a snapshot of how vines Noir.
practices are very good,” he
i
The coldest day was Dec. 20, but
commented.
e
ssues. We took the average vine,” he
xplained. F
there were other cold days in
ebruary and March as well.
others, depending on the site.
Some growers were hit worse than
study, he had to consider how to
Bogdanoff said in starting on this recent weather history, Bogdanoff
With a number of mild winters in
measure winter injury: whether by
Skaha and Osoyoos Lakes have quite
Bogdanoff did find that Okanagan,
admitted It’s easy to become
counting damage to bud counts
an influence on temperature, with complacent about the harshness of
compared to previous years or by
the mercury staying around -20 C or winter weather in the Okanagan.
counting final clusters.
-21 C around Okanagan Lake, while
in Oliver and in the Similkameen, winters, as the Pacific Decadal
There could be a few more cold
was little bud damage and cluster
For instance, in Pinot Noir there temperatures went down to -22 C to - Oscillation pattern shifts into a
counts were good, because it's a fairly
26 C—and they likely went even
hardy grape, but in Pinot Blanc,
colder in frost pockets.
cooler period, he noted.
while it was in the top half of survival
by bud count, it was not as hardy
to measure temperatures at ground
Now he would like to set up towers important for growers to have frost
In some years, it might be
when they looked at cluster counts.
level and above ground level at
protection in the vineyard, either
various elevations, to help determine
fans or overhead sprinklers,
appeared to be more tolerant to cold
By varieties, he said those that temperatures at various elevations
particularly while there are still some
were Petit Verdot, Pinot Noir,
above the ground.
green leaves remaining on the vines,
he suggested.
Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet
Franc, Chardonnay and Riesling.
he will be looking at harvest dates
With the help of a grower survey,
The less hardy varieties were
and other factors as well to consider
conjunction with PARC scientist Pat
The study was conducted in
growing practices and what influence
Bowen and funded by the Wine
Grape Council.
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Certificate programs and courses.
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registration, please contact Continuing Studies
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24 British Columbia FRUIT GROWER • Fall 2009
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