I started work with John in the late 1970s when he was the provincial grape specialist and I was the Agriculture Canada enologist. John has always been eager to find news way to develop viticulture in B.C. and in order to assess where the industry could extend, he got cooperation from wineries and growers to develop test plots at various points around the province. In addition, he somehow managed to import cuttings of cool climate grape varieties from most of the northern regions of the world, even from behind the Iron Curtain. His missing link was to find someone to make wine from the test plots. We arrived at a standard process for test batches of 100 pounds of grapes. Eventually, we pushed the capacity limit of the old horticulture pilot plant (at what is now the Pacific Agri-Food Research Centre, Summerland) with up to 300 test batches per year between John’s plots and other sources.


Most of the varieties that were planted after the industry redeveloped in the 1990s had been tested a decade earlier and demonstrated to be economically viable for B.C.


— Gary Strachan


Our relationship with John goes back to the 1960s when my father, Robert Roshard, was the manager of Riverland Irrigated Farms in Lillooet. An experimental grape plot was planted at Riverland in the mid-1960s and John was initially involved in monitoring it. Several years later the farm was sold to private owners and the grape project faded away. We reconnected with John more than 30 years later, around 2004, when I attended a workshop in Lytton. John was one of the speakers and mentioned my father. I introduced myself and shortly after, the Lillooet grape project started. John, although retired from the B.C. Ministry of Agriculture by then, had many connections in the industry. He secured permission for a group of volunteers to take cuttings from vineyards in the Oliver area, arranged for Bylands to propagate own-rooted plants for the project, and provided advice and encouragement throughout the project. John was the driving force behind keeping this project moving, long past the initial three year period. The project has brought my husband Douglas and I much personal satisfaction and many good friends: John and Evelyn are top of the list.


— Christ’l Roshard


developing an agricultural plan for Kelowna.


“I had never done consulting before and Herb became my mentor,” Vielvoye said.


Since then, he has consulted on a number of projects involving site, climate and soil suitability for grapes, varieties and rootstocks, production options and cultural techniques. From 1998 through 2000, he organized and participated in a course called Planning for Success—An Introduction to Business Planning for Small Wineries.


In 2011, he published Climate and Feasibility Assessment of Growing Grapes in the Lillooet-Lytton Area, the results of a three year study that may prove instrumental in the development of the entire region. The project directly resulted in Rolf de Bruin and Heleen Pannekoek establishing Fort Berens Estate Winery at Lillooet.


It also led to an organic hop farm in Lillooet as well as other entrepreneurs considering the area for a wide range of agricultural projects.


British Columbia FRUIT GROWER • Summer 2014 27


Looking to the future, Vielvoye sees simultaneous consolidation and expansion in the B.C. wine industry. Consolidation will result from small


wineries joining together or being bought by larger companies. Expansion will come from more acres being under vine and increased wine production on Vancouver Island, in the Fraser Valley and the Kootenays.


Located as far north as Prince George, Northern Lights Estate Winery is primarily a fruit winery, but also has some grapes.


The Lillooet-Lytton and Thompson regions likely will see more growth and there is potential for more expansion of the industry in the Okanagan, according to Vielvoye. He also sees a role for hybrid varieties in expanding the areas in the province capable of growing grapes. Wine grapes are grown in all 50 states, including Alaska, as well as northern countries such as Russia, Norway and Poland, Vielvoye said. “In B.C. our noses are in the air about hybrids,” said Vielvoye. He and Evelyn recently visited successful hybrid wineries in Ontario, Quebec and the U.S.


“They were award-winning wineries buzzing with tourists. It showed me that you don’t have to produce vinifera wine to do well,” he said. Despite saying he retired for the second and final time two years ago, Vielvoye continues to be keenly interested in the B.C. industry and willing to share his vast knowledge and expertise.


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