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Up Front


t's been quite a summer for the province's vintners, from growing numbers of tasting-room visitors to a key plebiscite on a new regulatory framework for quality assurance to the 17th edition of the Viticulture and Enology Conference and Trade Show. Living as I do along one of the Okanagan's 'wine trails', I certainly can attest to the substantial increase in vehicular traffic during the summer months — and in the number of brave souls who choose to walk (sometimes in high heels) along the all-too-narrow shoulders of that road — where winery parking lots often are filled to capacity.


Other wine routes might not be as popular, but I'll bet many are, perhaps even more so.


Some of their visitors might not have a clue whether what they're tasting is good, bad or in-between; others have finely-tuned palates and can discern a quality product when they encounter it.


Quality, of course, was the focus of the B.C. Wine Authority's balloting during May and June, when licence holders were given an opportunity to say yay or nay to a dozen


recommendations put forward by the Wine Appelation Task Force. The results, and reactions to them, are the subject of this issue's cover story by Associate Editor Judie Steeves.


Meanwhile, a few weeks after the June 30 deadline to submit ballots, about 300 industry participants took in the above-noted conference in Penticton, as did our Susan McIver, who reports that it ran smoothly, thanks in good measure to the efforts of first-time coordinator Carolyn MacLaren. The conference featured 37 presentations and workshops, 11 exhibitor workshops, 104 exhibitors and two sensory tastings of Cabernet Franc. One of them compared wines from B.C., Ontario and Washington State, and the other a five-year vertical tasting of wine made at College Cellars in Walla Walla. Delegates also had access to the first smartphone app providing conference details and contest information. You'll notice that Gary Strachan's


4


By Bryden Winsby


Memorable months for wine industry I


regular


contributions — In The Cellar, In The Vineyard and Winemaker's Bookshelf are missing from this issue. That's because of the time he spent this summer in


Colombia, looking at agricultural production.


The photos that appear here were taken in the guerrilla-held territory along the Brazilian border. The guerrillas have just signed a peace treaty with the Colombian government. Strachan is part of a team that is investigating ways to develop sustainable agriculture throughout the region.


Watch for his column in our next issue when he discusses the challenges of steeply sloping equatorial viticulture at 2,000 metres altitude.


Okanagan vinyard and winry consulting comany


Pascal Madvon offrs rofssional advic to nw and mrging winris on vinyard managmnt, win roduction, and commrcialization. his st to hl othrs with thir rols in win follows 30 yars of rinc in win, notably as had winmakr of rstigious Bordau and Okanagan stats.


Madvon adviss Canadian winris on trroir, vin, win, and markting of rd, whit, and rosé wins. is goal is to work with assionat roritors and winmakrs who, lik him, ar looking to unlash th tru signatur of ach win.


Larn mor at ascalmadvon.ca Phon (250) 488-8497 British Columbia FRUIT GROWER • Fall 2016 mail: .madvon@shaw.ca


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