October 2016 • Country Life in BC Pick early, pick often


Grape growers going “gangbusters” as annual harvest picks up his wife, Carol.


Stories by PETER MITHAM


OLIVER – Despite fears of being slammed by another early vintage, Okanagan grape growers were bracing for an onslaught of red grapes as Country Life in BC went to press.


Many growers who picked white varieties in August were thankful for some breathing room and the prospect of some fruitful hang-time for their red varieties.


“The acid and pH are right where you want them,” said Larry Gerelus, principal of Stag’s Hollow Winery and Vineyard in Okanagan Falls. Gerelus sources grapes from vineyards in Naramata, Okanagan Falls and Osoyoos. The vineyards yield grapes for elegant Grenache and Tempranillo wines. The composition of this year’s fruit promises more of the same as sugar levels remain in step with the physiological ripeness of the grapes. Grapes are physically mature at veraison, which


occurred in July, positioning them for the home stretch in August and September when phenolic components develop to a point where the grapes are considered ripe for the picking.


This year’s warm weather kicked them to veraison early, while hits of cool, damp weather tempered the development of the flavours winemakers and consumers prize. This has kept sugars in check while acids haven’t dropped out as in other years. “We’re getting some surprising flavours,” Gerelus said.


Earliest ever


Lariana Cellars, which claims to be the southernmost winery in the Okanagan with a location nestled up against the border on 2nd Avenue in Osoyoos, had completed its Viognier harvest by September 7. This was the earliest Viognier harvest ever for owners Dan Scott who operates the winery and its five-acre estate vineyard with


BC boosts minimum wage


While good weather has grape growers breathing a sigh of relief, orchardists continue to scramble as the same weather has handed them a bountiful crop of fruit.


Cherries came on strong this summer thanks to a blast of early-season heat, then storms had them scrambling to pull off the crop to avoid split fruit. Peaches and other stone fruit soon followed.


Now, apple growers are competing for workers as their fruit arrives early. Many varieties are coming on two weeks earlier than usual, and a mid-season increase in the minimum wage is adding to the pressure on growers.


The timing is “awkward,” according to the BC Fruit Growers Association.


The new wage of $10.85 applies to all workers, both hourly and piece-rate pickers. However, vacation pay of 4% is included in piece rates whereas it is additional to the hourly wage. The increase of 40 cents per hour is a prelude to a further increase in September 2017 to at least $11.25. The move is designed to lift BC’s minimum wage from the lowest in Canada to something closer to the average. However, BC’s cost of living still ranks among the highest in the country, thanks largely to housing costs.


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Scott said he hopes the red grapes he uses for his red blends will hang on until at the end of September, giving him some breathing space.


Poised to hang on


That’s likely, in the opinion of Graham Pierce, winemaker at Black Hills Estate Winery on the Black Sage bench opposite Oliver.


Pierce was expecting to pick Chardonnay grapes in mid-September, while red varieties such as Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon and Syrah, were poised to hang on a little longer.


With temperatures not expected to exceed the mid 20s, Pierce believes the grapes should respond well, with the major risk being an early frost as October progresses. (Most long-term forecasts don’t foresee that happening.) “[It’s] where you get a lot of that really good flavor development,” he said. Back in Okanagan Falls, Roland Kruger of Wild Goose Vineyards said “fruit is looking fantastic.”


The growing season made for little disease pressure, and pests weren’t a problem, either. The fruit is clean and


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Like other commodities in the Okanagan this summer, the grape harvest is also ahead of schedule. (Cathy Glover file photo)


coming in steadily from both its estate vineyard and contract growers.


“We’re ecstatic that grapes are coming in when they should be,” he said. “It’s


gangbusters from here on in.” BC vineyards yielded 32,848 tons of grapes in 2015. Good growing conditions and new plantings could push that north of 35,000 this year.


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