VANCOUVER ISLAND PRODUCERS PRIMED FOR UPCOMING SEASONS
B.C. wineries show resilience and resolve, vow to grow better grapes down the road
I'll be on Vancouver Island this week for a quick update on the vines as the sap begins to flow; emphasis on the flow part. Contrary to what many think, the deep freeze that recently beset Okanagan and Similkameen producers did not descend upon Vancouver Island in January. Island producers would like you to know that they have plenty of wine to sell you this year and are equally primed for the next couple of vintages, barring any unforeseen wildfires or other weather issues like heat domes.
They won't be able to fill the suspected gaping hole of missing B.C. wine, even if we don't know what size it might be yet, but they are hoping to take advantage of a short window at least to tell you their story and get you thinking more about their wines, which seldom leave the island before local consumers and tourists in the know snap them up.
“We have wine to sell” has become a familiar chant among B.C. wineries, all of whom will be open for business as usual in 2024 and likely won't miss a beat in 2025, even if they have to import grapes from other parts of the country or nearby Washington and Oregon. Resilience and resolve are another part of the story told by the smallest producers and growers representing the soul of B.C. wine. If any good can come from what looks to be a massive crop failure, it is a stubbornness not to give up but rather to get back to work and grow better grapes down the road.
I have been admiring some online responses about getting on with the job and less about needing handouts. Let's be clear, they could use some government help, but some will suffer regardless, while others may be forced to leave the business. As cruel as it sounds, fewer players in what has become an overcrowded field might be good for the whole. Most land-based producers are focused on staying positive and remaining committed to making local wines with as small a human footprint as possible.
If that means turning to imported fruit for a year or two to get by, so be it, but with a huge caveat: you'd better be as transparent as a piece of glass when telling consumers what's in the bottle. There will be no room for the dodgy standards that rule today's offerings marked international blend from imported and domestic wines or vice versa, international blend from domestic and imported wines. Completely different labels would be a good start and the origin of what is in the bottle should appear on the front label before any nod to the bottle's B.C. brand.
Climate-related damage aside, I'm more worried about the global business of wine, which I expect will take a beating over the next decade and beyond on several fronts. Obsessive protectionism and taxes continue to block expansion to new markets. The antialcohol lobby has more money and influence than the wine industry could imagine wielding and is close to winning the big battle — namely, getting the public to buy into their message that no level of alcohol is safe.
Young people are walking away from wine and, perhaps more widely, alcohol for any number of reasons, citing it as too challenging to understand, way too pricey, and, perhaps most problematic, going down the aforementioned rabbit hole that any amount of wine is unhealthy.
On a more cheerful note, wine has seen all these challenges in one form or another for thousands of years and is still around. Fewer than 50 years ago, wine was a nothing burger in most parts of the world, save for the oldest parts of Europe, so a setback after a half-century of steady growth and runaway prices should be unexpected news.
Since the anti-alcohol movement appears less inclined to quote balanced, scientific, peer-reviewed studies to support its position, I leave you with a personal anecdotal observation. I have met scores of healthy, vibrant, multi-generational wine families, in some cases three and four generations old, all still working and drinking moderately.
A votre santé.