Yay! BC wine grape harvest is underway

| September 20, 2021 in Food & Drink

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Why are we so interested in BC's grape harvest?

Because it ultimately results in the wines we get to drink, of course.

The grape harvest is now underway in earnest with almost all of the 300 wineries in the province out in vineyards snipping clusters.

"Well, it actually started last week with us first picking the aromatic whites that we want to retain fresh acidity," said Keira LeFranc, winemaker at Stag's Hollow Winery in Okanagan Falls.

"So that means Muscat, Sauvignon Blanc and Pinot Gris. This week we've started to pick Pinot Noir, beginning with the grapes that will go into our Blanc de Noirs (rose) and then the red wines. Gamay (another light red) will also likely be this week before we move onto the bigger whites like Albarino in a couple of weeks and then the big reds like Merlot, Syrah and Tempranillo throughout October."

Keira LeFranc, pictured here with her pooch, Cooper, it the winemaker at Stag's Hollow Winery in Okanagan Falls.

This kind of schedule means LeFranc is working 12 hours a day right now, greeting grapes on the crush pad and getting the winemaking process started.

By mid-October, with more grapes coming in and even more tasks to be done, the work days will stretch to 14 and 16 hours.

"But, it's exciting," said LeFranc.

"Yield is up a little bit this year and it looks like the 2021 wines will be good."

Not that summer 2021 didn't have its challenges.

A heatwave at the end of June and beginning of July scorched some of the grapes on younger vines and there was smoky air from wildfires in the area.

"But, those younger vines did recover and produced some grapes and so far there's no impact from the smoke in the grapes or the juice," said LeFranc.

"We're being extra gentle with all the grapes to make sure no smoke taint comes up in fermentation."

In all,11,086 acres of wine grapes will be harvested this fall, resulting in about 42,000 tons, enough to make 23 million litres of wine.

Eighty-seven percent of the vineyards are in the Okanagan, as are most of the wineries, but there are also smatterings of vineyards and wineries in the Similkameen, Thompson, Shuswap, Vancouver Island and the Gulf Islands and Fraser Valley.

Chardonnay grapes are one of the first varieties to be harvested in BC, especially if they are to be used to make sparkling wine.

Fifty-three percent of the grapes planted in BC are red, 47% white.

The most planted reds are Merlot at 28%, Pinot Noir at 23% and Cabernet Sauvignon with 15%.

The most planted white varieties are Pinot Gris at 23%, Chardonnay a close second at 22% and Gewurztraminer and Riesling in a tie at 12% each.

While you're certainly likely to recognize the grape varietals mentioned above, BC is also home to small percentages of more obscure ones you might not have heard of.

For example, does Zweighlt, Marquette, Baco Noir or Lemberger sound familiar for reds.

What about Siegerrebe, Ortega, Schonberger or Chaselas for whites?

The grape harvest and the resulting wine are also a big deal in BC because it's the basis of a glamourous industry that's worth $2.8 billion a year to the provincial economy and attracts one million tourists a year who spend $600 million.

Stag's Hollow Winery in Okanagan Falls is picking the Pinot Noir grapes this week that will end up in its vineyard-specific Pinot red wines and Blanc de Noirs rose.

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