For the 2023 harvest, many winegrowers reported their earliest start on record due to a hot, sunny summer. What did Wines of British Columbia have to say?
From Wines of British Columbia, “Going into the summer season BC wineries knew they were facing the challenge of a reduced wine grape crop. “A devastating extreme cold event in December 2022 impacted vineyards throughout the Okanagan Valley and Similkameen Valley,” said Miles Prodan, President and CEO, Wine Growers British Columbia. “While each vineyard and winery had a singular experience depending on location, vineyard aspect, and other factors, we were able to quantify the damage overall as a 34 to 56 percent loss in yield for the 2023 vintage. The full picture will become clear once we are able to review final tonnage numbers this December,” said Prodan…Vancouver Island vineyards often experience a different set of weather conditions than their interior counterparts. “We expect good volumes to be picked locally,” said Mark Holford, Rocky Creek Winery. “The extra warm summer is resulting in very high quality, and an early harvest which is always welcome on the island where we are wanting to pick all our grapes before the October rains begin.”” winebc.com
Now that it is early December and the wines are all in tanks or barrels, how did the BC grape growing season and harvest fare?
This year I interviewed 4 BC winemakers from across BC’s grape-growing regions to get their take on this year’s vintage as of the end of November 2023. The winemakers
This Article was originally published on My Wine Pal
