Grape growers harvest bumper crop in Okanagan and Kamloops

A bumper crop of grapes the Okanagan and Kamloops have been keeping growers busy picking and harvesting for the past three weeks, with some just wrapping up for the season.

The bountiful crop is a welcome reprieve after an extremely cold weather event in January last year wiped out the majority of BC grapes, with the Okanagan Valley getting particularly hit hard.

Blasted Church Vineyards in Okanagan Falls recently completed the harvest of their home vineyard, with crop yields exceeding expectations after the freeze destroyed some of their vines.

“The vineyards are pretty varied with what we had to do to recover from the cold damage, but with what we had expected to see on the vines coming into the growing season in relation to what is actually hanging out there, it feels like a bumper crop, even if the yields are average or even a little below average,” winemaker Evan Saunders told iNFOnews.ca in an emailed statement.

“We are seeing higher yields in some places, average yields in others, and low yields in those blocks that are undergoing trunk replacement.”

Warm weather conditions made for a slightly earlier than usual harvest at Blasted Church with the fruit showing “beautiful character” and a “great balanced ripeness.”

The vineyard manager at Monte Creek winery near Kamloops, Dominik Hensler, just wrapped up harvesting the best quality and quantity of grapes he’s seen in 15 years.

“The Thompson Valley really shone this year,” Hensler said. “There was a bit of a longer season where we could let things ripen a bit longer and get just a bit more flavour and physical fruit.”

His vineyard did not accrue much damage during last year’s cold event, but he does import some varietals of grapes from growers in the South Okanagan who suffered damages.

“We’re currently bringing some grapes up from Keremeos and they have real strength with big flavours, so I think most growers are doing well,” he said.

While she could not provide statistics on the grape production yet, Christine Skinner with Wine Growers British Columbia confirmed it’s a big harvest year in the Thompson and Okanagan Valleys.

“What growers are sharing with us is that the vines are full and the harvest has been really good, that’s definitely the vibe,” Skinner said. “It’s been cool seeing all the energy around it on social media. So far there haven’t been any big weather events, it’s been a lovely fall.”

The Okanagan Valley has 86 per cent of B.C’s vineyard acreage, according to Wine Growers of BC. The industry employs more than 14,000 full-time workers and generates roughly $3.75 billion for the economy each year.

Rebuilding and replanting is taking time. The government has allowed wineries to use grapes from out of province to help the wine supply keep up with demand, and last month that support was extended for another year.

Wine Growers BC will be releasing more detailed information on this year’s fall grape crops in the coming weeks.