2006 – A (stellar) year in review

2006 is being called a stellar year by winemakers and wine sellers alike across the province. In the Okanagan, international award-winning winemaker for Jackson Triggs Bruce Nicholson is very pleased with 2006 overall. “We had a wetter June, but the warm weather in July and August made up for it. With a very warm fall with minimal rain and no early frost we achieved what we wanted – the reds have exceptional flavours. We’re happy with the whites too as our crop levels are up, even from 2004.” Nicholson notes that it is the consumers who “will really benefit as the volume and quality levels from this year’s harvest are high.”

Lawrence Herder, winemaker and proprietor for Herder Winery and Vineyards, is as enthusiastic. “It was a bumper crop with additional to normal ‘04 yields, and we took in some of the best reds in years.” He adds, “it didn’t rain a lot, which is good, and we had plenty of moderate heat in our vineyards in Oliver, Osoyoos and the Similkameen.” Herder eloquently describes this year’s vintage, “we saw extremely good fruit character, showing nice representation of true varietal character, with brix levels as high as 27 in some vineyards.” Due to the long harvest Herder noted they “had a long crush and fermentation season – which is a good thing.”

Janice Harkley, the winery proprietor from Saltspring Vineyards agrees. The islands wineries have “had wonderful weather all year. We had a very lovely growing season, and the crop was so good people were surprised and scrambling for tanks and barrels due to the higher yields.” Yields here, as they have throughout the province, have returned to higher 2004 levels.

For Granite Creek Estate Wines, which has vineyards in the North and the South Interior of the province, the warm weather and later harvest has helped the Kennedy family get maximum quality out of the fruit. Gary Kennedy says, the “vintage appears to be excellent.” Leo Gebert, proprietor and winemaker for St. Hubertus Estate Winery concurs: “2006 should be another banner vintage. This is one of the best vintages we’ve seen for both whites and reds. It shows in the vintage that wineries in BC are getting more mature in handling the newer varieties with the quality that we are producing.”

At St. Hubertus Estate Winery 2006 was the earliest harvest since 1986. And with the early dip in winter temperatures, 2006 was the earliest Icewine harvest as well. With temperatures reaching -120 Celsius on November 27th, St. Hubertus staff started picking early in the morning and had finished their entire Icewine harvest by nightfall - approximately 20 tonnes. Due to the early harvest, with limited cluster dropping, and lack of bears, birds, deer and the elements to decrease the crop yields, Gebert notes, “this is the biggest Icewine crop we’ve ever had.” With the cold weather expected to continue, St. Hubertus will be pressing over the next few days. Brix levels are 59%, and as Gebert adds, “we can take our time because it’s supposed to be cold over the next couple of days. We can now finally book a vacation!”

Thankfully there is no rest for wine sales throughout the province, and BC’ wineries’ products are flying off the shelves. Total provincial sales for BC VQA wines for the 12 month period ending September 2006 reached $141,082,676, up from $125,812,266 the previous year (picking up $15,270,410). This represents 12% growth in the last year. VQA wine store sales showed a 13 percent growth in the last year. BC liquor store and VQA wine store sales are both outpacing the entire wine category with only 10 percent growth. BC VQA wines now command a 20 percent market share – and that’s definitely worth a toast. Here’s to a stellar 2006!

Based in Kelowna, the BCWI promotes the Wines of British Columbia (BC VQA) and the Wine Regions of British Columbia brands.


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