Geography: Lake Okanagan, at 144 kilometres long and 3.5 kilometres average width, is the source of much-needed water for irrigation for vines in the Okanagan Valley.

Varietals: 49% of British Columbia’s wines are white. 51% are red. In the last acreage survey conducted, 97.1% of the yield was from vinifera grapes and 2.9% from hybrids.

Must: Unfermented grape pulp or juice.*

Sales: British Columbia VQA wine sales have doubled in the last six years to more than $155 million annually.

Terroir: Borrowed from the French, this term encompasses the entire environment–soil, climate, aspect–that makes a vineyard special.*

*Schreiner, John - British Columbia Wine Country, Whitecap Books Ltd., 2003