Quality: The VQA designation (Vintners Quality Alliance) requires a professional tasting panel to approve each wine.

Brix: A measure of sugar in grapes: one degree Brix equals 10 grams of sugar per litre. Mature grapes are typically 21 to 25 Brix, equating to 11 to 13 percent alchohol after fermentation.*

History: In 1859, Oblate missionary Father Charles Pandosy planted the first vineyard at the Oblate Mission near present-day Kelowna.

Clone: The mutation of a species. Growers select and propagate clones selected for such desirable qualities as early ripening, vivid flavour and deep colour.*

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

 
 
  Number of wineries
134 grape wine wineries, and over 20 licenses pending. 65 are members of the BCWI. BCWI membership represents almost 90% of BC grape wine production and 96% of total wine production in the province.		  
  Five wine regions (designated viticultural areas)
Okanagan
Similkameen
Fraser Valley
Vancouver Island
Gulf Islands		  
  Number of vineyards
464 (wineries and independent growers)		  
  Grape varietals produced
60+		  
  Top ten white varietals (by acreage planted)
Chardonnay
Pinot Gris
Gewürztraminer
Pinot Blanc
Sauvignon Blanc
Riesling
Ehrenfelser
Semillon
Viognier
Auxerrois		  
  Top ten red varietals (by acreage planted)
Merlot
Pinot Noir
Cabernet Sauvignon
Syrah (Shiraz)
Cabernet Franc
Gamay Noir
Marechal Foch
Petit Verdot
Malbec
Zweigelt 		 
  Ratio of White to Red
48% to 52% 		 
  2006 wine production
12,221,400 litres (estimated)		  
 

Harvest and Estimated Production (Historical)

Year
Harvest
(short tons – 2000 lbs.)
Production (litres, est.)
2006
20,369
12,221,400
2005
14,084
8,450,400
2004
16,642
9,985,200
2003
16,897
10,138,200
2002
15,523
9,313,800
2001
14,137
8,482,200
2000
10,022
6,013,200
1999
10,957
6,574,200
1998
10,188
6,112,800
1997
6,603
2,961,800
1996
6,102
3,661,200
1995
8,108
4,864,800
 
 

Grape Acreage

2007
7,500 est.
2006
6,632
2004
5,462
1999
4,200
1994
2,149
1990
1,476
 
  Value of 2006 grape crop
$34,727,748 Cdn		  
 

Growth in Number of Wineries

Year
Number of Wineries
2007
134
2006
131
2005
119
2004
102
2003
87
2002
74
2001
66
2000
60
1995
32
1990
17
 
  BC VQA share of BC market
BC VQA wine became the second-best selling category in BC last year, with 20 per cent (dollar sales) of the market, ahead of all wine-importing countries, and behind only cellared-in-Canada non-VQA wines.		  
  Icewine
500 tons harvested in 2006, yielding an estimated 150,000 litres.
253.4 tons harvested in 2005, yielding an estimated 76,020 litres.
525 tons harvested in 2004, yielding an estimated 157,500 litres.
Top varietals are Ehrenfelser, Riesling, Pinot Blanc, Pinot Noir, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, and Gewürztraminer.		  
 

Growth in BC VQA Sales

Year
Dollar Value
Litres
Dollar Increase
in %
Litre Increase
in %
$/Litre
$/750ml
2006/07
151,220,894
6,783,234
9
5
22.29
16.72
2005/06
138,138,945
6,472,816
20
16
21.34
16.01
2004/05
114,891,745
5,571,100
25
18
20.62
15.47
2003/04
91,998,375
4,728,612
11
12
19.46
14.59
2002/03
83,051,239
4,233,458
18
14
19.62
14.71
2001/02
70,418,708
3,717,452
22
24
18.94
14.21
2000/01
57,638,465
2,999,807
18
16
19.21
14.41
1999/00
48,740,017
2,585,217
16
7
18.86
14.16
1998/99
42,143,199
2,420,599
6
6
17.41
13.05
1997/98
39,758,907
2,324,068
22
11
17.11
12.83
1996/97
32,397,296
2,093,324
3
3
15.48
11.61
1995/96
31,321,592
2,035,877
22
15
15.38
11.54
1994/95
23,666,799
1,775,580
57
38
13.33
10.00
1993/94
15,306,430
1,289,672
45
32
11.87
8.90
1992/93
10,559,586
977,030
54
31
10.81
8.11
1991/92
6,846,183
748,196
-
-
9.15
6.86

Source: BC Wine Institute from data from the BCLDB

 
  Highlights of the Vintners Quality Alliance (VQA) standard
Wines bearing the label designation “Product of British Columbia” must be produced from 100% British Columbia grown grapes. 
Wines bearing the name of a viticultural area are derived from a minimum of 95% of the grapes grown in the named area.
Where a vintage date is stated on the label, at least 95% of the wine is obtained from the designated year of harvest.
Wines labeled as “estate bottled” are produced from grapes grown in a vineyard owned or controlled by the winery, and all processing steps from crushing to bottling are performed at the winery.
As a final check on quality, the wine-tasting panel tests and approves each wine. 		 
 
© 2006 British Columbia Wine Institute.  All rights reserved.