This is the second in our BC Harvest 2019 series. To read about the winemaker’s feedback on the harvest for The Okanagan Valley and the Shuswap see our earlier post.
This article focuses on the Vancouver Island’s Cowichan Valley, Fraser Valley, Summerland plus comments from another Kelowna winery.
Vancouver Island
Layne Craig |40 Knots Vineyard & Estate Winery
2019 season was a mixed bag…I think it even made the Farmer Almanac request a mulligan! The normal warm spring rains came late. Which was good, as the vines stayed dormant and we had cold temps as far as the island goes. However, the bud hardiness was not affected. We did eventually get spring rain, but well below average for our area. Just at pre budding, so everything took off as it should. Even 2 weeks ahead of average.
Single and double cane pruning throughout the vineyard, and ensuring good canopy management keep the crop happy. We experienced great heat units through June to August, similar to 2015 and a little higher. We kept missing the rains, which I was thankful for…especially when September showed up, as it did for everyone.
Yet, lucky twice in one year, October was great. The rain kept missing us. We had sunshine, dry grapes, and a nice balance of acid to sugar. Ripe on the vine, that’s all I can ask for!
Disease issues were almost non-existent, 0.4% that were separated out during harvest. Tonnage was 9% higher than in 2018. The 9% does not account for the fruit drop done in late July.
So far the wines look great. No faults or surprises. In all, 2019 was a great year. I won’t lie, it scared the hell out of me a few times. Let’s call it the vintage of “better to be lucky than smart”.
To check out the current portfolio of 40 Knots please visit the winery website.
Chris Turyk & Dan Wright | Unsworth Vineyards
Overall we would describe the vintage on the island as a classic. The weather data has recently been compiled and it does show perhaps the new average. It seems that we don’t bottom out below 1000 Growing degree days (GDD) anymore and we take the optimistic view that perhaps these less warm vintages result in quite interesting wines in the glass.
There was higher rainfall than in the past few years with very few days above 30 degrees Celsius. Not having to irrigate or worry about smoke was nice.
Starting on September 12 the harvest rains came which signalled the more challenging part of the year. The rain was very intense and was a bit of a worry considering that it was a higher disease pressure year. Luckily things did dry out a tad during the beginning of October so the majority of the fruit came in between Sept 28 and Oct 14.
Our sparkling base wine is plentiful and one of the more exciting aspects of the 2019 vintage. At this point, the red Pinot Noir looks like it won’t have the ripeness or structure of the 2018 but will showcase itself as a light, delicate style Pinot with more phenolic ripeness than we have experienced in previous cool vintages.
To read more about Unsworth Vineyards see – Unsworth Vineyards and Charme De L’Ile
Fraser Valley
David Zimmerman |Seaside Pearl Farmgate Winery
In the Fraser Valley, BC Harvest 2019 was earlier than normal. There was a light frost in one of the Langley vineyards that Seaside Pearl sources grapes from but their grapes had been picked before the frost. 3,500 litres of Petit Milo was harvested from the estate vineyard. During fermentation, the Petit Milo was already exhibiting excellent tropical notes of guava and pineapple. David was happy with the 2,000 litres Cabernet Foch he sourced from the Fraser valley but the yield was down due to bird challenges!
The October frost in the Okanagan created challenges for David as it expedited the harvest and reduced the time for collection the grapes he sources from this region. This turned the harvest into an “endurance race” as David had to drive to the Okanagan with little warning to collect the Syrah and Cabernet Sauvignon grapes. The grapes harvested look really good with some grapes having a 27 Brix. The high Brix due to some withering on the vine.
To read more about Seaside Pearl see – Seaside Pearl Farmgate Winery and Petit Milo
Summerland
Lori Savard |Savard Vines
The cold winter and late spring frost resulted in the development of small clusters, shorter shoots and lower yields for our plants in 2019. In July and August, we had an infestation of wasps that despite our best efforts, they really enjoyed eating our berries. Furthermore, we had an influx of small birds that we have never had before. They too were very happy in the vineyard. September saw a very rainy month and for the first time in our vineyard, we experienced a small amount of rot.
Finally, we had a killing frost earlier than usual which shortened the growing season by 1-2 weeks for Cabernet Franc and Malbec. Surprising, despite the lower yields, the wines seem to be tasting great. The colour of the reds is fantastic! We look forward to tasting them over the next while.
To check out the current portfolio of Savard Vines please visit the winery website.
Kelowna
Peter & Anita |Scorched Earth Winery
Harvest this year was interesting. Initially, we thought that we would have a stellar year as there was no smoke in the vicinity. Unfortunately, mother nature decided to add a bit of rain at the end of the season causing the grapes to plump up resulting in lower sugar levels. For us, it was a better year than 2018, as we were not put on fire evacuation notice. Also, the resident bear family moved away and only one resident bear remained. He was quite gentle and ate much less than the family did the previous year, so our yield was better and we had significantly less damage to the vines.
The wines are still great just that the end result will have lower alcohol levels. Still looking forward to the end result. We will have to wait 3 years to really see!
To check out the current portfolio of Scorch Earth Winery please visit the winery website.
BC Harvest 2019 Summary
Winemakers are expecting the 2019 Vintage will showcase great-tasting BC wines including light, delicate style Pinot Noir with more phenolic ripeness from Vancouver Island.