The 2023 BC harvest really began in 2022 for the Okanagan, when the December cold snap devastated many vineyards. The most significant impacts were in the south Okanagan Valley, Kelowna and the Similkameen Valley, with each showing potential losses of 60%.
Syrah, Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon are the grape varieties that have suffered the most, each projecting losses of more than 65%. A 54% reduction in grape and wine production for the 2023 vintage was forecasted, with 45% of the planted acreage suffering long-term damage and 29% of the total acreage needing to be replanted.
Then a dry summer with multiple wildfires brought the risk of smoke taint.
Buy local and support BC Wine as the BC wineries need your support more than ever!
However, many wineries overcame these challenges and harvested a crop with beautiful fruit, incredible concentration, balanced acidity and reds with ripe tannins.
Many thanks to the winemakers and wineries that provided input for our first 2023 harvest article:
- Blue Grouse Estate Winery
- Four Shadows Vineyard & Winery
- Summerhill Pyramid Winery
- Blasted Church Vineyards
- Meyer Family Vineyards
- TIME Family of Wines
- Mythology Vineyard
- Sunnybrae Vineyards & Winery
- Okanagan Crush Pad
- Hester Creek Estate Winery
Vancouver Island
Bailey Williamson | Blue Grouse Estate Winery
The setup always starts the year before at bloom where the primordial buds set for the following year. So, 2022 was a cool spring and the buds for this year did not set for an abundance of crop, this was the experience of our own vineyards and contract growers.
That said the 2023 spring was perfect for bloom and fruit set which happened mid-May through to early June. With the many varietals we have in the old Kiltz vineyard it seems to be spread out slightly.
With very little rainfall from May through September the vines were in their element. By October 1st were had achieved 1275 GDD which is slightly above the 10-year average. Early varieties like Siegerrebe and sparkling base came in in the first few weeks of September, there was a little break and then we began harvesting Ortega and Bacchus. The weather stayed favourable till the end of Sept and into the early weeks of October at which time we began harvesting Chardonnay and Pinot Noir.
The sugar and acid balance were almost perfect for Cowichan Valley so we could highlight our distinctive terroir and unique characteristics that come from decidedly cool climate wine growing.
Although the yields were slightly lower the quality was up.
We on the Island feel very lucky given what our colleagues in the Okanagan have had to deal with over the past year. Our thoughts are with them as many will have to make some tough decisions regarding their futures.
Mother Nature is a fickle mistress, and she seems to be increasingly angry at humanity, which is no surprise given the way we have collectively abused her.
She is benevolent and if we tread lightly, she will return the gesture.
Here is the link to purchase Blue Grouse Estate wines.
Naramata
Wilbert Borren|Four Shadows Vineyard & Winery
As always, this growing season was an interesting one that really started in early November 2022 when we had an abrupt shift from late summer to winter. Followed up by extremely cold temperatures in December, we went into 2023 with some apprehension. Bud dissections in the late winter revealed damage to our Merlot, while our other varietals (Pinot Noir, Zweigelt, Riesling, Chardonnay and Pinot Blanc) seemed to fare quite well. We modified our usual cane pruning to spur pruning in areas where we saw damage, leaving more buds on our vines as an insurance policy against bud death.
Bud break happened at a normal time for our vineyard in early May, after which we experienced explosive growth, seeing the progress of about seven weeks condensed into a month. That was a busy time for us, trying to keep up with the vines! By early June we were way ahead of our usual timeline; flowering was three weeks ahead of the previous year and veraison began the last week of July. We prepared for an early harvest, which began on September 2nd this year, two weeks ahead of our previous record.
While our crop was light, the quality was exceptional, and the flavours were excellent. With less fruit on the vines and a great crew of returning pickers, our harvest came in quickly and we all enjoyed picking and crushing in the sunshine this year. Things are coming along beautifully in the cellar with this vintage already showing promise as a notable year.
Our tasting room is closed for the season as of October 31st, but we will be open on Fridays and Saturdays during the month of December leading up to Christmas. Looking ahead to next year, guests will be guided through our new releases by experienced staff, as our core of tasting room staff will all be returning in the new year. We look forward to sharing our new releases in 2024!
Here is the link to purchase Four Shadows wines and more information on the winery – Four Shadows Vineyard & Winery – 2023 Releases.
Kelowna
Michael Alexander | Summerhill Pyramid Winery
This year’s harvest was as unique as always, although it was a small harvest everything was ready to pick at the same time. We had 3 big weeks seeing 90% of the fruit. The warm autumn gave us beautiful fruit, everything has amazing concentration and balanced acid/sugar. The warm weather also moved things along quickly, we ended 4 weeks earlier this year. We have a few red pressings left but are excited to catch up on sleep and start getting the wine ready to bottle. I am excited to share the wines of 2023!
The link to purchase Summerhill Pyramid wines.
Penticton / Okanagan Falls
Evan Saunders | Blasted Church Vineyards
The 2023 vintage came with a few challenges, as every vintage does, but it was definitely a unique season. To start with, the cold damage from the 2022 winter left us with a smaller crop than we had hoped, but thankfully our estate vineyard came through reasonably well to provide an average crop for 2023. Our proximity to Skaha Lake saved us!
From there, we had a later-than-average bud break, but over the next month, we suddenly jumped ahead of the normal and were running a few weeks ahead of the average. The smaller crop load certainly allowed the vines to fly through the stages of the growing season. And then, suddenly, harvest was upon us and it was a rush to bring in the sparkling fruit and aromatic whites. Things did level off after we had brought in the whites, but we were still 2 to 3 weeks ahead of “normal” on most of our reds.
As it stands, we have everything in the cellar and will have all of our Merlot drained and pressed by the end of the week. Also, similar to 2022, 2023 had an extremely high level of powdery mildew pressure. So, if you weren’t vigilant in the vineyard with your green work and spray schedule, which was an enormous task as everyone had to leave additional buds at pruning to offset the bud damage, you stood to lose fruit in what was already a very short vintage. Farming is never dull!
Overall, the quality that we have seen is high across the board. The sparkling base wines, whites, and roses are all tasting great with fantastic varietal typicity. The reds have a beautiful fruit profile, ripe tannin, and a balanced acidity. So, while there may not be a lot of the 2023 wines to go around, we are thankful that what we do have is of very high quality.
Here is the link to purchase Blasted Church wines and more information on the winery – Blasted Church and the Sacred Wines
Jak Meyer | Meyer Family Vineyards
Initially, it was doom and gloom and for many parts of the Okanagan that was the case. My opinion is that the damage was not caused by the cold weather in December but by the extremely mild October and then going from plus 20 to minus 10 in a day. This did not allow the plants time to shut down properly and still had a lot of moisture in them that froze. Most people saw leaves on trees right up until March this year!
We luckily dodged a bullet with our vineyards and no vine death however we have had a substantial decrease in yield. Our lowest recorded harvest by a long shot was 2021 and this year we are 10% less than that.
Although yields are low we believe the fruit to be of excellent quality. Fingers crossed that the smoke in our area was not too thick and did not permeate into the vines or grapes. We don’t think smoke will be a factor for us in this area.
We are also fortunate to have a significant 2022 vintage with all wines bottled and we hope that will carry us through along with the 2023 small yield and make it to the 2024 vintage. Not all wineries are this fortunate depending on varietal, location and orientation etc.
Here is the link to purchase MFV Wines and more information on the wines – Meyer Family Vineyards New Releases
Lynzee Schatz |TIME Family of Wines
“Ready or not, here we go! ” The 2023 harvest had me sampling grapes for sparkling wine before mid-August and kicked off August 23rd with our first pick. This is the earliest end to summer, as we knew it, and the start of harvest I have ever seen. September followed with all the whites flying in and the majority of the reds. The last pick was Oct 5th.
Writing this now mid-October, I am reflecting on how we were just ramping up last year this time and how right now we have almost all the red wines pressed off. The results of winter damage were evident with the lower yields, however, this resulted in a depth of flavour and very concentrated bunches and the silver lining is that our vineyards will all bounce back for next year. There are always many memories made during harvest and a stand-out one will be the team this year; Ben and Liam deserve a huge mention for their hard work, humour and commitment to making the best wines possible. While our tanks aren’t as full as I would like, I am really excited about the wines!”
Here is the link to purchase the Time Family of Wines – Chronos, Evolve Cellars, McWatters Collection and TIME Wines.
Osoyoos
Mark Simpson | Mythology Vineyard
Well, this was certainly an interesting year to buy a farm, let’s call it boot camp for new farmers. My business partner and I acquired a 4-acre vineyard near Osoyoos in August 2022. In the last 12 months, we had brutal cold, excessive heat, forest fires and disease pressure, which often happen one at a time, but never all at once!
The cold snap last December gave us 3 or 4 days at minus 30 Celsius, which caused widespread primary bud mortality in our vineyard. Our bud dissections in late February showed 65% primary bud damage and 35% secondary bud damage. So, our pruning strategy shifted to keeping lots of extra canes in the hope of harvesting some viable buds leading to good fruit set in spring. That worked as we had some viable canes to keep but left us with a dense jungle of a canopy, which of course traps moisture, leading to some unwanted powdery mildew pressure.
June and July were dry and hot, but we had to spray more frequently than we liked, even with very little rain. Then July gave us day after day of extreme heat, with temperatures in high 30’s. In late June the monster fire on Eagle Bluff started, bringing a wild roller coaster ride watching the fire burn within 1 km of our property. The heroic efforts of the firefighters brought the fire under control before much of the veraison had occurred, but our colleagues in the mid and north Okanagan were not so lucky. We had our grapes tested by our friends at Frind Winery for smoke-tainted precursor molecules and luckily the numbers were quite low and we deemed the crop safe to pick.
We made 100% Rose wine from our crop as the yields were very low and we did not want to risk the extended skin contact that is our style of red winemaking. The smaller crop allowed much faster ripening and all our crops were in 3 to 4 weeks ahead of schedule, the earliest in my last 10 years of winemaking. What we did get was of excellent quality and this vintage will be one of the better ones for vineyards that escaped heavy smoke contact later in the ripening cycle.
There is never a dull moment in farming and we hope for a milder winter and please no fires! The crazy climate brought lots of economic pressure as most wineries lost major cellar door sales volume in peak season and low crop yields. Buy local and support BC wineries as they need your support more than ever!
Here is the link to purchase Mythology Vineyard Wines and more information on the winery –Welcome to Mythology Vineyard
Shuswap
James Clark | Sunnybrae Vineyards & Winery
A high of 26°C on April 30th set the season’s trend of hot and dry for the remainder of the growing season. Our vineyard site saw 76mm of rain from May to August: 132mm below the Salmon Arm average. We felt very grateful to have irrigation this year but that didn’t stop our site from becoming an Evacuation Alert area during the last week of August, due to the nearby Bush Creek East Fire. After an intense week of precautionary fire-proofing, there was no time to lose and we jumped straight into harvest on September 1st with a small but gorgeous crop of Siegerrebe.
From there everything else followed suit and we experienced the most condensed harvest to date! Like many in BC we received significantly lower yields throughout our varieties but also saw rare and heightened levels of ripening when compared to the average growing season. We picked our Marechal Foch in mid-September: 4-5 weeks earlier than the average and earliest on record. Pinot Noir followed shortly after, marking the end of the harvest season before we had even reached October! Overall a year of many challenges and we count our lucky stars to have made it through with a vintage in the tanks: one that will be bottled full of beautiful flavour and plenty of memories.
Here is the link to purchase Sunnybrae wines and more information on the winery – Sunnybrae Vineyards & Winery for Redneck Red.
Summerland
Matt Dumayne and Kat D’Costa|Okanagan Crush Pad
The growing year began with a sense of anticipation and concern, as we all assessed the winter damage and hoped for the best. Thankfully, Summerland and Naramata remained relatively unscathed. However, just as we started to feel a bit complacent, cutworms and grasshoppers posed new challenges for us. Being organic certified, we employed creative coping mechanisms, utilizing a clay powder to create a protective layer on the vines, and enlisting the help of a robust gang of 500+ roosters and chickens.
The season was marked by an early and rather wet start, followed by a textbook summer and fall. The early onset of spring, combined with lower yields, accelerated the ripening of the grapes, allowing us to harvest before the typical October/November rains and snow. While the quantities were slightly reduced, as expected, the quality of the grapes exceeded our hopes.
Overall, 2023 will be an exceptional year for us, with Pinot Noir and Pinot Gris emerging as the standouts. Every wine from this vintage exhibits superb balance and acidity. We were thrilled to find clean, flavourful fruit with full lignification, a particularly exciting development for us, given our whole cluster pressing and fermenting approach. This outcome was made possible by a summer characterized by steady temperatures from spring through harvest.
Here is the link to purchase Okanagan Crush Pad wines (Haywire, Narrative, Free Form and Garnet Valley Ranch).
Oliver
Kimberley Pylatuk| Hester Creek
The concept of a winery is a glamourous one – breathtaking views, incredible experiences and of course, delicious wines to pair with elegant meals, good friends and important milestones – but at the end of the day, the people who make up the winery are farmers – farmers who are learning by the minute how to pivot with the shifting moods of Mother Nature.
Starting in December of 2022, we knew that the 2023 harvest season in the Okanagan would be one of note. Cold temperatures had all the vintners and winemakers in the valley questioning what their yields might add up to and Hester Creek was no exception. We knew that this growing season would be one of ups and downs and the only thing we could expect was the unexpected. This presented a new challenge to our winemakers Mark Hopley and
Brooke Jesus as they learned to weather the metaphorical storms of this unpredictable season.
“It was a real learning year for a lot of people having to react to the weather. You had to be fluid with the harvest.”
-Mark Hopley, Winemaker
From early on, our team took a glass-half-full approach and took control of what we could. In essence, we planned for quality over quantity with the hope that the conditions would cooperate – and with luck, they did. The growing season was hot and bright with the highest accumulation of Growing Degree Days (GDD) for the months of April through August since 2004 (Chang et al., 2023 Summerland RDC Wine Grape Research, Agriculture and Agrifood Canada). This resulted in high-quality fruit that would lead to great wine. The high GDD meant that Brix levels made the grapes ripe for picking as early as August 25th and lighter yields resulted in smaller berries packed with more intense flavours. The lighter yields also
meant that we finished harvest earlier than usual on October 5th and did our last press of reds on October 17th. Though short, the harvest season was everything we could have hoped for, warm, dry conditions with impeccable fruit.
Mark Hopley described the shorter harvest season as “very compacted,” with different varietals ripening at the same time – an unusual phenomenon in a typical growing season, but one that has been seen around the world in recent years. All these variables led to our team demonstrating incredible ingenuity in the production of our wines by giving more attention to detail and doing whole cluster pressing on 90% of our white wines and allowing for extended maceration periods on the red wines. And though our loyal guests may notice some of our well-known wines taking a hiatus in 2024, they will be sure to observe that we are adding new wines to the portfolio as well – stay tuned!
Here is the link to purchase Hester Creek Wine and more information on the latest releases – Hester Creek releases Joe’s Block and more 2022 whites