Canada: B.C. wineries plan survival strategies following deep freeze

Business owners in B.C.’s wine sector are plowing new ground in an effort to survive the consequences of a severe cold snap in mid-January that devastated Okanagan Valley grape buds and vines. Some expect the Okanagan’s 2024 grape harvest to be a near total write-off, while other winery principals in the Fraser Valley and on Vancouver Island told BIV that they should be able to grow grapes as usual. Even Fraser Valley wineries could suffer a hit, however, as some buy Okanagan grapes to make their wines. “I buy about 500 tonnes of grapes from the Okanagan each year,” Brian Ensor, general manager at south Langley’s Chaberton Estate Winery, told BIV. “This deep freeze is affecting everybody.” Ensor said he grows about 200 tonnes of grapes at his 50-acre vineyard, which his website touts as being the Fraser Valley’s oldest. That production should be enough for Ensor to make about 130,000 litres of wine – far more than the 4,500 litres that he is required to make each year from his own ...