After the summer-like temperatures throughout September, the erratic October weather had some concerned how frost and rain may have affected the BC grape harvest; fortunately, neither has greatly affected vineyards in the Okanagan or the Similkameen.

Tom DiBello, Winemaker at CedarCreek Estate Winery is extremely pleased with the flavours of this years crop, “The fruit that is coming in right now [malbec, cabernet sauvignon, cabernet franc] is some of the most outstanding I have tasted. Our fruit was ripe when the frost came, which meant that it was simply stopped from over-ripening which is a good thing. The grapes did not freeze; the frost merely toasted the vine leaves.” When the weather warmed after the cold-snap, the Okanagan received more precipitation than normal, which would potentially create ideal conditions for rot, however DiBello’s fruit show no harmful rot, simply a touch of Botrytis on his recently harvested Riesling and Ehrenfelser which he considers to be a good thing as it concentrates the flavours and sweetness of the grapes

Glenn Fawcett, President of Black Hills Estate Winery reiterates that sentiment, “fortunately with the warm summer that continued through September our Bordeaux reds were all fully ripe with sugar and acid levels to where we wanted them prior to the frost. We were concerned when the rain followed only days after, but thankfully the grapes were protected by the canopy and we did not see much moisture on the clusters. The fruit flavours are wonderful and we are extremely happy. Had we not had the wonderful summer that we had, it could have been a very different story.”

According to Spencer Massie of Clos du Soleil Winery, the Similkameen Valley did reach a recorded low temperature of -9 degrees, but was spared from the rain that doused the Okanagan. “Our vineyards were not affected by the frost as our fruit was ripe and did not freeze, and thankfully we did not see the rain that the Okanagan did. We were able to harvest our Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc last week and we are overall happy with all our fruit, the quality is great.”