The thick smoke from recent wildfires is blanketing the Okanagan Valley’s vineyards, but wine producers say they are still optimistic about this year’s wines.
“At this point, we’re not all that concerned,” said Christa-Lee McWatters Bond, president of the Bottleneck Drive Winery Association.
“We can’t tell until fermentation occurs.”
Bottleneck Drive has 23 members. Most are wineries, but there are also three cideries and one brewery in the association.
McWatters Bond said winemakers do not speculate on the quality of the wine until after the fruit has been harvested and processed.
This year, the fruit size is slightly smaller than last year, but the quality of the grapes is good.
The yield is also down slightly from last year’s bumper crop.
While the quality of this year’s wine is not yet known, McWatters Bond said the summer fire season, along with the earlier spring flooding, have taken a toll on the industry.
Because of the unusual conditions, some who would have come to the region for wine tourism have changed their plans.
The Thompson Okanagan Tourism Association has focussed some of this year’s promotions on telling people the region is open for business, despite the weather conditions.
So far this year, 1,213 wildfires have burned in British Columbia, destroying a total of 1,164,687 hectares.
The majority of this year’s damage has occurred in the Cariboo region.
In the Kamloops Fire Centre coverage area, which includes the Okanagan Valley, 234 fires have destroyed 204,366 hectares.