Miguel Torres at the Playhouse Wine Festival

Photo: Cabernet Sauvignon

There is a saying in the Spanish wine industry (and elsewhere in business, for that matter) that the first generation establishes the enterprise, the second builds and the third generation destroys it.

The odd thing is that I heard this at the Miguel Torres winery near Vilafranca in Spain. The saying certainly does not apply here. This is one of the most important and successful wineries in Spain, with the fifth generation now active in running it.

The head of the fourth generation, Miguel A. Torres (who will soon be 70, the company’s retirement age), is scheduled to preside at two events during the Vancouver Playhouse International Wine Festival on March 30 and 31. These are hot tickets. The dinner with him is sold out and the seminar the following evening soon will be sold out.

It is possible, but not guaranteed, that he will spend a bit of time at the Torres table in the festival’s tasting room, where Spain is the theme region. Even if he is not there, there will be excellent Torres wines available (see below).

Torres ancestors have been growing grapes in the Penedès region, not far from Barcelona, since the 17th Century. The winery was started in 1870 by Jaime Torres, an entrepreneur who made his initial fortune as an oil distributor in Cuba.

The winery flourished under the second generation, Don Miguel Torres (as he is always referred to), a hard-driving taskmaster who died in 1991. The winery had become such a major producer that, in the 1920s, it built a 600,000 litre wooden vat so immense that receptions could be held in it.

In 1939, near the end of the Spanish Civil War, the Torres winery, then in the city of Vilafranca, was severely damaged by bombs and the vat was destroyed. Don Miguel rebuilt the business a few kilometres south of the city. (The Torres distillery remains at the site in Vilafranca, near the train station). In the 1950s, the winery developed a thriving export following for good wines at reasonable prices.



Photo: Torres wine museum

Miguel A. Torres, having earned a degree in enology from Dijon in France, began working in the Torres cellars in 1969. He introduced many modern winemaking practices (stainless steel tanks, controlled temperature fermentation, to name two). He also influenced Torres to expand its plantings of such varieties as Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, Riesling and Sauvignon Blanc.

The world took notice of Torres wines in 1979 when the winery’s 1970 Gran Coronas Reserva Cabernet Sauvignon won the gold medal at the Gault Millau Wine Olympics competition. The Spanish wine beat wines from three of the best Bordeaux producers, Latour, Pichon-Lalande and Haut-Brion. That triumph is as big a legend in Spanish wine as the 1976 victory of California wines in another famous Paris taste-off.

That wine is now called Mas La Plana, named for the Cabernet Sauvignon vineyard surrounding Miguel Torres’s home near the winery. The wine is listed in British Columba for $46.99.



Photo: Torres Mas La Plana vineyard

The Torres family has a distinguished history of innovation in wine, investing in Chile in 1979, for example. The Chilean wine industry then was small and still operating with 19th century methods. Torres is believed to have been the first winery in Chile to begin fermenting and storing some wine in stainless steel, blazing a trail others soon followed.

Currently, the Torres wineries in Spain (there are several) have thrown themselves into sustainable winemaking. Torres has invested in solar panels and a wind farm to get some of its electricity. It has reduced energy consumption by building underground cellars and insulating tanks. It has converted its vehicle fleet either to hybrid vehicles or to electric. It has invested in research to reduce and capture the carbon dioxide it releases into the atmosphere. It recycles about 40% of its water.



Photo: New barrel cellars at Torres

Some of this is on display at the Torres visitor centre, a large and modern building that was opened just prior to the Barcelona Summer Olympics in 1992. The winery now draws about 100,000 visitors a year for tours, tastings and for the elegant wine museum.

It is a short taxi ride from Vilafranca which, in turn, is about an hour’s train ride from Barcelona. One could stay in Vilafranca; I did but I would admit that Vilafranca is rather tame in the evening compared with the energy of Barcelona.

Here are notes on some of the wines I tasted, with British Columbia liquor store pricing where available.

Torres Gran Viña Sol 2008: ($17.99 at Everything Wine). This is 85% Chardonnay, 15% Parellada; a wine with a fine aroma, flavours of citrus and a hint of oak, with a crisp, refreshing finish. 88.

Torres Viña Esmeralda 2009 ($14.49). This is 85% Muscat, 15% Gewürztraminer. It is an exotic white with rose petal and spice aromas and with fresh, juicy fruit flavours with a twist of tangerine and spice on the finish. 90. This will be at the wine festival.

Torres Nerola Xarel.lo 2008: This white wine is the first organic wine from Torres (the winemaker is one of Miguel’s daughters). The blend is 80% Xarel.lo and 20% white Grenache. The varietal character seems quite unique, with aromas of citrus and baked apples, flavours of baked apples, yet a lively, fresh finish. 88.

Torres Mas Borràs 2007: This is a Pinot Noir. The wine is full and fleshy, with toasty aromas and cherry flavours. It is appealing bold for the variety. 89-91.

Torres Gran Coronas 2006 Reserva ($19.49): This is 85% Cabernet Sauvignon, 15% Tempranillo. The wine has aromas of eucalyptus and red berries, with flavours of currants and with firm, ripe tannins. 88. This will be poured at the festival.

Torres Celeste 2007 ($24.99): This is a Temprenillo from the winery’s vineyards in Ribera Del Duero. It is a bold, dark-hued wine with juicy flavours of black currants and figs frame with toasty oak. 89-91. This will be poured at the festival.

Torres Salmos 2007 ($44.99 at Everything Wine): This is a marvelous red from the Priorat appellation (notable for its big reds). This is a blend of Grenache, Syrah and Mazuelo (another name for Carignan). It begins with aromas of black cherries, plums and currants. It shows flavours of figs, prunes and chocolate. It has a big-boned structure and 15% alcohol. This is a wine for cellaring if you can find it. It is not among the 10 Torres wines currently in the British Columbia liquor stores. 91-93. This will be poured for the trade at the wine festival and some will be available in the on-site liquor store.

Torres Moscatel Oro NV ($22.99 for 500 ml in Everything Wine): This is a fortified dessert wine with delicious butterscotch and brandy flavours; it is not at all overly sweet and also would be a fine apéritif. 88.



Photo: Old vineyard plough at Torres

Herder - big wines in big bottles

Since opening in 2004, Herder Winery & Vineyards has acquired a loyal following for its wines, perhaps even a cult following.

The appeal is that the wines, especially the reds, are big and full of flavour. That is why California-trained Lawrence Herder (who once had a winery in Paso Robles) set up in the sun-bathed Similkameen Valley. He can grow big wines there. When he needs to supplement his own vineyards, he purchases grapes from the south Okanagan, another source of ripe, flavour-packed grapes.

The latest three wines released by Herder reflect this style. So do the weighty bottles. The Syrah in particular is in a heavy bowling-pin shaped bottle with such a deep punt that it reminded me of the Bowser & Blue’s Ballad of the Colorectal Surgeon, one of the funniest songs I have heard. Check it out on You Tube.

These are serious wines, to be sure, but one does not need to be entirely earnest about them!

Herder Chardonnay 2009 ($19). Half of this wine was aged in stainless steel, half in French oak. The barrels had added a smoky note to the finish. It has aromas of citrus and pineapples, with flavours of tangerine, nectarine and guava. The texture is full. Even with all the fruit and texture, the wine’s 13.4% alcohol is a little warming on the finish. 3,600 bottles produced. 87.

Herder Merlot 2008 ($35). Dark in colour, this bold red starts with aromas of vanilla, red berries and spice. It has flavours of black currants and blackberries, with a rich, concentrated texture and firm ripe tannins. The finish is long and satisfying. 1,248 bottles produced. 91.

Herder Syrah 2008 ($35). This is as much a blood transfusion as a wine. It is a big juicy red with aromas of vanilla and red berries. On the palate, there are gamey flavours, ranging all the way from black cherry to rare steak with a touch of white pepper on the finish. The texture is rich and concentrated. 1,620 bottles produced. 90.

Clos du Soleil's new releases from the hand of Ann Sperling

Photo: Spencer Massie (l), Ann Sperling, Les Le Quelenc (r)

When a Clos du Soleil red won the icon wine tasting at the SIP VQA store in Richmond last fall, many of the tasters had never even heard of this small Similkameen winery.

That’s not surprising. The winery began selling its first vintage, 2007, in 2008 and the production volume was modest. Collectors, a handful of restaurants and friends of the owners quickly snapped up what wine was available.

However, production is growing gradually. The winery’s Similkameen vineyard now is close to full production. The winery also has plans to open its first tasting room ever at its property on Upper Bench Road, just outside Keremeos.

Clos du Soleil is also venturing into doing winemaker dinners, starting with one at the Salt Restaurant in Gastown on February 22.

So who is Clos du Soleil? It is a winery owned by four couples. Spencer Massie, a retired Canadian naval officer, and his wife, Bonnie (a physician), are the most visible of the four.

The other partners are Ottawa-based Gus Kramer, a former naval colleague of Spencer, and Lisa Underhill; Peter and Andria Lee, a Vancouver business couple; and Calgarian oil executives Leslie Le Quelenec and his partner, Sue Lee.

Spencer went to high school in Kelowna with Ann Sperling, now Clos du Soleil’s winemaker. However, he acquired his passion for wine during his 21 years in the navy (he retired in 2000). His shipmates relied on him to order wines for the mess and to host Port tastings.

After he and Bonnie moved to Vancouver in 2005, he began looking for vineyard property for the Clos du Soleil project. Two years later he found a 10-acre orchard. He hired Lawrence Herder, one of the owners of Herder Vineyards, to plant Bordeaux varieties and to make the first Clos wines.

When Lawrence scaled back his consulting to focus on the new Herder winery he was building next door, Spencer engaged his former classmate to make the wine.

Ann Sperling grew up on her family’s Kelowna vineyard and, after university, began her illustrious winemaking career at André's Wines and then CedarCreek before moving to Ontario. There, she has been involved with several leading producers and currently is the winemaker for Southbrook.

A few years ago, she also resumed her Okanagan career, launching Sperling Vineyards with her family and taking on consulting winemaking contracts with Camelot Vineyards and Clos du Soleil, beginning with the 2008 vintage.

Each winery has its own style, reflecting both vineyard terroir and the focus of the owners. At Clos du Soleil, the owners have cultivated palates for Bordeaux wines and that is mirrored in the style of the wines.




The winery’s inaugural releases were simply named White and Red. The second generation has gained sophistication on the labels. Capella replaces White: the name is taken from a star that can be seen from the vineyard during the Similkameen’s clear nights.

Clos du Soleil Capella 2008 ($26.90). This is a blend of 95% Sauvignon Blanc with five per cent Sémillon. The style reminds one of Graves, in keeping with the French palates of the owners. The wine begins with honeyed aromas of tropical fruits. On the palate, there are flavours of green apples and melons. 90.

Clos du Soleil Signature 2008 ($38.90). This disciplined red, reminiscent of a Bordeaux red, is built for cellaring. It is a blend of 52% Merlot, 26% Cabernet Sauvignon, 13% Cabernet Franc and 9% Malbec. It was aged 18 months in oak (80% French, 20% American, and only 11 barrels – about 275 cases – was made. The wine has aromas of red and black currants with a Bordelaise hint of cigar box. In the glass it opens to show a lovely core of sweet berry flavours. It has a backbone of firm, ripe tannins. 90

Black Widow and other stars of Taste BC

Photo: Black Widow's Shona and Dick Lancaster


For habitués of major wine tastings in British Columbia, the drought lasts from Cornucopia in Whistler early in November until Liberty Wine Merchants sponsors Taste B.C. in Vancouver in mid-January.

Those who attend both events have the chance to taste wines from 60 or 70 British Columbia wineries and, in the case of Cornucopia, from a good contingent of international producers.

The massive tasting at Cornucopia takes place over two evenings. Taste B.C., which formerly was known as the B.C. Wine and Oyster Festival, runs just one evening.

With either format, there is never enough time to taste all the wines. A wine taster’s life is hard, indeed.

It is made harder, in fact, when the supplied tasting glasses are hotel banquet glasses, which is the best that the Hyatt Regency Hotel can do for Taste B.C. Those are wine-destroying glasses. That would have been evident to anyone who borrowed stemware from Riedel table on the tasting room floor or from those clever enough to bring their own stemware.

The Vancouver Playhouse International Wine Festival replaced banquet glasses four or five years ago. The convention centre at Whistler has adequate tasting glasses. It is about time that the Hyatt raised its standards.

Even with a clunky glass in hand, it was possible to indentify stars among the wines I had time to taste at Taste B.C. Here are my notes.

Black Widow Hourglass 2008: ($35.90). Black Widow is a small Naramata Road winery opened several years ago by Dick and Shona Lancaster. He is a former long-time home winemaker with the touch of a professional. This wine, 92% Merlot, eight per cent Cabernet Sauvignon, is a deep, rich red with flavours of blackberry, black currants and figs; and the structure to age well and develop further complexity. 90.

Fairview Cellars Cabernet Franc 2009 ($N.A.). Bill Eggert, the owner and winemaker at Fairview Cellars, makes some of the Okanagan’s best Cabernet Franc. This has not yet been released. It shows the classic lively, brambly flavours and vivacious personality of the variety. 90.

Fairview Cellars Two Hoots 2008 ($N.A.). The iconoclastic name of this red blend is the creation of a winemaker so confident in what he does that he does not give two hoots what anyone else thinks. As if! Well, this is a delicious wine with flavours of plum, black currants and boysenberries. 90.

Kettle Valley Barber Cabernet Sauvignon 2007 ($35). Firm and concentrated, this dark wine has a hint of mint and lots of red fruit on the nose. On the palate, there are flavours of blackberries, currants and figs. The finish is long. 91.

Lake Breeze Vineyards Seven Poplars Sauvignon Blanc 2009 ($22). All 400 cases of this splendid wine are sold out but you might find some in restaurants. This is an intense wine, with aromas and flavours of lime and grapefruit and a finish that won’t quit. 91.

Mt. Boucherie Gamay Noir 2009 ($14.99). This is a delicious wine and good value, soft in texture with flavours of blackberry, plum and black currant and with a long, fruity finish. 89.

Pentâge 2006 ($28). This is the flagship red blend from Penticton’s Pentâge Winery. It is a blend of 46% Merlot, 35% Cabernet Sauvignon, 15% Cabernet Franc, 2.5% Syrah and 1.5% Gamay. Approachable now, this red is also built for cellaring, with a backbone of firm, ripe tannins. It has aromas of black currants and flavours of blackberry and cherry supported by oak and by earthy undertones. 90.

Road 13 Stemwinder 2009 ($21.99). This is a complex white blend with herbal and fruity aromas and with a core of tropical fruit flavours. The finish lingers and lingers. 91.

Road 13 Rockpile 2008 ($24.99). A blended red, this wine is full and rich, with flavours of plum, olive, tobacco and chocolate and, again, a long finish. 91.

Seven Stones Pinot Noir 2008 ($27.99). This is a lovely wine, with aromas and flavours of strawberry and with a silky texture. It suffered from being in the banquet glass which does such a poor job at delivering the aroma. 90.

The View Red Shoe Red 2009 ($14.50). Here is a great value, easy-drinking red from The View Winery in Kelowna. It is a blend based on Pinotage. The wine is generous in texture, with spicy plum and blueberry flavours. 89.

Young & Wyse 2009 Black Label 33-30-24-13 ($26.90). Don’t be deterred by a label which reminds one of motor oil. That’s the blend: 33% Merlot, 30% Syrah, 24% Cabernet Sauvignon and 13% Cabernet Franc. It is a delicious blend, beginning with aromas of mint, pepper and red berries and delivering a rich palate of fruit flavours with a long finish. 92.

There were many other interesting wines in the testing that I have reviewed in my blog over the past year.

One advantage of Cornucopia over Taste BC (aside from the stemware) is the presence of wineries from other countries, allowing consumers to compare B.C. wines with international wines.

I recall tasting a very good 2009 Pinot Gris from Duck Pond, a winery in Oregon. Then I went around the room to taste British Columbia Pinot Gris to recommend to the owner of Duck Pond. I recommended that he should try those from See Ya Later Ranch and Ex Nihilo, for starters.

There is no doubt that British Columbia wines stack up very well, and often better, than the competition.

Stag's Hollow releases icon wines for 15th anniversary

Photo: Larry Gerelus (left) and winemaker Dwight Sick

Stag’s Hollow Winery at Okanagan Falls is marking its 15th anniversary by releasing two icon wines, an elegant pair of red blends from winemaker Dwight Sick.

The wines also show the significant impact that Dwight has been making on Stag’s Hollow since joining the winery in 2008.

The winery was opened in 1996 by Larry Gerelus and Linda Pruegger on a vineyard they purchased in 1992. They were undertaking a major career switch from the corporate fast lane in Calgary. Trained as an actuary, Larry was an independent financial consultant while Linda worked in the marketing department of an oil company.

“We started with a lot of passion, naïve passion,” Larry said this week at the launch of Cachet Limited Edition No. 01 and Cachet Limited Edition No. 02, as the wines are called.

The estate vineyard, now eight acres, was then planted entirely to Chasselas and Vidal and was under contract to Mission Hill until 1994. Larry redeveloped the vineyard, grafting Chasselas and most of the Vidal to Chardonnay, Merlot, Pinot Noir and, inadvertently, a little Cabernet Sauvignon. He got Merlot cuttings from the Summerland research station, which mislabelled some Cabernet Sauvignon as Merlot.

When the winery’s Vidal table wine acquired a strong following, some of the grafts were reversed so that more Vidal could be made.

By grafting rather than replanting, Larry had the vineyard back into full production in a couple of years.

Larry recalls getting “bored” with his portfolio. He wanted to add another white but not Pinot Gris, which virtually everyone else in the Okanagan was doing. In 2002, he had the good luck to find a grower with Sauvignon Blanc, now one of the flagship white wines at Stag’s Hollow.

In 2005, when a new winery was built, an unused gulley in the vineyard was re-contoured for vines. Larry decided to plant Tempranillo because it was something different (there was only one other planting in the Okanagan at the time) and because it ripens early. Without intending it, he had planted a building block for one of the Cachet wines.

Over the years, a number of consulting winemakers have worked in the Stag’s Hollow cellar, including Bruce Ewart (now with his own winery in Nova Scotia), Jeff Martin (owner of La Frenz Winery), Michael Bartier (now starting his own winery), Brad Cooper (now at Township 7), Dave Frederick (recently at Mt. Boucherie and now in Ontario) and, since June, 2008, Dwight Sick.

Dwight arrived just after Larry and Linda had tried to sell the winery, a deal that died after the buyer’s financing fell apart. They regrouped, swept up, perhaps, by Dwight’s enthusiasm for Rhone grape varieties. Additional vineyards have been placed under contract so that volume could be increased to about 6,000 cases a year. And Dwight has been given the freedom to craft artisanal wines.

Winemaking is also a second career for Dwight. Now 45, Dwight was born in Alberta. After high school he became a flight attendant with Wardair, one of the carriers ultimately swallowed up by Air Canada. In 2005, after 19 years in aviation, he was among those offered a package to retire.

He decided to become a winemaker, having developed an interest in wine and wineries during his flying career. He started as a cellar hand with Michael Bartier, then at Township 7, and soon became assistant winemaker at Pentâge Winery where he worked until moving to Stag’s Hollow.

A natural talent, his professional skills are an eclectic mix of university science courses, University of California winemaking courses and training at Okanagan College. “I have only had time to take courses that I have felt were useful to my role as a winemaker but I would love to continue to take more in the future,” he says.

The Cachet program began in Dwight’s inaugural 2008 vintage at Stag’s Hollow, when the winery got its first harvest of Tempranillo. He put together a blend of 40% Tempranillo, 35% Merlot, 20% Syrah and five per cent Cabernet Sauvignon. The winery ordered American oak barrels from a Spanish cooper because in Spain, Tempranillo wines generally are aged in American oak.

Only 1,500 bottles of 2008 Cachet No. 01 have been released (each bottle individually number). It is a big, full-bodied red with flavours of pomegranate, red and black currants and spice. The ripe tannins give the wine an age-worthy structure. 92.

Dwight, who considers Grenache “one of the most underrated grapes in the world,” persuaded the winery in 2009 to buy the Grenache grown at the Kiln House Vineyard at Penticton. That may be one of the most northerly Grenache plantings in the world of this late-ripening Rhone variety.

Dwight co-fermented this Grenache (there is only a small planting) with Syrah, Viognier and Marsanne to produce 450 bottles of 2009 Cachet No. 02. The blend is half Grenache, 46% Syrah, plus tiny portions of the two whites. This bold, juicy wine has flavours of plum, fig and liquorice, with a hint of spice and pepper and with a long, satisfying finish. 93.

Future releases under the Cachet Limited Edition program, all of which will bear consecutive numbering, will be, as Larry says, “dictated by what nature gives us.”

Current releases from St. Hubertus Estate Winery

The recent report on the British Columbia wine industry by Simon Fraser University professor Andy Hira commented on the vulnerability of some wineries due to astronomical prices for vineyard land.



While that is so for newer wineries, it does not apply to the long-established producers such St. Hubertus & Oak Bay Estate Winery of Kelowna. Leo and Andy Gebert opened this winery in 1991, based on vineyard they had acquired in the mid-1980s. The wine industry at the time was anything but overheated. By today's standards, land was cheap.



Very few producers have a real estate cost base as favourable as St. Hubertus. It shows in the prices of their wines, very few of which sell for more than $20 a bottle. And it is obvious that the two Swiss-born brothers and their families are making a living. They are even able to afford some vineyard toys: Andy uses a remote-controlled helicopter with a camera for quick surveys of the vineyard.



There is a lot of history attached to the St. Hubertus property, including some that is tragic. The vineyard dates from about 1928, as one of five planted by J.W. Hughes, a pioneering grape grower. It was taken over by Frank Schmidt, one of his foremen, who grew grapes for Beau Sejour (one of the many names under which Victoria-based Growers Wines operated.



At one point in the 1960s, Growers had him plant a table grape called Himrod. It made such good wine compared with the labrusca varieties then in use that Schmidt was forbidden to give plants to anyone else. The company promised the wine would make him famous. Perhaps infamous would have been more like it. They released the wine as Canadian Liebfraumilch. When the German wine industry threatened to litigate (rightly so), the name was changed to Rhine Castle. And Schmidt was allowed to sell plants (six for $5) all across western Canada to home gardeners.



In subsequent years, even better grape varieties replaced the Himrod. By 2003, there was just one Himrod vine on the property, a massive vine behind Leo's house. It was trained to stretch for many yards and was heavy with tasty clusters of grapes every summer. Winery visitors even were allowed to pick a few bunches.



In early September of 2003 the Okanagan Park wildfire swept through the vineyard, following a dry creek. It destroyed Leo's house, along with the Himrod vine. It also burned down the winery.



Fortunately, the brothers are very organized. Except for a few barrels, all the wines from the previous vintage had been bottled before the fire and moved to a nearby warehouse, which did not burn. A new tasting room opened in the warehouse within 10 days. Good insurance coverage enabled the brothers to build a new winery and a new home for Leo and his family.



Their peers in the wine industry helped the brothers get grapes to make their 2003 wines. The grapes on their own vines were totally unusable due to smoke taint on the skins. In fact, the grapes were so unappealing, Andy said later, that even the birds refused to eat them.



After that season, St. Hubertus tweaked the varieties in its vineyard. Other than that, the business has moved ahead with few hitches other than winemaker turnover. Even that seems not to have upset the consistency of the winery's style.



Here are notes of some of the current wines available online and in private wine stores.



St. Hubertus Chasselas 2009 ($15.99). Since this grape is the primary white grown in Swiss vineyards, it seems at home here as well. The St. Hubertus style is soft and quaffable, beginning floral and herbal aromas and delivering flavours of honeydew and peach. Because the acidity is soft, the finish seems off-dry. The only other winery with this variety is Quails' Gate; that winery blends Pinot Blanc and Pinot Gris with the Chasselas as a way of achieving a more complex white with a crisper finish. But let's not quibble: St. Hubertus has made a crowd pleaser. 86.



St. Hubertus Pinot Blanc 2009 ($13.99). This is a textbook example of unoaked Pinot Blanc - a refreshing and crisp white with flavours of pears and apples. What you would have tasted on the vine has been delivered in the bottle. 88.



St. Hubertus Dry Riesling 2009 ($14.99). The vineyard has the good fortune that at least some of its Riesling vines date from 1978. That would account for the backbone of minerals here, along with a slight whiff of petrol, a sign of a serious Riesling. There are herbal aromas and flavours of citrus. It is a nicely balanced wine with a moderate 12.2% alcohol. 89.



Oak Bay Pinot Noir 2007 ($14.99). Oak Bay generally refers to oak-aged wines from St. Hubertus. This is a medium-bodied wine with spice and berries on the nose, with bright cherry flavours and with pepper on the finish. 87.



Oak Bay Marechal Foch 2009 ($18.99). This variety has always produced one of the biggest reds from St. Hubertus. This is a dark wine with the typical gamey flavours of the variety, along with black cherries and with a satisfying hit of chocolate on the finish. 88.

A wake-up call for BC wineries from SFU

Somewhere in the Okanagan wine industry, there are vintners who told researchers from Simon Fraser University that “there was nothing new in winemaking, so [there is] no need for innovation knowledge.”

That mule-headed sentiment is both astonishing and disturbing.

And that is not the only disturbing finding in a paper on the B.C. wine industry by SFU political scientists Andy Hira and Alexis Bwenge.

The paper, 62 pages plus references, was released this week on Prof. Hira’s web site: www.sfu.ca/~ahira.The title: The Wine Industry in British Columbia: A Closed Wine But Ready for Harvest.

The report raised issues about the long-term competitiveness of the B.C. wine industry. “Though the B.C. industry has had remarkable success, we focus on issues on the horizon that threaten the possibilities for growth and stability in the industry,” the authors write.

They note what they call “the makings of a quiet gold rush” on the Okanagan (the study focuses primarily on the Okanagan). I would think that understates the continuing expansion of an industry in which the number of producers has grown by five times in a decade. There are now more than 200 wineries in British Columbia when one includes fruit wineries and honey wineries. At least eight more will be opening this spring.

“The question becomes, then, at what point will growth decelerate or reach a plateau,” the authors say.

Then they lay out where the industry is vulnerable and why; and it goes well beyond winemakers with no curiosity.

* First, there is the vulnerability that new wineries are exposed to because “the cost of land [in the Okanagan] has risen astronomically.”

Most wineries, especially those that have opened since 2005, are small, often owning less than 20 acres and producing only a few thousand cases. These producers do not have much opportunity to reduce their costs if there is a crunch from, say, a rise in interest rates.

* Most wineries sell almost all of their wine in British Columbia. “Therefore, lack of diverse markets is clearly a huge vulnerability for BC wines that led a number of interviewees to express their concern about the future of the industry,” the authors write. A number said that “the saturation point is coming close.”

In fact, I have seen evidence that it is here. Recently, I discussed the 2010 vintage with one producer. His winery harvested less than half the tonnage that it had in the two previous vintages. Many other wineries also had smaller harvests in 2010. Yet the producer I spoke to said it was not altogether a bad thing since the industry now will be able to sell the growing surplus of wine from the 2008 and 2009 vintages.

* A lot of wineries count on wine tourists to buy a substantial volume of their wines. That is one reason, Prof. Hira says, that there is not as much urgency as one would expect about developing markets beyond British Columbia.

“Reliance on just one revenue stream in a market where many suppliers are entering is, needless to say, another potential vulnerability,” he points out.

* Most wineries benefit from government preferences that make it easier and more profitable to sell in the domestic market than is the case for international competitors. For example, wine that bears the VQA seal and is sold directly to consumers escapes the heavy markups that the Liquor Distribution Branch imposes on imports. “ … Even BC wine that is sold in government stores receives a portion of the markup back as a rebate through the VQA Support Program or Quality Enhancement Program,” Prof. Hira notes.

Obviously, any change in that environment would send shock waves through the industry. “Industry participants seem to take the status quo for granted however,” Prof. Hira writes.

* Developing markets beyond British Columbia is not easy. Direct shipping to consumers and restaurateurs, an obvious outlet, is prohibited under a 1928 federal law effectively enforced by provincial liquor boards.

Secondly, export initiatives run up against the fact that “Canadian wines lack any clear reputation or branding …” the professor writes. “Interviews with a couple of winemakers who are producing wines for export markets revealed a complete lack of policy support for such efforts, especially stark if one compares to the high level of export promotional efforts of other winemaking clusters …. Considerably stronger federal, provincial and industry initiatives are needed in this area.”

* The British Columbia wine industry’s organization is fractured at best. One winemaker told Prof. Hira that he chats with his colleagues when and if he sees them in the local pub. “Several indicated that only once in a blue moon did they even interact with neighbours, such as to borrow equipment.” This reflects remarkable insularity.

There are numerous industry associations, none of which represent the entire industry. Local clusters of wineries recently have formed their own marketing groups. The notable success is the Naramata Bench Wineries Association. It remains to be seen whether the other nascent groups will develop a similar profile. Prof. Hira does not think so.

“… None of these associations have anywhere near the critical mass to develop the collective institutions and policies needed to address the vulnerabilities of the industry.”

One might expect this to be the role of the British Columbia Wine Institute. Unfortunately, the BCWI has insufficient funding. As well, a significant number of wineries are not BCWI members.

* Prof. Hira reports that “training opportunities for BC wine personnel are quite limited. A surprising number of wine personnel, including winemakers, come from another background and have had limited formal training… there is no university-led training institute.” In the winery sample SFU worked with, only about 30% of the winery personnel had formal training.

* He also warns about the lack of co-ordination between the Summerland research station (known as PARC) and the Wine Research Institute at the University of British Columbia. “PARC is spread far too thin, covering a wide variety of crops with just a handful of experts. In addition, PARC’s policy of controlling 100% of all intellectual property disseminating from its research efforts, even if collaborative, effectively prohibits research with UBC.”

That said, there seems not to be energetic demand from the wineries for “local” research. “The lack of recognition of the potential value of research was revealed early on in [this] project, with the lack of response, or even hostility, to responding to interview requests, including the support institutions,” Prof. Hira complained.

The professor argues that without a “cluster policy” – which is another way of saying without a lot more cooperation among all of the stakeholders – “the vulnerabilities noted above could lead to major problems in the industry.”

His conclusion is pessimistic. “In general, the policy literature tells us that major policy change does not occur unless there is a crisis.”