With a theme of resilience and renewal, winemakers from across B.C. met in the Okanagan on Wednesday to discuss the future.
“It’s just a time to take a temperature of what’s going on,” Wine Growers BC president and CEO Miles Prodan said of the sixth annual gathering.
“And it’s exceptionally important this year, given the conditions that we’re coming through after the last two freezes.”
The one-day meeting in Penticton, dubbed the Insight Conference, was hosted by the B.C. wine industry.
Farmers have been calling on the province for financial help in the wake of this year’s devasting crop loss.
Some of that call for help was answered, with Premier David Eby announcing a $70-million replant program.
The new funding builds on the $15-million perennial crop renewal program that launched last spring.
“The province of British Columbia is going to help B.C. vineyards and fruit growers replant with more support than ever,” Agriculture and Food Minister Pam Alexis said.
However, replanting wasn’t the only item brought up on Wednesday. So was tourism.
“The wine industry is a crucial part of the way that people travel in the province and why people travel to B.C., and then where they go in the province,” Maya Lange of Destination BC said.
“Kelowna is the fastest-growing city in Canada right now. A large part of that is a way of life,” Wine Growers Canada president Dan Paszkowski said.
“People are moving here because they want to be around the vineyards or they want to be around the wineries.
“The value-added contribution of the wine industry to Kelowna, to Penticton, to the entire Okanagan Valley evolves around the wine and grape industry to a very large extent. And it hasn’t even come close to its full potential.”
Paszkowski says California’s Napa Valley was a small community three decades ago, but is now a burgeoning area. And the Okanagan could follow the same path.
“A bottle of wine, a litre of wine produced in British Columbia contributes around $105 to the regional and national economy,” he said.
“You compare that to an imported bottle of wine that provides somewhere around $15 a litre. That’s a significant difference.
“So if we can grow back the industry, that’s going to contribute to the British Columbia economy and contribute to the well-being of all British Columbians and all Canadians.”
Also Wednesday, Boundary-Similkameen MLA Roly Russell said the province is working on policy changes to enhance visitor experiences at wineries and other liquor manufacturing sites.
“That includes being able to support better guided tour experiences where people can sit and enjoy a glass of wine while on tour,” Russell said.
“It allows sales in more places on site, including while you’re on tours. It includes allowing more flexibility around sampling so manufacturers can customize sampling experiences.
“It allows manufacturers to sell products and picnic areas and host people more effectively. All of this will make it clear that it’s OK to bring a glass of wine from one area to another.”
Industry leaders say the help is welcomed news, but there’s still a long road to recovery ahead.
“We’re actively working on the government side of things on all of these different pieces, simultaneously, to try to help support the sector in the region,” Russell said, adding that officials have taken part in “dozens and dozens of conversations.”
“I want to make sure that you understand that we, as government, really understand the opportunity, the vision, and we are working as hard as we can to figure out how to make sure we can deliver those.”
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