It’s been a good year so far for BC wine producers.
The BC Wine Institute says winery visits are strong, the market share of BC wines is up and the weather is cooperating.
“The traffic and visitations to wineries has been off the charts,” Miles Prodan, president of the BC Wine Institute, said.
“We knew it was going to be a strong year given the strong US dollar and people wanting to stay closer to home. We are clearly seeing that in visitations to wineries.”
Prodan said on top of the favorable exchange rate for US visitors, the cooler temperatures may be driving some would be beachgoers to wineries instead.
“We saw yearend, at the end of March, an all time high at 17 per cent, but since the summer has come around we are seeing that up into the 20 per cent range. One of every five bottles sold here in the province is a BC VQA,” Prodan said.
Prodan is also optimistic about this year’s crop.
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