In B.C.'s south Okanagan region, some wine grape growers are struggling to find buyers for their fruit, during a year many were hoping to make a solid profit after devastating crop loss in recent years.
After two years of severe winter damage, vineyards across the region produced strong yields this season.
But some farmers say a provincial program that allows wineries to import grapes from the United States is crowding the market and leaving them with grapes they can’t sell.
Despite strong quality and sugar levels, Gill said his Merlot and Cabernet Franc grapes should have been picked two weeks ago. He’s concerned about making his loan repayments.
That was two years ago and apparently the most recent season produced a good crop that grape farmers are having trouble selling thanks to the program which seemingly isn’t needed at all anymore and should have been ended. Particularly in the context of our more recent political situation with the US. This is also pretty tangential to the point I was making with my previous comment.
It’s really not that simple. Grapes are not all the same and are not just interchangeable. Some vineyards that were not wiped out having a good crop this year is great, but it does not mean everyone is recovered or that the grapes they grew are workable for all wineries. It’s a more complex, fragile and unpredictable industry than you are recognizing.
It’s also not really tangential. If the federal government stepped in and blocked the program, it wouldn’t have just protected Canadian businesses. It would have been blocking a valuable emergency program to save Canadian businesses. You don’t win a trade war by kicking the legs out from under one of your own industries when they’re on the rocks.
But according to the article the emergency program is kicking the legs out from another local industry that has been devastated by crop loss in recent years. Surely Canadian vintners could find uses for the merlot and cabernet franc grapes mentioned by name in the original piece.
It’s really not nearly as straightforward as that. The wine industry in BC is made up of many smaller wine producers, all dealing with a lot of uncertainty over the last couple of years. They make different styles with different grape varietals and all have to plan ahead and do their best while dealing with both market change and climate change, not even being sure which varietals will be viable in the province as the climate changes. Also, farming fruit is just subject to a lot of unpredictability. Can you predict the weather? Nobody knew winter 2024 would be so cold and kill so many vines. Nobody knew summer 2025 would be a great growing season. People running businesses still had to plan ahead and sign contracts, and wineries can’t just elastically expand production without expanding plants through large and long-term capital investments. Most couldn’t even afford to do that anyway. Also, for places that lost their vines entirely, they can’t just have new vines producing grapes the next year. Plants take time to grow. Many vineyards also resorted to trying things to save their vineyards that were totally experimental and nobody knew for sure how they would work out. It’s just a lot more complex than you’re recognizing, and if the winter is brutal again in 2026 or there is a terrible summer growing season that follows, the program might need to be preserved. It needs better administration to avoid problems like the current one, but it’s a result of nature’s chaos and uncertainty combined with less-than-perfect administration of a pretty good emergency response.