Val Tait @ Bench 1775 Winery, Naramata

Climate change

What we’ve been seeing are extremes or record-breaking temperatures, precipitation, and events that are random and come at any time. We may be experiencing a really hot year, and then get an inopportune and super early frost. In recent years, I’ve been picking reds at the same time as Icewines. We scrambled to get the red fruit in and later were picking Icewine because we had the right conditions at minus eight degrees … in November! It was a disaster. That creates a big problem because your vines start getting diseases or dying off. And there are the logistical problems of all your fruit coming in at once. We have to scramble to find extra tanks and the place to put them. Worse than that, we’ve had a very wet spring, which we’re not used to. When you can’t predict what random event is going to happen, you can’t really plan for it. So I think crop insurance is going to be a big thing in the future.

What keeps you awake

Selling wine! Selling wine is a big thing. There are so many individual products accessible to a wine lover. We have wines from all over the world. When you go to countries with wine regions, you’re lucky if you can find wines from other parts of the country. Here, we have so many producers that we’re vying against and at all price points. It creates a downward pressure on our price points. And other beverages exist too — people can have beer or distilled spirits. They can have marijuana. It’s a very competitive marketplace.

Steve Latchford @ Therapy Vinewards, Naramata

Climate change

The effects have been spotty. This has been an odd year. Typically, we get two or three days when we can pick Icewine. This year, there were about 30 of them. Long term, water will become a massive issue in the Okanagan, the same way it is in California. Last year we didn’t need to turn our irrigation on — we got that much rain. Mildew was an issue. We have some concerns, but we just have to monitor it.

What keeps you awake

Being able to keep up with the demand of sales. We sell the wine faster than we can make it. We could lose shelf space in stores and listings at the few restaurants we’re already in if we can’t supply bottles. We’ve doubled our white production and increased reds by one-third, and it’s still not enough. I don’t have enough wine.

Rob Thielicke @ Lang Vineyards, Naramata

Climate change

Every year is a different year, so we react to the year. It’s not global warming, it’s climate change. Last year, we were three weeks ahead; this year, we’re three weeks behind. You can’t predict, you can only react.

What keeps you awake

Just getting it right. You get one shot every year. Finding the balance, getting the consistency, doing it right.

Jacq Kemp @ Moraine Estate Winery, Naramata

Climate change

That’s where that “sustainable” word comes in, and why it’s so important to be focused in a holistic way. Water is definitely an issue. What we’ve seen is that rain is not coming through properly in spring, but being pushed back two months later. That means we’ll have to turn on our irrigation and now we’re consuming water. We need to be focused on our water use in the vineyard, but also, hugely so, in the winery. There’s just no way that wine can be a product in the future unless we can get its use way, way down. It’s the biggest concern for the wine industry. For the whole world, really.

What keeps you awake

The end of the season. We have only a tiny, tiny winery at the moment, so there’s only so much we can process in one day. The change of the seasons has us starting earlier and finishing earlier. Instead of thinking as if this was going to be a normal year, you’re always wondering what’s going to happen this year. You have to spend a lot more time in the vineyard than you used to and make sure you’re tweaking every vine every 10 days and considering the next course of action. Do we keep the leaves on? Do we take them off? Do they need water? Every single day is different so keeping an eye on those weather cycles, that’s what keeps me awake at night.

Ted Kane @ River Stone Estate Winery, Oliver

Climate change

I’ve always had early seasons since I got here — our winters are super mild, at least milder than what the old timers tell me they used to get. We get more of those torrential rainfalls now, but for the most part, we haven’t seen much change.

What keeps you awake

Labour. Finding good labour and keeping it. Keeping up with Mother Nature — ’cause Mother Nature runs the show, eh? — so you have to get those jobs done in a timely fashion. My labour force is still a transient bunch — soon as the cherries come on, they go off and follow the cherry crop till that ends. That’s the farming game for you.

Kerri and Chris Wyse @ Burrowing Owl Vineyards, Oliver

Climate change

Often people equate climate change to an increase in temperatures. That isn’t what we’re seeing. What we’re getting are storms, and a real inconsistency in the weather. Our hottest season was 1998 — almost 20 years ago. A few seasons since have come close but none has matched it. Our preparations to adapt to climate change centre around access to water. We already see smaller snow packs, which reduces pour flow of runoff. So, we’ve converted all our vineyards from overhead irrigation to drip. We spend a lot of time trying to build up the organic component of our soil for better water retention to reduce our need to replace it. We’re studying cover crops and how to manipulate them to reduce evaporation of water already in the soil. And we’re trying to reduce our carbon footprint.

What keeps you awake

As the demographic ages, farm labour is becoming problematic for us. It’s getting harder to find farm workers. That’s the big one. We try to hire locally as much as possible.

Jeff Martin @ La Frenz Winery, Naramata

Climate change

Seeing Obama get China to come to the table and agree to stop using carbon, I think that was a great thing. Then you have a wild card like Trump come out of the woodwork and he doesn’t believe in global warming; that’s always a worry. Hopefully he’s hamstrung and unable to do anything. Yes, I have seen global warming. Last year, when we had a season with El Niño water currents, we had the earliest season I’ve ever seen. You learn to adjust what you’re doing in the vineyard depending on if it’s a cool or a hot year. We’ve seen a few degrees of warming, but from our perspective, we can adjust for that because we’re already in a cooler area.

What keeps you awake

Getting sick and not living a century. Really? Look at me. I’m playing my own game and having a ton of fun. I live in a place that’s unbelievably beautiful. I have a successful business. I work with a great crew of people. Why would I worry?

Kathy Malone @ Hillside Estate Winery, Naramata

Climate change

Definitely, it’s getting hotter. New plantings are moving farther north. We’ve had recurring fires since 2003 and will continue to get more. I’m currently working on a “smoke taint” research project for the BC Wine Grape Council because the time between now and the next fire is finite. It’s going to keep happening every time we have a hot summer and we need to know how to deal with it.

What keeps you awake

Sales. If we don’t sell, then we won’t empty the warehouse, and if I can’t empty the tanks, then we won’t be able to keep making wine. I think about how to make people aware of how special British Columbia wines really are.

Rob Summers @ Hester Creek Estate Winery, Osoyoos

Climate change

I’m not an expert on that, but in the short period of time I’ve been here, we’ve never had this much rain — ever. People used to tell me that it would hardly ever snow here, but in the last four years we’ve had a lot of snow down here in the south Okanagan. I won’t say I don’t believe in climate change, but I don’t know how to answer. For us, we always deal with Mother Nature and mitigate it in the vineyard all the time.

What keeps you awake

Nothing. There’s nothing I worry about. We’re reactive. I continue to work with our fruit here and learn from it. What’s there to worry about?

Garron Elmes @ Lake Breeze Winery, Naramata

Climate change

I expect in 50 to 100 years, they won’t be making wine in the southern hemisphere because it will be too hot. There’s no question it’s gotten hotter and drier here, too. The last four to five years have been progressively the earliest we’ve started picking the fruit.

What keeps you awake

We put our toes in the water of the super-premium end of the wine market last year with the introduction of the MacIntyre Heritage Reserve line. The Lake Breeze brand is doing well. We sell pretty well everything we make each year. We don’t have to put much effort into it since we have a good name and a good reputation. But the economy hasn’t quite rebounded, so getting our two super-premium wines out to the people we know will want to drink them is our biggest challenge right now.