British Columbia Wines: Well Advanced Annual Grape Harvest in Okanagan | The Canadian News

The annual harvest is well advanced in the Okanagan.

It’s a labor of love filled with morning starts and long hours, but wine lovers will soon be able to taste the fruits of that labor as those grapes go from the vine to the bottle.

“We’re two-thirds of the way down, so it’s been a pretty short vintage this year so far,” said Summerhill Pyramid Winery winemaker Michael Alexander.

“Hopefully, in the next three weeks there will be all the fruit and we can get some sleep back.”

As this year’s harvest draws to a close, wineries are still reaping the rewards of last year’s harvest, and Summerhill Pyramid Winery is renowned for its muscat.

“We sent our muscat to the Moscats du Monde and won a gold (medal),” Alexander said, noting that he was also among the top 10 in the world.

His neighbors, St Hubertus and Oak Bay Estate Winery, also have a new feather in their cap for their Riesling.

“Getting gold recognition (Lieutenant Governor’s Awards) for Riesling just makes you happy,” said Andy Gebert of St Hubertus and Oak Bay Estate Winery.

This year’s harvest is one of the earliest for the 80-acre winery in Kelowna.

“It all came together at the same time,” Gebert said.

“It’s a slightly smaller harvest, but beautiful flavors and early for us. This is almost impossible, to have everything before Thanksgiving, so there are only a handful of grapes to come. “

Both wineries were able to avoid smoke contamination from the dense smoke from the wildfires this summer due to the ripening of the grapes – the transition from berry growth to berry ripening.

“I think the smoke came early enough. We always talk about pre-veraison and post-veraison, where the grape changes color. Most of the smoke was before veraison, where it does not affect the fruit, ”said Alexander.

“So touch wood, everything looks super clean this year and I haven’t noticed any smoke stains.”

Their hard work continues the centuries-old tradition of winemaking for another fruitful year ahead in Okanagan.