Kelly Josephson
BC vintages are never the same way twice, making each 100 per cent BC wine a true expression of not only the beautiful place, the hardworking people, but also a unique moment in time.
With 30-plus years of the modern winemaking industry behind us, it is time to start looking back and capturing the character of each BC vintage.
Wine Growers British Columbia (WGBC) is pleased to announce the launch of a new industry resource, the BC Vintage Guide, which celebrates and educates on the nuances of each year of BC wine dating back to 2010.
The BC Vintage Guide is a snapshot of growing conditions across BC’s nine wine regions. The guide depicts the last 10+ years of BC vintages in terms of weather factors such as temperature and rainfall, as well as crop yield.
In a recent blog on WineBC.com, author Rhys Pender, MW, points out how wine industry professionals and BC wine lovers alike can interpret the guide by recognizing how these high-level descriptions of the growing conditions and yield output affect the wine in the glass.
Vintage Guide
Pender cites the cooler temperatures of 2010 and 2011 as a marker of more delicate wines, the grapes from these vintages having ripened at a slower pace, retaining fresh fruit flavour and acidity. For the warmer stretch of vintages 2013 to 2015, Pender suggests punchier alcohol levels and riper fruit notes come into play. The more moderate years of 2016 to 2018 produced wines with a balance in structure mirrored in the balanced growing conditions.
Wine enthusiasts are often wine knowledge sponges, soaking up any additional layer of information that would connect the sensation of aromas, flavours, and structure to the terroir.
The BC Vintage Guide does just that, serving to elevate BC wine tasting experiences as a tangible demonstration of how BC wines reflect the land where the grapes are grown; on the most northerly threshold of where wine can be produced, resulting in intensity, purity, and natural freshness with distinct characteristics reflective of the vintage.
The BC Vintage Guide is a useful tool for hospitality professionals serving back-vintages of BC wine, for winery event staff orchestrating a vertical vintage tasting, and even for the BC wine lover with a collection of aged BC wine tucked away in the cellar.
With so many uses for this handy guide, CEO & President of Wine Growers British Columbia, Miles Prodan, was proud to introduce it to the industry and consumers in September of 2022.
“BC winegrowers focus on crafting small-production, premium quality wines that are a true expression of the vintage and the place,” said Prodan. “The BC Vintage Guide celebrates and embraces the nuances of each distinct BC growing season. Not only that, but the guide also speaks to the proven ageability of BC wine.”
“BC wine is undeniably age-worthy and that is something that we continue to discover as we expand on our collection of library vintages,” said Emily Walker, Wine Director at the Naramata Inn. “A visual, practical tool like this one is exactly what I needed to build confidence in our team’s ability to guide guests toward the right wine style and to tell the story of a vintage.”
The BC Vintage Guide is a Wine Growers British Columbia resource, with information based on details published every spring in WGBC’s annual BC Wine Grape Vintage Report. For more in-depth details on BC vintages, the archive of reports is available on WineBC.com.