Catastrophic crops: BC grapes and wine production could be 99% lower than usual in 2024
The BC wine industry is facing a dire year thanks to a cold snap in mid-January that wreaked havoc on the province’s crops.
The report from Wines of British Columbia is bad news for wine lovers, after an extreme cold event that hugged BC and much of Western Canada from January 11 to 15 saw temperatures drop well below -20°C throughout the Okanagan Valley, with regions in the North Okanagan experiencing more than 50 cumulative hours below this threshold.
According to Wines of BC, weather conditions like that are known risk factors for grapevines, especially after a stretch of relatively mild winter temperatures that BC saw in December and early January.
Once the cold snap broke, industry experts went out and collected and tested thousands of bud dissection samples from across the BC wine industry, with the vast majority of the samples showing no signs of life in their primary or secondary buds.
The damage from the blast of cold air last month is set to bring “catastrophic crop losses within the BC wine industry,” with early estimates hinting that the crop will push out just 1 to 3% of typical yields, mainly from regions like Fraser Valley and Vancouver Island that didn’t receive such cold weather.
“This means that the production of 100% BC grapes and wine is projected to be 97-99% lower than usual in 2024,” the report declared.
“Facing an almost complete write-off of the 2024 vintage, BC wineries will struggle to keep 100% BC wine stocked on retail shelves, to supply hospitality channels, and to fulfill wine club subscriptions.”
On top of the likely loss of bottles on store shelves, vineyards and wineries are also facing revenue losses of $340 to $346 million as a result, and when you factor in the decrease in production, the total impact to BC businesses in the wine industry is estimated to be between $440 to $445 million.
As for the overall long-term impacts on grapevine health, including the chance of having to replant, those details are expected later this year.
This past summer, wineries in the Okanagan faced threats from wildfires burning in the region, something industry insiders say has become an annual concern.