Road 13 is a local winery located in the south Okanagan in Oliver, BC. On the third day of my visit to the area, the winemaker for Road 13, J-M, offered to meet with me to give me better insight into the environmental and operational conditions that influence winemaking in the region.
I am really excited about one of the ideas J-M shared with me for a research topic. He exolained that microbial flora develop differently when different irrigation techniques are used in vineyards. Irrigation techniques include drip irrigation, sprinkler irrigation and micro-jet irrigation. Apparently, drip irrigation is said to be better for soil quality because it is a consistent and more precise means of irrigating. This results in less disease and stronger plants. Overhead systems distribute water onto the grapes which dilutes their composition - which is not ideal for winemaking. He said measuring the changes in the soil activity and root systems could be a very practical and appropriately sized project for my masters. He said too that many winemakers are currently transitioning between methods and are using both overhead and drip irrigation in their transition zones. The overall goal is to use an irrigation system that minimizes the stress on the vines. The reason that overhead systems have generally been used to date is that they are cheaper to set up and slightly easier to maintain.
We briefly touched on the topic of precision viticulture, in which an aquainted winemaker has been one of the early adpoters in the technology and practice, about which I would like to learn more.
We quickly left our meeting place and got into his pick-up to start exploring the local vineyards to see some of the typical conditions in which the grapes are being grown. First I was told about 'bulldozer disease', in which a plot of land is bulldozed to create uniformity and ease the ability for tractors to access/service the land. However, bulldozing strips the soil of it's top horizons completely or mixes them with the subsoil which is much less fertile and has less micro-organism (life) presence.
Another common problem are frost pockets. Lakes provide frost protection and extend the seasons in the spring and fall, however frost damage still happens. In the spring and fall, leaves and buds are easily damaged, and in the winter, severe frosts cause more permanent trunk damage to the vines. Sometimes the trunk will die, but the root stock survives, however J-M shared that it is rarely worth regrafting the trunk because the long term survival of the damaged vine is not likely.
An interesting topic discussed on our journey to Oliver was the influence of First Nations communities on the local wine industry. I didn't realize that it is native land owners that own a huge percentage of the plantable land in the area. This fact makes the First Nations groups very important long term players in the wine industry. For example, the Vincor (now Constellation) plant is located on native land and pays a lease to the local Indian band. Apparently in the contract there is an employment agreement that requires almost 60% of the employees to be First Nations. Very interesting. Very cool.
Other cultural influences in the area include the large presence of East Indians in the farming community.
We first visited Covert Farms Winery where I first saw wind machines in the vineyards that are used in the winter to circulate warm air down among the plants to reduce frost damage. Since damage is prevalent - you could see the patchiness of the vineyards from above - J-M says it is important to lease land on the survival rate of the plants to leave a lot of the risk with the land owner.
We then talked about some winemakers that are at the next stage of development in the valley and are searching out marginal land at much lower prices to convert to wine land. A problem with these lands, often located higher up on benches in the hillsides, are that there are strict irrigation and water access rules for owners - water can only go through properties that already have water rights and so need to be purchased by the established neighbouring properties to make irrigation possible. And still, to pump water up the hillside, boosters pumps are needed, the benches are generally small and access for machinery has definite labour and movement costs.
Elements to consdier when trying to locate a good piece of land for a vineyard in the valley are the slope of the land, the soil conditions and mountain shadow. Mountain shadow is good for some wines, but not for many, especially reds.
The vineyards in the south of the Okanagan (south of McIntire bluff) are the most profitable. If a vinyeard is producing well, one can receive $11,000 - $12,000 per acre. The very best can make up to $15,000 per acre if the right grape is used and 10-15% more grapes are left on the plant. North of McIntire, for example in Summerland and Naramata, $8,000-$10,000 per acre for grapes such as Chardonnay and Pinot. The benefit of being in places like Summerland and Naramata are that you receive more foot traffic for on farm sales.
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