Crush 2019

Picking grapes at Okanagan Crush Pad. Photo by Lionel Trudel.
and it was very, very dry,” says Bailey
Williamson, winemaker and facilities
maintenance for Blue Grouse Estate
Winery in Duncan, B.C. “Climate
change is definitely upon us and it’s
obviously here. With an increase of
growing days, we will be able to ripen
fully what we are growing here.”
Since Blue Grouse is located on
Vancouver Island, they were removed
from the wildfires. Williamson says
that they did get some residual smoke
from fires in Washington state, but
says that timing is everything when it
comes to smoke taint.
“It all comes down to the intensity
of the smoke and the timing of the
ripening of the grapes. If the smoke
intensity coincides with the softening
of the grape and the accumulation of
the sugar, that is the worst time. If
the smoke happens early when they
are hard marbles, nothing happens.”
In the Southern Interior, wineries
experienced a longer winter, but not
a cold one. Graham Pierce, director
of winemaking for Encore Vineyards,
TIME Winery, Evolve Cellars, and the
McWatters Collection, says that they
were a little late out of the gate, but
had one of the best Mays on record.
He says that they didn’t experience
too much smoke in Penticton, but the
smoke they did get ended up slowing
things down. Thankfully though,
they didn’t see too much smoke taint
in the wine, but it took a while longer
for the ripening to occur.
Originally from Vancouver, Pierce has
been in the Okanagan for 22 years
and says that he’s seen the scope
of what they can ripen completely
change in that time.
“When I first got here it was a
struggle to ripen some of the red
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