Quote:
Originally Posted by DoubleF
I assume it was heavily impacted due to the cold snap last year that killed most of the vines?
EDIT: I recall spoke with someone at Gray Monk last summer. They said they got grapes from a variety of places including Niagara and the US. But some stuff they just couldn't do so those are gone until their planted vines start producing fruit.
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A lot of people don't realize this but the Okanagan experienced somewhere in the range of a 95-99% die off of grapes in the combination of the 2022/23 & 2023/2024 winters (Those polar vortex events where the temp gets into the -20s for weeks are a time in the valley are what did it). The spring of 2024 saw a massive replanting and it typically takes 2-5 years for most vines to start reliably producing quality grapes and then between 6 - 24 months of barrel aging for most wine vintages. Meaning things won't be the same for probably 3-5 years.
It has not been as noticeable until now since most wine vintages can come from grapes aged 6 - 24 months so wineries in 2024 & 2025 were mostly selling their pre 2024 vintages. Now there is this intermediate time period where many wineries are sourcing grapes from Washington, Oregon, California, and Ontario to make their wines to be able to continue their brands until the new grape vines mature / damaged vines start yielding again.
In summary, yes your purchase of 'Canadian wine' might actually come in part from American grapes, but these 'Canadian' wineries probably need your money more now than ever to keep alive until they can sustain themselves on local / estate grown grapes again.