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B.C. grape grower left with unsold fruit as wineries allowed to import U.S. grapes (www.cbc.ca)

submitted 1 week ago by HellsBelle@sh.itjust.works to c/canada@lemmy.ca

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In B.C.'s south Okanagan region, some wine grape growers are struggling to find buyers for their fruit, during a year many were hoping to make a solid profit after devastating crop loss in recent years.

After two years of severe winter damage, vineyards across the region produced strong yields this season.

But some farmers say a provincial program that allows wineries to import grapes from the United States is crowding the market and leaving them with grapes they can't sell.

Despite strong quality and sugar levels, Gill said his Merlot and Cabernet Franc grapes should have been picked two weeks ago. He's concerned about making his loan repayments.

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[–] AGM@lemmy.ca 8 points 5 days ago

BC has VQA, and none of the wines being made using US-grown grapes should qualify.

The problem is that BC vineyards faced extreme cold that killed off huge numbers of vines a couple of years back, and if importing grapes hadn't been allowed it would have devastated a bunch of wine producers who just couldn't have made wine for years as their vineyards had to be replanted and take time to produce grapes.

The problem, as it so often is in Canada, is sensible rules on paper with absolutely shit enforcement and oversight. So, instead of ensuring that wine makers are only sourcing from the US what is not available in Canada, they have enabled them to source excess from the US and leave the BC growers stuck.

It should be great news for the BC wine industry that there is a good harvest this year after utter devastation last year, and if they make adjustments and start ensuring that only grapes to meet demand beyond local supply are purchased, it will be good news in future. It's just really dumb right now.

It takes three seasons for new vines to produce wine grapes, so there should be no need for the province's exemptions on US grapes at all after a one more season. Hopefully they deal with this properly.