Friday, September 19 2008

Canadian Harvest

How do they all know to change colour at the same time?

Apples be ripe, nuts be brown, harvest of grapes has come around: Canadian wineries started picking the 2008 vintage this week. Word from Niagara is that quality is looking pretty good. Although there was a worrying amount of rain in summer (which growers responded to by thinning fruit to concentrate sugars) the end result was only a slight delay in harvest: mild winter temperatures and a hot, dry spring gave a good fruit set, and until Hurricane Ike roared through Ontario, the Autumn was mild and calm as well.

Growers are reporting good results from Chardonnay, Riesling and Sauvignon Blanc and Pinot Noir from some regions is running 21° Brix (enough for 12% alcohol or so), and crop size will be average-ish.

In the Okanagan Valley cool summer temperatures with average rainfall have made for more developed, less fruit-bomb-ish flavours. While there's very low incidence of rot and most fruit is in good condition this means that whites will be exceptional (as usual for the Okanaga) while reds will continue thin and hard (as usual for the Okanagan. Seriously, the reds only turn out two years in ten, and the rest of the time they're pretty lame. I wouldn't plant red at gunpoint up there.) The good news is that crop will be up 10% this year, mainly from new vineyards coming on-line, the bad news is this will do nothing to ease supply or reduce price to consumers.

All in all, another healthy year for Canadian wines.

posted by Tim at 07:09PM

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