The B.C. government's relaxation of grape imports and taxes allowed the industry to focus on winemaking skill, not valley soil, winery owners say.Terravista winemaker Nadine Kinvig and co-owner Dallas Thor toast the release of their Albariño sparkling wine, the very first 2024 wine vintage released in Canada. Inspecting the surviving vines in her Naramata B.C.
Mark Sheridan, the president of Hester Creek Winery and a member of the board of the Wine Growers of B.C., samples a cellared red wine. The industry association lobbied the province to relax long-standing rules on the importation and taxation of wine grapes and juice, allowing Okanagan wineries to produce 2024 vintages.
His goal: produce 2024 vintages to match the taste profiles of the winery's existing brands and create consistency for loyal customers and sommeliers.Walking through the winter-bare fields, Thor points out the winery's claim to fame among wine aficionados: "These vines were planted in 2008, the first Albariño vines ever planted in Canada."
"We were talking specifically with smaller vineyards, too, who are very excited. They're part of the wine community. They don't want us to fail. … They came, and they offered their help to us." At the beginning of December, Terravista released the very first 2024 wine vintage in Canada, a sparkling Albariño, just as millions of holiday revellers pop open bottles of bubbly this New Year's Eve.