A view of Okanagan Lake and a vineyard at Quails' Gate Estate Winery in West Kelowna, B.C., on May 16.A line of farmhands worked their way up a section of land above Okanagan Lake this spring, replacing Cabernet Sauvignon grapevines. The soil here on the slopes of an extinct volcano has nurtured grape crops since the 1960s, but climate change demanded adaptation, and this block will now be filled with a hardier variety, Pinot Noir.
“Everything went catastrophically bad,” Rowan said as he took visitors through an established block of the sprawling vineyard. “The bottom line, we want them to succeed. We need this industry. We need the economic boon that it provides,” said Agriculture Minister Pam Alexis.Tantalus Vineyards boasts some of the country’s oldest grapevine plantings. Over the years, it has specialized in three varieties. “The decision was made to pull out everything that we didn’t think was making world-class wine,” said winemaker and general manager David Paterson.
Stephen Cipes and his family arrived in Kelowna in 1986, where he bought Summerhill Vineyard. He tore out most of the existing crop and invested in pricey vines from France. He built a four-storey-tall pyramid for a wine cellar, and began the long process of getting his wine certified as organic.