Central Okanagan wineries are having to work extra hard to draw in visitors after wildfires this summer had a major impact on their busiest season of the year
“We didn’t want to draw traffic to the Westside because, obviously, because of everything that was happening here with the first responders. It was just due diligence for us to close down our production so that we could take care of what’s most important, which was putting out those fires,” said Nathan Milligan, lead sommelier at Mission Hill Family Estate Winery, when looking back on how many wineries on the Westside closed during the worst of the McDougall Creek wildfire emergency.
Miles Prodan, president and CEO of Wine Growers British Columbia, says after the harvest is a great time to visit. “It’s a good opportunity to sit down with the wine maker, the viticulturist, the tasting room manager, which in many instances is the same person because these are small family run businesses."A handful of Okanagan wineries have made the tough decision to close this year, and there’s likely to be more.
“I think a lot of people are taking a look at what this industry is all about, the challenges of this industry. And I think with the rise in input costs and people having to negotiate new mortgages, it’s a wake up call for many determining it’s either just as good to grow the grapes and not necessarily make the wine, or get out of the business altogether.”
Canada Latest News, Canada Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Okanagan officials share Halloween safety tipsLocal officials have released some safety tips ahead of Halloween night in the Okanagan.
Read more »
Ministry of Forests in hot water for damaging Okanagan protected areasUnauthorized work by the Ministry and improper cattle grazing caused damage
Read more »
'Matter of time' before someone hurt or killed, Okanagan fire chief says of homeless camp fires'I just show up and put the fire out, but they set up traps and obstacles to keep each other out of their camps.'
Read more »
B.C. wineries trying to squeeze more out of fall, winter after tough summerCentral Okanagan wineries are having to work extra hard to draw in visitors after wildfires this summer had a major impact on their busiest season of the year
Read more »
Oil prices rise ahead of central bank meetings and Israel-Hamas conflictOil prices edged up in early Asian trade on Wednesday ahead of key global central bank meetings this week including the U.S. Federal Reserve, as the market also closely watches the latest developments in the Israel-Hamas conflict.
Read more »
Oil prices rise ahead of central bank meetings and Israel-Hamas conflictOil prices in Asia increase as global central bank meetings approach and market monitors Israel-Hamas conflict. Crude prices stabilize before key Treasury issuance update and FOMC rate decision. Geopolitical risks offsetting high U.S. production levels.
Read more »