In this episode, we return to Tania’s native British Columbia to discuss how, in the wake of significant crop losses due to extreme winter freeze in January 2024, many “land based” wineries here are importing grapes or juice from Washington State, Oregon, California or Ontario to produce wine this year.
Wine is about farming, viticulture, Mother Nature, art and science - but it’s also about business and your consumers. It’s about finding your best way forward when you don’t have all the “inputs” you need to make your product, and when you want to keep going, to keep creating. It’s about how wine, and the passion to make and taste it, transcends borders.
Tania’s guest is Alison Moyes, Winemaker and General Manager of Solvero Wines, a small family-owned boutique winery located in British Columbia’s Okanagan Valley. A lover of Pinot Noir, Alison has worked her craft with premium BC wineries which grow that grape, such as Liquidity Wines. (Long time listeners will recall Tania’s discussion with Ian Macdonald, founder of Liquidity Wines in Episode 7 - “Building a Brand”).
A relative newcomer to the local scene, Solvero sees an exciting future for the “heartbreak” grape in their little pocket of Garnet Valley wine country.
But this episode is about the immediate,“real time” story of importing grapes (or juice) to keep the business going this year, and while vines of Solvero and other local growers recover from the devastating 2024 growing season. Alison discusses how Solvero has imported juice from select vineyards and AVAs in Oregon, what Solvero will be making with that juice, and a few examples of the many practicalities around this process (such as transporting the precious cargo from Oregon up to their winery, and the voluminous “red tape” which small BC winery businesses have had to navigate to try to make this all work for them).
And then there’s the taster’s side of things. What does this all mean for the consumer? How will these wines made in British Columbia (by a local business and a local winemaker using imported inputs) be labelled and marketed? How will this story be told?
Tania and Alison discuss how this is an opportunity, for both winemakers and consumers, to continue to embrace the passion and curiosity for exploring wine, and the connection we feel through a shared story of wine adventure and the clinking of glasses.
It’s this universal power of wine and passion which continues to drive the wine industry globally, and can help support our small businesses to keep going when times are tough.
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