Return to flip book view
2022 VINTAGE REPORT
SUMMARY The 2022 growing season continued the trend of extreme weather conditions ending up being a unique tale of two seasons The first half of the 2022 vintage was amongst the coolest on record before a dramatic switch in the summer resulted in the second half of the year amongst the warmest BC has experienced Growing Degree Days showed 2022 was in the top six warmest years yet what looks on record like a warm vintage feels more like a cool one in the wines with intense vibrant fruit balanced by higher levels of natural acidity elegance and moderate alcohol levels The prognosis for the year went from one of doom to one of the best vintages in recent decades 2022 was a vintage saved by an amazing long warm summer and fall
OKANAGAN VALLEY
OKANAGAN VALLEY The 2022 vintage was another year with plenty of extreme and unpredictable weather in the Okanagan Valley It was both unusually cold then unusually hot in the end turning into a lovely vintage with high quality wines Winter conditions really depended on what part of the valley you were in with some areas experiencing a very cold snap in late December 2021 that caused bud damage and in some cases damage to the plant itself Not surprisingly this caused lower crops in some parts of the Okanagan Valley with a range of different grape varieties affected There were no significant unseasonal warm periods during the winter something which had contributed to vine damage in recent years but it did push the boundaries for cold The spring that followed was cool and wet for the Okanagan Valley with the Summerland weather station recording one of the coolest periods on record for April to June and Osoyoos similar for the April to May period Nearly every winery reported later budbreak and later flowering as a result of the cool start to the year Growers were starting to worry that an excessively cool year might be ahead and that grapes might struggle to ripen The arrival of summer changed everything in a dramatic way The cooler than average spring gave way to one of the hottest ever periods through the summer and fall rainfall slipped back close to average or below and the ripening grapes started to catch up from their slow start There were few of the typical heat spikes that can temporarily halt ripening mid season and none of the extreme temperatures such as those that occurred during the 2021 heat dome that had growers struggling to be able to irrigate their vines effectively Skies were also free of smoke making for bright freshly flavoured wines Veraison was delayed following the later start to the season but the hot summer continued into a beautiful warm and sunny fall that created a long ripening season The end result in the grapes was an ideal combination of ripe fruit flavours sugar levels and tannins in the normal range and lovely refreshing acidity thanks to the cool spring Harvest was warm dry and sunny with Summerland reporting the warmest October on record again a similar case in Osoyoos with the heat in October only topped by the sweltering 2003 The nature of the season tended to condense the harvest with many grapes coming to optimum ripeness at the same time making for some logistical challenges but with fruit in excellent condition Yields were good for those vineyards that avoided winter damage and those where yields were lower due to some damage might have been lucky with extra concentration of flavours in the smaller crop that the vines were carrying Only one of five growers reported a shortage of crop in the end The wines all show brilliant natural acidity great fruit profile and a wonderful balance Evan Saunders Winemaker Blasted Church Vineyards The wines have been largely described as balanced fresh vibrant and elegant with bright acidity Osoyoos recorded 1676 GDD and Summerland 1436 GDD for 2022 Evan Saunders Winemaker of Blasted Church Vineyards sums up the challenges and rewards of the 2022 vintage well After a late budbreak and an extremely cool spring and early summer we weren t holding on to much hope of getting everything properly ripened in 2022 let alone that we might have an opportunity to produce some brilliant wines from the later ripening Bordeaux and Rh ne reds Leafhoppers powdery mildew and small hail events were all accounted for to further complicate things but September and October arrived with warm sunny days to push everything through to ripeness The wines all show brilliant natural acidity great fruit profile and a wonderful balance I would be thankful to never see another vintage quite like 2022 but thankfully the wines are showing that the long stressful days in the vineyard and on the crushpad were worth it David Paterson General Manager and Winemaker at Tantalus Vineyards in Kelowna shows how less can be more in terms of wine quality Following a very tough winter with temperatures dipping down below 25 degrees Celsius on site in late December we adjusted our pruning to compensate for potential loss When bud break arrived after a late spring it was unfortunately quite sporadic More of a crop formed in the north than was anticipated but it was still only half of what would be considered a target crop for us Some bunches were on primary shoots while many were on secondary and tertiary shoots leading to uneven ripening throughout the vineyards These lower cropping vineyards enjoyed high intensity but lower volume and the resulting wines from the 2022 harvest have wonderful acidity complexity and depth I think we will see some exceptional quality and ageability from the 2022 vintage
SIMILKAMEEN VALLEY Like the neighbouring Okanagan Valley the Similkameen Valley also experienced a cool then hot growing season with a long warm sunny fall making for ideal harvest conditions of clean brightly flavoured fruit The Similkameen Valley seemed to avoid most of the cold temperatures and any winter damage reported was minor and having little impact on overall crop levels It looks like a great year for Pinot Noir and Chardonnay in the Similkameen Dwight Sick General Manager Winegrower Seven Stones Winery The Cawston weather station reported 1612 GDD closer to the normal conditions but still the fourth warmest vintage in the last decade The wines are intense and concentrated with high levels of refreshing acidity providing ideal balance SIMILKAMEEN VALLEY The 2022 season in Cawston had a slow cool start Green growth was rapid after bud burst but we were behind the eight ball all throughout the growing season with about a two week delay in development Veraison was also late so we reduced our crop to help ripening on varieties like Cabernet Sauvignon Cabernet Franc and Syrah Harvest started two weeks late and several of the white and red varieties ripened simultaneously creating tank and fermentation space logistical challenges But the results look very good The aromatic whites and ros wines are bright and mineral driven with above average levels of fruit intensity So far the reds show great structure bright acidity with a low pH and moderate alcohol levels Overall the 2022 wines look very good with great ageing potential And it looks like a great year for Pinot Noir and Chardonnay in the Similkameen says Dwight Sick General Manager and Winegrower at Seven Stones Winery in Cawston
OTHER INTERIOR BC REGIONS The interior BC regions experienced different challenges in 2022 largely due to the cold snap that impacted regions in late December 2021 In the Thompson Valley Lillooet and the Shuswap temperatures dropped to around 25 to 27 C resulting in some winter damage while in the Kootenays the Creston station only hit 21 C a temperature the vines can usually handle without significant bud damage Most of the BC interior regions ended up recording higher than average GDD levels Salmon Arm in the Shuswap was 6 higher than average Kamloops in the Thompson Valley 7 and Creston in the Kootenays 8 higher Lillooet was close to its 10 year average The Thompson Valley was hit with some cold winter temperatures but growers are now routinely using techniques such as burying the vines or geotextiles to protect the vines and ensure a crop Overall GDD was 1491 similar to the hot temperatures of 2021 and 96 above the long term average OTHER INTERIOR BC REGIONS In the Lillooet region GDD was 1588 just 12 below the long term average and cooler than in 2021 Yields are reported to be lower due to some winter damage but overall quality very good with growing conditions throughout the year like those experienced in the Okanagan Valley and Similkameen Valley regions You can expect fruit driven aromatic fresh and lively whites Red wines had a longer ripening period leading to refined soft tannin structures with good colour intensity fresh acidity and a juicy palate We had no extreme heat and a cooler season I expect it to be a very elegant vintage says Alex Nel Winemaker Viticulturist at Fort Berens Estate Winery In the Shuswap growing season temperatures exceeded those of 2021 with the Salmon Arm station recording 1182 GDD 69 above the long term average In the Kootenays region most vineyards were able to escape the cold snap in December with the Creston weather station reporting GDD of 1350 down from the heat of 2021 but still 99 above the long term average Wes Johnson Winemaker and Owner of Baillie Grohman Estate Winery reports a similar season to the rest of the interior Creston Valley experienced a long cold spring which delayed the start of the growing season Once the heat arrived in June we had exponential growth in the vineyard The fall was exceptional with above average temperatures The 2022 vintage produced wines with lower alcohol lifted aromatics and balanced acidity
COASTAL REGIONS The coastal regions of Fraser Valley Vancouver Island and the Gulf Islands with the moderating effect of the Pacific Ocean are always cooler and in 2022 also experienced a cool wet slow start to the season A warm summer came to the rescue as in the interior and in the end higher yields were the result with overall GDD exceeding that of 2021 The resulting wines are well balanced with good acidity balanced alcohol and sweetness Mary McDermott Winemaker Township 7 Vineyards Winery The 2022 growing season saw GDD of 1126 on Vancouver Island in the Cowichan Valley 1050 on the Gulf Islands and 1061 in the Fraser Valley at the Langley Central weather station COASTAL REGIONS In the Fraser Valley Mary McDermott Winemaker at Township 7 Vineyards Winery says 2022 was definitely an interesting season and quite different to many I have seen The cool wet weather in the spring delayed bud break and flowering significantly In the Fraser Valley we were behind average by about five weeks Normally we would have bud break in the Fraser Valley before the Okanagan but that was not the case in 2022 Summer also started cool and we didn t really see any heat until later in July The vines were still behind average and we had to ask growers to drop some fruit so that we could attain ripeness We did get very lucky as August September and October were exceptionally warm and dry This allowed the grapes to ripen and we managed to bring in more fruit than in the previous three vintages making up for those previous short crops The resulting wines are well balanced with good acidity balanced alcohol and sweetness
ICEWINE Seven wineries had pre registered an estimated 191 tonnes of grapes and at time of writing approximately 148 had been picked Four wineries registered an estimated 40 tonnes of late harvest fruit Riesling was the dominant variety registered at 87 estimated tonnes followed by Vidal 45 and Sauvignon Blanc 25 The earliest picking took place on November 10 and 11 in Kelowna in the Okanagan Valley and Cawston in the Similkameen Valley with a larger harvest on November 28 The last recorded harvest of the 2022 vintage grapes intended for Icewine took place in Tappen at the end of January 2023 as temperatures once again dipped to the required 8 C LONG TERM AVERAGES Long term Growing Degree Day GDD data as referred to in the report Source Farmwest com https farmwest com climate calculators growing degree days And Environment Canada Includes GDD April 1 to October 31 with a base of 10C ICEWINE