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That was the fastest 52 weeks of my life.
In a few days we will celebrate the arrival of 2015 but what of 2014 and the year in wine we leave behind. What was learned? What impressed? Where are we going? What will we be drinking in 2015? All good questions but can they all be answered?
It’s been a tumultuous year for British Columbia wine, filled with highs and lows. Among the highs, the 2014 harvest was plentiful and in terms of quality perhaps the finest in the region’s short modern history. Time will tell but early reports point to some of the best reds we have ever seen at least in the fermentation vats.
Other good news came out of the south Okanagan where the area known as the Golden Mile Bench — or more specifically the alluvial fans on the western slope of the valley south of Oliver — were designated B.C.’s first sub-geographical indication. The idea of classifying a small area of vineyards within the Okanagan Valley, the first big step toward another level of wine-growing, cannot be underestimated as major moment in the history of British Columbia wine.
But with the highs come lows. Despite years of lobbying, and even winning over federal officials, British Columbia wine producers continued to be shut out of the country’s three largest wine markets by protectionist, provincial governments in Alberta, Ontario and Quebec. After another year of promises inter-provincial wine shipments remain a shameful, political mess and an ever present danger to the survival of every Canadian winery.
B.C. producers are not above shooting themselves in the foot. The launch of Terroir B.C., a sub-group of local wineries who feel disenfranchised by the British Columbia Wine Institute and its large powerful winery members. The new association adds another uncertain dimension to B.C. wine. Sadly the machinations and politics of B.C. wine remain more complex than the wine itself and this comes at a time when B.C. wine should be ready to step onto the world stage ready to compete.
Speaking of messes, there are no words to describe the uncertainty surrounding the business of wine in British Columbia, thanks to our provincial government’s fine work modernizing, or should I say politicizing B.C. liquor laws. After distracting consumers by granting the sale of wine in farmer’s markets and creating and allowing licensees to subsidize Happy Hour, the government seems hell bent on putting the private sector out of business by creating a wholesale monopoly in which they will dictate the price of every bottle of liquor sold in the province. They have even created a new, more powerful wholesale monopoly entity to ensure British Columbians continue to pay the highest prices in the world for wine.
Out in the real wine world the story of the year is the sea change of style washing over winemaking around the globe. In almost every country there is a small determined group of producers who are not only focused on site and terroir but they are embracing winemaking techniques that are dramatically changing the style of the wine they are making.
Aided and abetted by the waning influence of Robert Parker, and the disappearance of pricey Bordeaux from the everyday wine world, new oak barrels are becoming extinct at many wineries. Older oak, larger barrels, concrete fermentation tanks, amphorae and, well, just about anything you can store wine in that doesn’t impart any oak flavour to the wine is winning the day. Many are also practicing precision viticulture, growing grapes biodynamically and paying attention to all aspects of their site above and below the ground to reveal their site’s true story.
It’s the new world of wine and it’s coming to you in 2015. Happy New Year.
