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The BC Wine Authority has today made public the results of the vote conducted earlier this fall regarding the proposal to create a Naramata Bench Sub Geographical Indicator, regulated by the BCWA.
The vote was conducted over a 6-week period and required approval from a minimum of two-thirds of those affected, both wineries and growers, representing a minimum of two-thirds of the production from within the proposed sub-region boundaries.
While vote-collection was complicated—there are 40 wineries and over 140 vineyards in this region--the result was a tidy 81% of member wineries and 80% of vineyard production in favour of this proposal.
The BCWA will now proceed to submit this proposal along with their recommendation to the Minister of Agriculture to present to the legislature.
Final approval will depend on timing of the legislative process, but we are hopeful that early in 2019 wines produced from 100% Naramata-grown grapes may proudly display the phrase:
“BC VQA - Okanagan Valley - Naramata Bench”.
Naramata Sub-GI Initiative naramatasubgi@gmail.com
Cynthia Enns cynthia@1millroad.ca
Kathy Malone kathy@hillsidewinery.ca
Gavin Miller gavin@upperbench.com
Valeria Tait val@bench1775.com
Bob Tennant bobtennant@terravistavineyards.com
To view the proposal: full proposal Naramata Bench
To view the technical report: Naramata Bench Technical Report
For more information on the process: Scott Hennenfent gm@bcvqa.ca
Photos courtesy of www.preservedlight.com
