Will BC’s Cold Snap Affect Okanagan’s Harvest?

A cold snap and blanket of snow covered the Okanagan on October 23rd – right in the middle of our harvest.

Looks like 2020 isn’t done throwing us curveballs. Record-breaking snow and cold temperatures left a lot of winemakers scrambling to make a new game plan. Despite a late start to the growing season, this was shaping up to be a good vintage given the beautiful fall we were having. Until it snowed!

Some wineries had just finished bringing in their grapes but many still had a week or two of harvest ahead of them. With white and red grape varietals still hanging on the vines across the valley, we were curious to find out how exactly this cold snap was going to affect the grapes and the 2020 vintage overall. 

Stephanie Stanley, winemaker at O’Rourke’s Peak Cellars in Lake Country, still had grapes hanging on the vines. “We had a little bit of Chard and Riesling left when the snow flew.  The grapes didn’t completely freeze as we didn’t experience icewine temperatures, but they did get a bit slushy, so some of the grapes were soft and we’ll see acids drop a little.  There wouldn’t be any more ripening going on since the leaves were frosted, so we picked as soon as we could get the tractor back in (we have a fairly steep vineyard).  While the grapes didn’t look too great in the bins (there was some browning and shrivel), the juice quality was actually still quite good, so no real harm is done to this year’s fruit.  Where we could see challenges will be in the vines next year, as some vines didn’t have the chance to prepare for winter before the leaves got frosted.”

We also asked Bradley Cooper, the winemaker at Therapy Vineyards in Naramata for his insight on how the cold snap might have affected his grapes. 

“ At Therapy Vineyards we had some Cab Franc in Oliver and some Cab Sauv in Naramata that had to spend an extra day in the vineyard due to the snow. We were thankful the temps didn’t get too cold. Everything was picked on Saturday October 24 and received in good condition. 

We asked if there was potential in losing those grapes if they didn’t come off the vine right away or concern about losing acid or flavour and he said, “That was definitely a topic of conversation. In my experience frozen grapes take on a “freezer jam” character. There’s sometimes handling issues during receiving and processing of damaged grapes. We don’t believe our grapes have much tissue or juice freezing during this current weather incident.”

When asked if the quick fluctuation in temperatures at this stage in the season is bad for the vines, he said “there’s a ton of variables at play in that regard. Most of the vines in our area hadn’t completely shut down, if at all. With the exposed shoots still full of sap, there could be damage depending on the vine location, age and variety. The extent of the vine damage won’t be known until the Spring” 

While we’re thankful the temperatures have gone back to a regular fall season here in the Okanagan, our minds are still wondering what this cold snap will mean for the future. Our fingers are crossed for no damage, and that next spring will be business as usual. In the meantime, we’re glad harvest wasn’t affected too much this year, and are looking forward to trying the delicious wines once released.