Climate change, tourism top of mind for B.C. wine industry

The conference brought the industry together for an opportunity to learn new tools and techniques and to hear how the industry is doing.  

Winemakers from across the province met to plan for the future of B.C. wine.

Penticton hosted the 5th annual BC Wine Industry Insight Conference on Tuesday, back as an in-person event.

“With over 250 people in attendance, we’re oversold and it’s really nice to get back together and be in person. Those numbers really indicate it’s time for people to come back together and learn an update on the wine industry,” said Wines of BC president and CEO Miles Prodan.

“We’ve got a great mix between those four groups of us getting together. We’ve got winemakers, we’ve got winery proprietors, we’ve got grape growers, and we’ve got government people here to learn and to speak a bit, too, updating what’s happening in the industry.”

The conference brought the industry together for an opportunity to learn new tools and techniques and to hear how the industry is doing.

Keynote speaker sessions highlighted industry-wide trends, opportunities and challenges.

“We’ve got a number of breakout sessions that relate to what you’re interested in. If it’s in the vineyard, people talking about farming and pruning and if it’s winemaking, we’ve got that, and if it’s marketing, we’ve got that. It’s really a collaboration of bringing everyone together. There’s a little bit of something for everyone,” said Prodan.

“Our industry is interesting because we’re the highest value AG product there is so very few if any products grown in this value in the province. We do all the way from the vineyard all the way to what’s in the bottle, so it’s important that we understand all those different attributes and what we need to manage that process.”