麻豆AV

Temperatures are cooling off in the Okanagan and that means icewine harvesting is underway.

According to the British Columbia Wine Institute, temperatures must hit at least -8 Celsius for Okanagan farmers to be able to harvest their frozen grapes for icewine production.

READ MORE: Icewine harvest is about to begin as temperatures drop in 麻豆AV

The BC Wine Authority said Rollingdale Winery in West 麻豆AV is one of 11 wineries that have already picked 111.2 tonnes of grapes for icewine this year.

鈥淭emperatures hovered between -8 C (17.6 F) and -10 C (14 F) while we picked the pinot blanc,鈥� Rollingdale Winery vineyard manager Brendan Smith said.

鈥淲e had a small amount to pick, so we鈥檙e all done now! The juice tastes great and everything looks good for this year鈥檚 icewine.鈥�

Summerhill Pyramid Winery winemaker Michael Alexander said their icewine harvest is just beginning for this season.

鈥淲e only got about a two-hour window to pick, so we still have about 90 per cent of fruit hanging, but it鈥檚 really pretty fruit,鈥� Alexander said.

鈥淚t鈥檚 pressing off nicely. It鈥檚 going to make some really nice icewine.鈥�

Apprixmately 463 tonnes of grapes across 124 hectares of the Okanagan Valley, Similkameen Valley and Shuswap region are expected to be harvested this year for icewine, according to the wine authority.

For more information on provincial wines, you can visit the BC Wine Institute鈥檚

connor.trembley@kelownacapnews.com
Like us on and follow us on .