The Okanagan Wine Industry

From Tokyo, Japan and New Plymouth, New Zealand, this is Down to Business English, with your hosts Skip Montreux and Samantha Vega.

Hello Samantha. Are you all rested from your vacation to Auckland?

Rested? Uh not sure about that, but you're right, I did make a quick trip to Auckland with my family. Spent a handful of days down in the city of sales.

The City of Sales. Is that what they call Auckland these days?

Well, it's one of Auckland's nicknames. It has a few, I guess.

I did not know any of that.

The city of traffic, I think, is more like it.

Ha How are you, Skip?

I'm not the only one who's been on an airplane recently. You just got back from Canada, didn't you? Yes.

Yes I did! My first time outside of Japan since COVID has subsided.

Wow, you went for a quick trip. Was it good for you? How was it?

It was great. Well, you know, it was great but short. I spent a few days with my mother.

Oh, that's nice. Where whereabouts was that?

She is in the interior of British Columbia, in the boundary region. Do you know that area?

No, the boundary. Is that between the Kootenai Mountain Range and the Okanagan Valley around the

That's exactly where it is.

Okay, and it's called the boundary because it's on the boundary of those two areas.

Uh actually no, that's not why they call it the boundary. They call it the boundary because it lies along the boundary or the border of the United States and Canada. You can literally see the US from my mother's house.

Oh, okay, that's interesting. I was uh a little bit off of my geography. I wasn't thinking she was that close to the US. I was thinking that was more of the Kootenies. But um I am familiar with that area. You know I grew up in B C in British Columbia and Vancouver to be specific.

I did know that.

I'm familiar where the boundary region is, but I didn't know the reason behind the name.

You know, uh neither did I actually until I googled it just before the show, because I knew you were gonna ask about it.

Ah yes, Google. The book of knowledge. So was it good to visit your mum?

Yes, it was. And I did something at the end of my trip that was, for me, a first.

Ah, what was that?

I spent the last two days of my vacation in the Okanagan Valley, exploring the wine country there. I went on a wine-tasting tour of at least ten different wineries.

Wow. British Columbian wine is one of Canada's best kept secrets.

You can say that again. I had no idea that this industry even existed.

And it's a it's a fairly young industry too.

It is.

So I'm sure grapes have always been grown in the Okanagan, if I'm not mistaken. The commercial wine industry only really started up in the nineties.

And you would be right about that. That is just one of the many things I learned from the Somaliers at the wine tastings I attended. It really is a fascinating industry.

Would this be our business topic for today?

It would be

So let's do it!

Yes, let's do it. Let's get D2B. Down to business with the Okanagan wine industry. The evolution and economics of one of Canada's best kept secrets.

Since many listeners are probably not familiar with the Okanagan Valley in British Columbia, maybe we should start off by explaining exactly where it is located.

Good idea. From Vancouver. I'm pretty sure everyone knows where Vancouver is. Sure.

The site of the twenty ten Winter Olympics.

Well, from the Vancouver International Airport to Okanagan Lake by car is about a four and a half hour drive.

Not very far in terms of Canadian road trips.

And by airplane, it's only a short fifty minute flight from Vancouver to Kelowna, the biggest city in the Okanagan Valley.

So it is easy to get to. Did you fly?

Uh actually no, I was driving and I gotta say the scenery is just outstanding.

British Columbia is beautiful, isn't it?

It is.

Just how big is the Okanagan Valley?

It's big. It runs roughly two hundred kilometers from north to south, and is approximately twenty kilometers wide. At its most northern point is the small city of Vernon, British Columbia, and at its most southern point is the city of Asoyus, which sits just above the US border.

And Okanagan Lake. That is the big lake that sits in the middle of the valley.

Actually there are five separate lakes in the valley, but yeah. Okanagan Lake is by far the biggest.

The home to the mythical Ogopogo monster. Canada's version of the Loch Ness Monster or Nessie.

That's right, Nessie. Now, I have visited Okanagan Lake many, many, many times in my life. And each time I went, I kept a close eye on that lake. And you know what? I've never seen the Okapogo monster.

And I don't think he ever will. Anyway, let's not go off on a tangent about that. Tell me more about the wine industry in the Okanagan. Sure.

Let's start with a brief history. As you mentioned, grapes have been growing in the valley for a very long time. The first grapes were planted way back in the 1860s by some of the first Europeans to settle the area, specifically French Catholic missionaries.

That makes sense. I assume they brought the grapes from Europe?

They did. And the variety of grapes they planted was the Labrusca variety.

Brusca variety. I have no idea what that means.

Well Labrusca grapes are more commonly known as table grapes, you know, the kind we commonly eat?

Ah, so not the kind wine is made from.

You can make wine from them, but because they have a thin skin and do not age very well, they are not ideal for making high quality wine. But they are good enough to produce sacramental wine used in church services.

So these Lebrusca grapes were just fine for the French missionaries' purposes.

They were. But wine production in the Okanagan throughout most of the 20th century really took a backseat to fruit orchards.

And that is what the Okanagan is most famous for. Fruit.

Cherry orchards, apple orchards, peaches, pears, you name the fruit, it's grown in the Okanagan.

But if grapes and as an extension, wine production have always been around, what exactly happened that helped the wine industry take off?

In the late nineteen eighties, nineteen eighty-eight to be precise, the government of British Columbia started offering a subsidy to stimulate the industry.

No.

Not wineries directly, but they did start giving grape growers eight thousand one hundred dollars an acre to pull out their Labrusca grapes and plant vinifera grapes instead.

Veneferrages.

Yeah, vinifera grapes are the variety of grapes that good quality wines are made from. They have a thicker skin and a higher acidity level, which in turn allows them to age for a longer period of time.

Wow, listen to you. You sure did learn a thing or two from your wine tours.

Yeah, it wasn't all drinking.

I guess not. So the government subsidy to replant vinifera grapes really got the Okanagan wine industry up and running?

Then and the creation of the VQA or Vintner's Quality Alliance in nineteen ninety one. This alliance helped ensure that the commercial wine produced in the Okanagan contained one hundred percent grapes.

Vinifera grapes.

I would assume so, yeah. And then something else happened in 1994 that suddenly put Okanagan wines on the map.

What was that?

The Mission Hill Family Estate Winery, located near Kelowna, won the International Spirit Competition's Avery Trophy for the best Chardonnay in the world.

Are you telling me that this Okanagan Chardonnay beat out Chardonnays from France, Italy, Germany and Spain?

And California and Chile and Australia and everywhere else Chardonnay wines are produced.

Wow, a very impressive accomplishment. Especially for such a young industry.

It certainly did turn some heads in the global wine industry.

Other than chardonnays, what other kind of wine can be produced in the Okanagan?

My understanding is that because of the many different microclimates and soil types that exist in the Okanagan, They can grow every variety of grape that is grown in Europe, California, South America, Australia, South Africa, even New Zealand.

every wine producing region in the world.

That's right. Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Pinot Noir, Pinot Gris, Risling, Guwzer Minor, I can never pronounce that German variety here. There are over sixty different types of grapes grown in the Okanogan.

Who knew?

Another interesting tidbit about the Okanagan Valley is that their growing season is exactly the same number of days as the Napa Valley wine region in California. But, because of the Okanagan's northern latitude, they receive, on average, three extra hours of daylight per day.

And everyone knows that sunshine is crucial for growing grape.

That it is.

So if all this high quality wine is being produced in the Okanagan, why doesn't it have a higher profile internationally?

Well, I think it does have a pretty high profile, at least among connoisseurs. But I guess the big reason why it's not more well known is that Okanagan wine, B C wine, the entire Canadian wine industry as a whole, just doesn't have the yield.

Ah, so what you're saying is that wineries just don't have the capacity to produce enough to export on a large scale.

That's right, they are only capable of providing wine for local consumers and restaurants.

Well, just how big is the Okanagan wine industry? Do you have any numbers on that?

I do. There are 9,617 acres of grapes planted in the Okanagan Valley and 222 commercial wineries.

Two hundred and twenty two wineries spread out over two hundred kilometers. It sounds like there are wineries everywhere.

When I was visiting the area, it certainly did seem like there were many wineries.

And how much wine are they able to produce annually?

I tracked out a 2022 crop report on grapes for the province of BC, not just the Okanagan Valley. But seeing as how eighty-five percent of BC wine comes out of the Okanagan, I think you can get a pretty good idea.

Yeah. What what did you find out?

In twenty twenty two, a total of forty three thousand three hundred and eighty six. Tons of grapes were harvested province wide. That includes Vitafera, Labrusca, and hybrid varieties of both red and white grapes.

What would that translate into in terms of the volume of wine produced?

I could not find a number on that, but I can tell you that in the same year, around 35 million bottles of BC wine were sold. Of course, that wine was not using the grapes from the twenty twenty two harvest.

Hmm, that sounds like a lot. But you said that the majority of that is consumed locally.

Yeah. A very small percentage of it makes its way out of the province.

And that is why you don't see BC or Canada appearing on any of the top ten lists of international wine producers.

No, you don't. According to the International Agency of Wine and Vine, or OIV, France is in the number one spot at the moment. Canada is nowhere in sight.

See New Zealand on some of those lists.

So have I. It's a relatively small industry as well, but they are making some lists.

Well, maybe Canada will make a list in a decade or so.

Good. One thing is for certain though, when the BC government offered those subsidies back in 1988 in an attempt to jumpstart the wine industry, they really knew what they were doing.

today!

Thirty five years later, the BC wine industry is a significant contributor to the provincial economy.

From what you are telling me, I'm guessing a lot of jobs are being created in those wineries and vineyards.

Not just in the wineries and vineyards, but in the tourism industry as well. Much of the revenue generated by the wine industry and many of the jobs it creates are a result of tourists visiting the area, going on wine-tasting tours.

And how many jobs are we talking about?

Pre-COVID, in 2019, the wine industry employed 14,000 people.

And revenue? What level was that at? Four

4.5 billion dollars.

Canadian doll.

Yes, Canadian dollars.

Even so, that's a healthy industry.

But like I said, those figures are pre COVID. Obviously the pandemic put a huge dent in that. And earlier this year, there was an especially cold spring which damaged or even destroyed a lot of the grape. Oh no. No, it's not good. Industry insiders are saying that the twenty twenty three crop could be as much as fifty-five percent lower than last year. And as much as thirty percent of the vines will need to be replanted.

A very expensive endeavor.

There are some financial losses coming up for wineries and vineyards, that's for sure.

But like anything in business, you have to be prepared to take the good with the bad.

There's no doubt about that, especially if your business is agriculture.

You know, Skip, all this talk about grapes and wine, I suddenly want to pour myself a big glass of chilled Sauvignon Blanc.

Well, before you uncork that bottle, Samantha, why don't we get D2V? Down to vocabulary.

Do you find down-to-business English helpful in your English studies? Consider becoming a D2B member today to learn and retain even more words, phrases, and expressions used by native English speakers in professional situations. What do you get with a D2B membership plan? First, bonus content in the form of exclusive members-only D2B episodes. Second, expanded D to V or Down to Vocabulary episodes that accompany each public episode of Down-to-Business English.

The first word on our D2V list today is the verb to subside. When something subsides, it loses power or becomes less strong or less dominant. In the introduction to our report, Skip mentioned that his trip to Canada recently was his first time. leave Japan since COVID has subsided.

In other words, it was my first time to leave Japan since the coronavirus pandemic lost strength. or has become less dangerous.

Is the pandemic actually over?

Oh yeah, it's over. The WHO declared the end of the health emergency back in May. Did you miss that?

Yeah, I guess so. Can you give us another example using subside?

Sure. Are you familiar with Meta's so-called Twitter killer, Threads, that they launched in early July?

Yes, of course. I haven't used it, but I did hear that a hundred million users downloaded it in the first five days. That's a hundred times more users than ChatGPT got in its first five days.

You are absolutely correct about that. Threads was super popular at first, but in the weeks following its launch, user engagement has significantly subsided. Apparently there has been a 25% drop in daily active users and a more than 50% decrease in app usage time.

Though it may not be such a Twitter killer after all.

Maybe not.

Do you have our next word?

I do. I want to talk about the noun and verb form of a word that is similar in pronunciation to the word we just talked about.

It is similar to the word subside.

Similar in sound, but not meaning. They are not connected at all.

And what would this word be?

The noun subsidy and its verb form to subsidize.

Ah, a very important business terminology.

The noun, a subsidy, is money that a government gives to a company to encourage them to produce a certain product or to assist that company in some manner.

In our story, Skip reported that the BC government gave farmers a subsidy to plant vinifera grapes.

In other words, the government encouraged farmers to grow these wine-producing grapes by giving them money to do so.

Is it only governments that give out subsidies?

No. As a matter of fact, a company can give a subsidy to their employees. For example, here in Japan, it is quite common for full-time workers to get a housing subsidy from their employer.

And the verb form of subsidy is

Sub Sed dies. In the story, Samantha asked me if the BC government subsidized wineries. She was asking if the government gave money to wineries.

To which Skip clarified that the subsidy went to farmers, not to the wineries.

Samantha, can you give us an example using the verb subsidize?

Here in New Zealand, something like 47% of all wages in 2021 were subsidized by the government. Many businesses would never have made it through COVID without those subsidies.

Uh, I suppose so.

You are right, Skip. Our first word today, subside, and subsidy, sure do sound a lot like each other. And yet their meanings are not connected in any way. Why is that?

That is an excellent question. Both subside and subsidy come from Latin, but they have different roots and therefore different meaning.

What are the Latin roots?

The root for subside comes from the Latin verb subsidiari, and I have no idea if that's the correct pronunciation. Anyway, subsidy, which is a combination of sub, which means under or below, and tari meaning to sell. So subside essentially means to settle down, or like we said earlier, to lose power.

Mm, interesting. And the Latin root for subsidy?

Subsidii comes from the Latin noun subsidium, which means support or assistance. It is derived from the same prefix as subside, sub meaning under or behind, and sidium meaning to help. So subsidium in Latin essentially means to help from behind.

I've never studied Latin, but that is certainly interesting.

I have never studied Latin either, but so many English words are derived from Latin. Knowing a little can be helpful in understanding spellings and nuance.

Anyway.

Subside and subsidy. Similar sounds, completely different meanings. What's next on our list?

Our next and final item on D2V today is the expression to go off on a tangent.

Doesn't the word tangent come from geometry?

A tangent is a straight line that touches the edge of a circle, but does not cross into the middle of the circle. So the expression to go off on a tangent means to start talking about or discussing something that is not connected to the main topic.

Which often happens in internal business meetings and can be very inefficient.

Very true. The main topic of today's report was about the Okanagan wine industry. But at one point, Skip and I started talking about the lakes in the valley, especially the Okanagan Lake, and the Okapogo monster that supposedly lives in the lake.

I even started talking about my personal search for the Oga Pogo Monster.

At that point, I brought us back on topic by saying, let's not go off on a tangent about that.

With that expression, Samantha was communicating to me to stop talking about the Ogopogo Monster and get back to the topic of wine.

Exactly. If you were ever in a meeting with coworkers and someone starts going on and on about some topic that is not connected to the agenda in any way, you can simply say, let's not go off on that tangent.

A very professional way to get everybody to focus back on the topic at hand.

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All the information on the Okanagan wine industry.

Don't mention it, Samantha. I really enjoyed the short time I spent in the valley and was very impressed with the whole wine slash wine tourism activity that they have got going on there. I thought it would make an excellent topic to report on for our listeners.

Next time I am in Canada, I will definitely try and make a trip to the Okanagan.

I think you would absolutely love it. D2B members. The bonus vocabulary for today's episode will be released within 24 to 48 hours, so be sure to look for that in your members-only RSS feed.

In the bonus D2V episode, we will cover five more words from today's report. To be ideal, to take a back seat to something. To turn head. A tidbit and a connoisseur.

And if you are not a D2B member, I strongly recommend that you become As a D2B member, you not only get bonus vocabulary episodes, but you also get exclusive member-only D2B episodes, as well as audio scripts for each and every D2B episode.

Not to mention, complete access to our audio script library of over two hundred and seventy D2B episodes.

270 and counting. For more information on becoming a D2 Just visit the D T website. and click on the membership link at the top of the page.

Do check that out.

Thanks for listening everyone. See you next time.

Take care.

Have a comment or question about today's show? Don't be shy, visit the D2B website or Facebook page and post any comments or questions there. Skip, Des or Samantha will be sure to leave a reply.