Issue link: http://winesandvines.uberflip.com/i/602988
20 WINES&VINES December 2015 WINE INDUSTRY NEWS K elowna, B.C.—The landscape of British Columbia's wine industry could get a little more exciting in the next year if members endorse an ambitious plan to reshape the province's system of appellations. The recommendation—as well as proposals to regulate labeling terminology and stream- line winery audits—follow several months of discussions conducted this summer by a 16-member industry task group chaired by Summerhill Pyramid Winery CEO Ezra Cipes. The final report of the B.C. Wine Appella- tion Task Group, released in November, in- cluded several key recommendations: • Revamping British Columbia's system of geographical indications (appella- tions), and regulating how those wine origins are expressed on labels, • Streamlining provincial audits of wineries, • Disbanding the B.C. Vintners Quality Alliance tasting panels. The task group's final report recommends recognizing 15 new geographical indications w i t h i n t h e e x i s t i n g O k a n a g a n Va l l e y appellation. The linchpin of the process was a stake- holder survey in July that garnered 724 re- sponses, a quarter from industry and the remainder from the wine trade, consumers and others. Cipes told Wines & Vines that the results "showed really strong support for an appella- tion model (and) for label terminology to be regulated, and so most of our recommenda- tions focus on…how structurally we accom- plish that." Working with federal research scientist Pat Bowen of the Pacific Agri-Food Research Centre in Summerland, B.C., the task group deter- mined that the 15 new designations sufficiently reflected the acknowledged local differences rooted in climate, aspect and landforms with- out making things unduly complicated for the marketplace. "It would be challenging for the market- place to learn about too many very specific places all at once," Cipes said, noting that they also leave room for additional subappellations such as the existing Golden Mile Bench, which is within one of the potential appellations. "Those three things—climate, aspect, and landform—gave us the basis to carve up the valley into larger subgeographical indications that still leave room for further subdivisions such as the Golden Mile Bench." In addition, four new indications—linked, like existing appellations, to local water- sheds—are envisioned for the emerging re- gions of Lytton-Lillooet, the Thompson Valley, the Kootenays and the Shuswap. "They are developing to a point now where they deserve to be recognized," Cipes said. "Our survey results and the industry all really supported the notion that it's time to develop an identity for these developing regions." —Peter Mitham Less Red Tape but More Appellations A British Columbia wine industry task group recom- mends adding indicators to the Okanagan Valley.