|
You can travel down the Okanagan Valley, gazing at pastoral vineyards, believing
that the scenery is the work of Vincent van Gogh himself: golden grasslands rolling
up hillsides to meet sun-dappled cliffs and forests of pine and fir. Yet this
region, especially in its southern reaches, is one of Canada’s rarest ecosystems.
That’s where the so-called antelope-brush shrub-steppe grasslands (which
form a fragile home to endangered species such as the western rattlesnake and
spadefoot toad) have been reduced by 60 percent from their historic boundaries.
Each of these species is uniquely adapted to thrive in the hot, arid climate that
also happens to be ideal for growing grapes.
Wine is big business—what was once just 13 British Columbia wineries in
1984 has become 88 in the Okanagan-Similkameen region alone—and there’s
no doubt it has an impact. For this reason environmentalists like Margaret Holm,
program coordinator for the Okanagan Similkameen Conservation Alliance, are working
with the wine industry to ensure rattlesnakes and their desert country neighbours
have a future in the Okanagan. “Many vineyards are on former orchards that
were already cultivated land,” says Holm. “However, when grasslands
and habitats are converted to vineyards, that’s a concern.”
Lisa Cameron, communications manager for the Kelowna-based British Columbia Wine
Institute (which represents 96 percent of B.C.’s wine producers) says, “There
are conservation groups that are interested in protecting native plant species
and right now see agriculture as a threat to those species.” Since grapevines
do well in nutrient-poor soils and face relatively few threats in the Okanagan
from disease and pests (minimizing the need for chemical fertilizers and pesticides),
Cameron says, viticulture has a relatively benign environmental impact compared
to other types of farming and growing in the region. “I think the greatest
threats throughout the province are subdivisions and vacation homes,” Cameron
says. The Institute, along with several other wine industry bodies, is working
toward a sustainable winemaking charter for British Columbia, based in part on
the California model.
Today some Okanagan-Similkameen vintners are embracing concepts like water conservation,
habitat preservation and organic and biodynamic farming—in doing so, they
join a global movement (see page 26) toward greener wine production.
Tucked up against Mt. Kobau, Tinhorn Creek’s stately winery overlooks the
Okanagan Valley, shoulder-to-shoulder with vanishing grasslands. That’s
why owner Kenn Oldfield partnered with the Land Conservancy (a non-profit, charitable
land trust based in British Columbia and modelled after a similar organization
in the U.K.) to rejuvenate a steep hillside in front of the winery, planting native
prickly pear cactus and antelope brush while removing noxious species like cheatgrass
(an invasive weed). The South Okanagan Similkameen Stewardship Program of the
Land Conservancy was brought in to develop a pilot snake-fencing project with
the aim of minimizing encounters between humans (including vineyard staff and
golfers) and the venomous rattlesnake, a species at risk.
Behind the new-age veneer of Summerhill Pyramid Winery, which claims the title
of Canada’s largest certified organic vineyard, there also lies a quiet
conservation ethic. Nearly a decade ago, Summerhill faced a choice: plant more
grapevines on a chunk of wild land or preserve it. Proprietor Stephen Cipes chose
the latter option. With the help of the Land Conservancy, Cipes placed a covenant
on a quarter of Summerhill’s 33 hectares perched above Okanagan Lake, protecting
a wetland, natural springs, rich bird habitat and a pocket of bunchgrass and antelope-brush
habitat. “The land is just so precious,” says Cipes.
The irony of the name Burrowing Owl Estate Winery isn’t lost on anybody
with an inkling about the perilous future of this iconic bird that lives in the
abandoned dens of badgers, but whose natural habitat is quickly vanishing from
the Okanagan. Winery proprietor Jim Wyse donates funds to support efforts to reintroduce
the
burrowing owl. That’s just one of a handful of small environmental initiatives
undertaken at his vineyard: workers are trained to identify and relocate bull
snakes and rattlesnakes when discovered among the vines; natural grasses are planted
between grapevine rows to encourage pest-hungry insects; vine clippings are mulched
and spread out to compost among the vines.
Similarly, at Nk’Mip Cellars, located on Osoyoos Indian Band land, the winery
donates a dollar from every bottle of its exclusive Qwam Qwmt merlot sold to another
nearby band-run enterprise, the Nk’Mip Desert Cultural Centre, which has
a rattlesnake research program, habitat restoration initiatives and interpretive
trails winding through the desert-like environment east of Osoyoos Lake.
Water is top of mind at Mission Hill, Gray Monk and Red Rooster, some of the wineries
currently converting from exposed sprinkler systems to above-ground drip irrigation
systems, which can cut wasteful water evaporation in half, an especially important
decision in a region that receives as little as 30 centimetres of precipitation
annually. “For us, it was a combination of water conservation and a need
to replace an aging irrigation system that was designed for the orchard that was
here before,” says Red Rooster’s winemaker Karen Gillis.
You simply have to believe in the principles of organic farming to justify the
extra cost and effort to go green, says Park Hill Vineyards owner Hans Buchler
with a laugh. Buchler grows eight hectares of grapes north of Oliver, which have
been certified organic since the early 1990s. “Personally, I find organic
farming very fascinating. You have to take a holistic approach to understand processes
in nature and then find solutions to farming problems,” Buchler says. Rather
than spraying pesticides, to fight the voracious Virginia creeper leafhopper Buchler
employs the tiny wasp Anagrus daanei as his principal warrior, along with environmentally
benign soap spray. For soil maintenance, Buchler cultivates nitrogen-fixing legumes
like hairy vetch between rows of grapevines instead of relying on expensive fertilizers
and composts.
The folks at Hainle Vineyards Estate Winery, near Peachland, are still jumping
through approval hoops for organic certification. However head winemaker Jason
Parkes says they’ve been growing grapes and making wine to stringent organic
specifications for the past five years. The winery uses environmentally safe soap
sprays to deal with pests like the leafhopper, and opts for the slow and steady
approach to building soil quality with composted manure and beneficial bacteria.
“Making a good organic wine is more difficult,” Parkes says, “and
it’s labour-intensive. When we get rid of weeds we do it by hand.”
Now that’s cultivating a green thumb.
|
