2025 Vineyard Update
The vineyards are coming back to life with activity as we ease out of the winter season.
This year brought a typical Okanagan winter, with temperatures ranging from -5°C to +5°C. We experienced a cold snap during the first two weeks of February, where the mercury dipped to -14°C at its lowest on our vineyards. Fortunately, that’s still above the threshold where bud damage starts to occur, which is usually around -18°C. After two particularly harsh winters, this gentler season gave the vines a much-needed break and a chance to recover.
We began farming in early February with pre-pruning from the tractors and moved straight into pruning the vineyards by hand. The cold, stable weather helped keep the vines dormant. By mid-March, we noticed sap starting to flow from the pruning cuts — a sure sign that the vines are waking up. Pruning is now nearly complete, and next, we’ll begin tying down the new canes.
This season, we plan to replant 8 acres of vineyard. These blocks were hit hard by the deep freeze in January 2024 and didn’t pull through. Five of those acres will be replanted with grafted vines, using a more cold-hardy varietal that’s better suited to withstand future temperature dips.
The remaining 3 acres sit on flatter ground and will be replanted with own-rooted vines. The Hollers have been busy propagating these from their own vineyard prunings, and they’ll be planted in June. Using self-rooted vines in these blocks should give us a stronger chance of long-term success if extreme winter weather returns.
– Chris Holler, Vice President
