Winning at wining despite the weather: new tech on trial at Ontario vineyard
Ontario’s wine makers and grape growers are nervously watching the weather, fearing that this year’s harvest could be literally nipped in the bud by an unusually cold winter.
“We’ve gotten very close to the critical temperatures for bud survival for vines for next year’s crop,” says Matthew Speck, the viticulturist at his family’s vineyard and winemaking operation near St. Catharines, Ont., in the heart of Ontario’s best-known wine region. He said this winter reminds him of 2014-2015, when his winery lost 30 per cent of its yield.
Speck notes what others in the industry know well — that temperatures are vitally important and can vary a great deal from place to place, even within a single property.
But this winter has been harsh for all of southern Ontario, including the Niagara region, where Speck helps run the Henry of Pelham Family Estate winery operation, founded by his parents in 1984.