A comprehensive look at BC wine today.
Wine Growers British Columbia gathered the province’s leading producers under one roof for the annual Swirl Around BC Wine Expo, an exclusive day-long celebration designed for trade and media. More than 60 wineries representing the province’s diverse growing regions poured their latest releases, offering a comprehensive look at the state of BC wine today.
The day unfolded in two parts: a dynamic walkaround tasting of new releases and a series of curated seminars tackling the industry’s most pressing challenges.
Black Hills Estate Winery.
The tasting floor provided opportunities to revisit established icon wineries including Mission Hill Family Estate, Black Hills Estate, and Meyer Family Vineyards, while also uncovering rising stars such as Lightning Rock, Black Market Wine Co., and River Stone Estate Winery.
The room offered a panoramic snapshot of BC’s evolving wine landscape, one that illustrated the region’s dual identity: still young enough to be dynamic and experimental, yet mature enough to have established benchmarks.
The highlight of the event was the seminar “Soil to Shelf Innovation in BC Wine”, moderated by Master of Wine Rhys Pender. The panel brought together a powerhouse of industry voices:
- Michael Bartier, Co-owner & winemaker at Bartier Bros Winery
- Rowan Stewart, winemaker at Quail’s Gate Winery
- Josie Tyabji, owner of Gneiss Wines
- Stephen Neumann, Brand Ambassador for Wild Goose Winery
Their discussion underscored one central theme: wine may be the most complex small business you could ever be in.
Seminar moderator Rhys Pender.
As Pender framed it, “Every harvest feels different now in BC. We have to be nimbler than ever, but that’s also where the opportunity lies.”
Wineries today must navigate farming, manufacturing, sales, marketing, and an intricate web of regulations made even more complicated because the end product is alcohol.
Farming, the foundation of winemaking, is where the pressures of climate change are most visible. Winter freezes, heat domes, and extreme temperature swings are rewriting the rules of viticulture in the Okanagan and beyond.
The pressures of climate change are most visible in the vineyard.
“Right now, the biggest bogeyman is winter freeze, but we’re also still experiencing a lot of heat stress,” explained Rowan Stewart. “The Okanagan, if you measure from the heat domes we had in 2021 to the winter,is showing 75 degrees delta in low temperature to high temperature, which is one of the highest variations of any wine region in the world. So, it’s a constant issue and you’re not just trying to solve one thing.”
Producers are responding with both old-world grit and new-world ingenuity.
Phantom Creek uses an optical sorter for selecting optimum fruit for its press.
Michael Bartier pointed out how mechanization is proving to be a game-changer. “If you talk to someone doing mechanical harvesting right now, they’re ending up with a magnificently clean, perfect harvest without any blemishes…and they’re fast. Try doing 40 tonnes of Chardonnay by hand on a 35-degree day as opposed to the same amount picked by a machine in the cool of the night, done in two hours.”
Bartier added that today’s biggest innovations aren’t necessarily about shiny new equipment but about data-driven decision-making.
Information and analysis is easier and more accessible than ever.
“Most innovation available is in the data being used in the right way at the right time; the accuracy of weather and wind forecasts, the ability to measure, forecast, and predict..all of this knowledge leads to much better production practices.”
Of course, climate change doesn’t stop at the vineyard. It’s reshaping decisions in the cellar, too. Stephen Neumann noted how unpredictable weather is dictating the timing of harvests and blending choices: “Picking some fruit earlier for acidity and the balance later for ripeness and blending together is becoming a much more common practice.”
Finally shedding the ‘young’ label.
Beyond techniques, BC’s identity as a wine region is also shifting. “Here in BC we’re finally shedding this image of being a ‘young’ wine industry, which is super exciting,” Neumann said. “These new developments are being tried and fully understood before we decide to either keep them or not.”
For Josie Tyabji, one of the most striking shifts is in how quickly information circulates among growers. “The sharing of information, whether to do with technology or pruning or other farming techniques, is happening so quickly now, and it isn’t just shared regionally but globally.”
This collaborative spirit is one of BC’s strongest assets. Innovation here isn’t just about adopting new tools; it’s about cultivating resilience as a community of winemakers facing the same existential challenges.
Beyond the vineyard and cellar, innovation is also reshaping how BC wine is marketed and consumed. Transparency is the new currency, and younger drinkers are rewriting the rulebook.
More than half of all BC wineries are producing Rosé.
Consumers are leaning toward lighter, fresher styles and lower-alcohol wines. “Rosés are noticeably growing in popularity thanks to being lighter, but they’re also more serious now,” said Tyabji, noting how Rosés have evolved beyond summertime sipping.
The younger generation is also more adventurous with grape varieties. “They’re far more open to lesser-known varieties of grapes,” said Rowan Stewart, though he highlighted the long-term challenge: “The life of a vineyard is 30–50 years, so it’s not easy to change varieties from a farming perspective. Trying to predict where the market is going means choosing varieties that are versatile.”
That same generation is less inclined to build deep cellars or commit to traditional wine clubs. Instead, they gravitate toward experiences, variety, and wine trends; something BC producers are increasingly adapting to.
Veraison in the vineyard.
Looking ahead, experimentation with non-traditional grapes, hybrids, and fungus-resistant varieties is gaining traction worldwide, from Champagne to the Netherlands. In BC, where climate extremes are forcing a rethink of what’s possible, such exploration is poised to play an important role in the region’s evolution.
The Swirl Around BC Wine Expo underscored a powerful truth: BC is defining its place on the global wine stage not by imitation, but by leaning into its strengths: diversity, adaptability, and authenticity.
Innovation here is less about staying on trend and more about survival, resilience, and community. As Michael Bartier reminded the audience: “The best example of a bottle of wine made now is no different from the best example of a bottle of wine made 50 years ago…what is different though is that we’re making so much more good wine. And it’s not because of an increase in production, it’s because of the information we now have.”
In an era when every harvest brings new challenges, BC wine is proving its place at home and abroad not by avoiding adversity, but by adapting, collaborating, and thriving under pressure.
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