17 Harvests in the Okanagan
Talking with Valerie Tait, viticulturist for Poplar Grove Winery and the new Painted Rock Winery
When Tait started in the industry, the Okanagan wine scene was in its infancy with only about 17 wineries and 1,500 acres of vineyards. "I kind of fell into consulting through my work for the research station," says Tait. After starting with an undergraduate degree in Biochemistry, Tait took on various research projects for what is now the Pacific Agri-Food Research Centre (PARC), a role that eventually proved too lab-bound for Tait. "I was studying plant viruses and I would get a lot of calls from grape growers to come and look at their vines," says Tait. Ultimately, most of the growers' issues were something other than viruses; the problems they were having arising more from inexperience growing the vinifera vines that were starting to increase in number in the valley. "I found I loved being out in the field rather than stuck in a lab at three o'clock in the morning," reflects Tait.
With so few wineries around in the early 90s, Tait consulted to both fruit growers and grape growers, eventually becoming fascinated with viticulture and starting to direct her future in that direction. The seasonal nature of grape growing worked well with pursuing her education; she spent summers helping growers of the Okanagan and used winters to take viticulture courses, first at Corvallis in Oregon followed by the University of California - Davis. It is testament to Tait that, even after experiencing so many Okanagan vintages, she still has a passion to learn and advance her own understanding of the unique Okanagan growing conditions.
In 1998, a dinner party conversation with winemakers Ross and Cherie Mirko led to a flirtation with winery ownership. Together, they formed Calliope, a brand that was created to show what was possible with the best grapes and great winemaking. The small project, done in their "spare time," lasted for four years, from 1998 to 2002. Though Calliope was short-lived, Tait still has a burning passion to one day take a small parcel of wine from vineyard through to bottle on her own, not for business, but as a labour of love.
"There aren't many wineries and growers I haven't done some work for in the [Okanagan] Valley," says Tait. Her own consulting business operated until 2004 when she took on her first full-time role as viticulturist for Mission Hill Family Estate. She was at Mission Hill until the end of the 2006 harvest, at which point she began working on the Poplar Grove developments. "I have been very lucky to work for people with the resources to really make efforts to understand the unique conditions of the Okanagan," says Tait. All this is part of Tait's drive to figure out how to get the best out of Okanagan grapes. Val has continued her education in recent years by visiting international vineyards and by bringing in top consultants to Poplar Grove from around the world to provide their unique perspective. "I have probably learnt the most from consultant Alfred Cass," says Tait. "He has helped us with feedback on unique soil conditions and the interaction with rootstocks, and our plans for quality."
I ask Val how she has seen the industry develop and the major changes that have taken place during her career. "It has changed a lot over the last decade, from pioneers doing everything on a shoestring and learning as they go to a very business oriented, disciplined industry," she says, "With the high entry cost for getting into the business, there are obviously higher expectations on returns." This new big business ethic of the B.C. wine industry has been the cause of some noteworthy developments in viticulture.
A lot of this is about understanding each individual site: its soil, climate and what varieties, rootstocks and management combinations are going to make the best wine. Tait, along with Alfred Cass, has been involved in developing a new ripping tyne (for breaking up the sub-soil prior to planting) and is installing weather stations at each vineyard to really understand each site's unique mesoclimate. A state-of-the-art Motorola irrigation system is being used at Poplar that monitors soil moisture, temperature, rainfall and irrigation flow pressures, a system that Tait can control via her laptop through the web. Tait's policy of as little disturbance to the natural land shape as possible has led to the purchase of new low-compaction Japanese Yanmar track-tractors that can work effectively on all kinds of slopes.
Having just completed the bizarre 2008 vintage, the topic of global warming keeps coming up in our conversation. The uncertain weather this season has provided incentive for Tait to do some research. Calculations comparing historical data with temperatures over the past five years unearthed some alarming trends. Rather than a steady increase in temperature, as we have been promised through global warming, she has found that the last five years, in most sites of the Okanagan, have actually seen an increase in the number of cool days and a decrease in the number of hot days. The weather is actually trending cooler, an issue that Tait has slated for further research.
As someone with 17 harvests under her belt, Tait is starting to see certain grape varieties emerge as the future for B.C. wine. At a time when many wineries are further expanding what is on offer, Tait argues instead that they should be narrowing focus. "I think wineries will tighten their portfolios and focus on the varieties that make the best quality wines," says Tait. "Some varieties, such as cabernet sauvignon, are proving too difficult to consistently ripen here, and are just too challenging." Her money is on varieties such as pinot gris, chardonnay, riesling, cabernet franc, merlot, syrah and malbec.
Ever positive and confident of the potential for B.C. wines, Tait is optimistic about the future. "The B.C. wines have come so far, and I want to be part of making a truly incredible wine, something that is globally respected." This constant drive and willingness to learn is part of her success. "We need to make consistently better quality wines, less one-off successes," says Tait. "I want to grow the best and we are getting closer all the time." With this attitude, the B.C. wine industry has itself a great asset.
Read profiles of more influential people in the B.C. wine world:
Bernie Hadley Beauregard
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