(Winesandvines) - Growers, wineries scrambling to secure fruit for 2018 and keep up with demand

Oliver, British Columbia—Wineries in British Columbia’s Okanagan Valley are scrambling to secure fruit amid rising prices for land and grapes.

The shortage of grapes is a the result of both a strong market for B.C. wines, sales of which increased to about 1.56 million cases in the 12 months ended March 31, up around 65% from 955,000 cases five years ago, as well as a move by large wineries to secure their supplies of grapes.

“We have seen both the big guys consolidating their holdings and many of the small, independent growers converting over to wineries,” Joe Luckhurst, managing partner with Road 13 Vineyards in Oliver, told Wines & Vines. “This has led to a shortage of independent growers and an end to much of the contracted fruit that wineries have previously relied upon.

” Red varieties, which account for approximately 51% of the 10,260 acres of vineyard in B.C., but just 47% of the 32,706 tons harvested in 2017, are in particularly short supply.