The Grower January 2018

Page 1

JANUARY 2018

CELEBRATING 139 YEARS AS CANADA’S PREMIER HORTICULTURAL PUBLICATION

THEGROWER.ORG

A CASE FOR THE RED AND WHITE NATION

As the grape industry naturally ages, future trends emerge

Growing grapes and getting paid to grow grapes are two different things. As Gerald Klose recounts his 40 years of ‘paid’ duty, he points out that every season is different and that learning never stops. He was honoured this past year with BASF Canada’s Cuvée Vineyard of Excellence Award. In his role as director of viticulture, east, Arterra Wines Canada, he shares some of his canopy management wisdom in a Chardonnay block at his personal Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario vineyard. Photo by Glenn Lowson. KAREN DAVIDSON The untimely death of Karl Kaiser marks a pivotal moment in the Canadian grape and wine business. At 76, he was revered as an icon of the industry co-founding Inniskillin Wines along with Donald Ziraldo in 1975. The advent – and ascent -

- of Icewine in Canada is attributed to this duo. Kaiser made it. Ziraldo marketed it. As industry friends attended his memorial in Niagara-on-theLake in early December 2017, they were reminded of how far the Ontario cool-climate region has evolved – in its viticultural practices, its winemaking and its marketing as a destination for

quality wine. No one knows the story better than Gerald Klose because he was at the side of these two pioneers decades ago. “What a crazy idea we thought Icewine was,” recalls Klose, not believing that the ‘eiswein’ of Kaiser’s Austrian birthplace could be made in Canada. “We produced only 200 litres the first year.”

Klose witnessed the early failures of handpicking when it was too warm and breaking machine parts when it was too cold. Only when the farmers got to that sweet spot of picking grapes at minus 10°C to minus 12°C, did the process start to work. “Then the machine harvester worked brilliantly with frozen

grapes that rippled through the netting like marbles,” says Klose. Today, Gerald Klose is director of viticulture, east for Arterra Wines Canada, responsible for 650 acres and liaising with 100 growers from all appellations. With 40 seasons of experience, he’s seen it all. Continued on page 3

REGISTRATION OPENS JANUARY 8! VANCOUVER 2018

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Competitiveness study PG 8

Volume 68 Number 01

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Berries, grapes & vineyards PG 14


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