How was 2007’s grape yield?

A story today in the paper described the illegal practice in France of adding extra sugar to compensate for lack of grapes got us asking how 2007's weather will affect BC wine.

Chaptalization, as it is known is a common, and legal, practice particularly in cooler climates like New York state and the Champagne region. But when sugar is being used to compensate for lack of fruit in Californian or Bordeaux wines, this is known as falsification.

Falsify, and expect the flatfoots to arrive in these places.

2007 was a tough year weather-wise in BC by any measure. Few long periods of heat, lots of cool patches all summer long, and virtually no Indian Summer to extend the harvest. Poor growing conditions results in low sugar in the grapes.

We'll be asking around what the grape yields of 2007 were like, what we can expect in terms of the 2007 vintages, and of course, sharing it with you on BC Wine Lover.