A significant new viticulture research project on Vancouver Island is boosting the tiny region's sense of self, but the results could help growers across British Columbia understand how their vines will respond to climate variation. The two-year project focuses on managing the physiological ripeness of Pinot Gris, the most widely planted white wine grape in B.C.

Responses to shifts in consumers preferences for low-and no-alcohol beverages, outside of soft drinks, is evident in the establishment of "dry bars" across the U.S., the U.K. and Ireland, and in expanded bar menus to include artisan spirit-free drinks.

Reduced alcohol winemakers could be looking at a bumper year in 2019. A new report is forecasting demand increases for low to no alcohol wines of almost 18% in the US, 7% in the UK, 4% in Germany and 20% in Spain. But it's the brewers who look set to gain.

"We're breathing a sigh of relief, that's for sure," said general manager and winemaker Val Tait of Bench 1775 Winery in Naramata. "I would have pulled the pin a lot earlier, my cutoff is pretty well the middle of January and I've never had a season where we didn't hit ice wine before the middle of January.

It will also be training employees on how to take "safe actions" during thefts and how to be a credible witness to the crimes. The LCBO statement also says it will be implementing new "industry-leading" technology, although it has not provided further details on what that technology is.

Quini® (www.quiniwine.com), the leader in B2B near real-time wine sensory data and technology solutions, today announced QUINI OMNIBUS™. The accessible consumer wine tasting data and analytics dashboard solution enables large, medium and small wine producers, retailers and distributors, to access, analyze and share deep, rich, localized wine consumer and product insight, quickly and cost effectively.

Icewine is a unique sweet wine made from grapes that have been left to freeze naturally on the vine. The taste is like liquid gold.

The research study is a highly useful tool in the hands of market players that allows them to effectively assess the global Ice Wine market and know where they stand in the industry in terms of revenue or sales growth. It comprehensively evaluates the global Ice Wine market with different perspectives for the purpose of providing a detailed, informative, and accurate analysis of regional growth, competition, market segmentation, and other important aspects.

As most of the Okanagan Valley hides inside from the frigid temperatures, some wait all year for the cold. Winemakers are finally getting the cold temperatures needs to make their ice wine and at Summerhill Pyramid Winery things kicked off Sunday night.

Court documents say the corporation that produced, marketed and sold wine from a Beamsville-based winery, which closed somewhere around April 2018, owes the Masters champion golfer about $2.2 million and RBC about $4.3 million.