Bud death a concern at vineyards following cold snap

• Recent cold weather concerning for growers
• Winter focus is pruning
• Growers won’t know extent of any damage yet

Wine growers across the Okanagan are waiting to see what impact the recent cold snap had on their crops.

When the mercury drops below -20C, bud death becomes a concern.

“The buds that form that are supposed to grow shoots and fruit the next year might have died or been damaged and won’t perform next year," Felix Egerer told Kelowna10. He is the vineyard manager and viticulturist at Tantalus Vineyards.

"If it gets even colder than [-20C], some of the trunks can split and you might lose an entire vine.”

Egerer said growers won’t know if any trunk splitting happened until spring. Bud death will become apparent once temperatures warm up.

To find out if bud death occurred, growers remove sample canes, defrost them for two days, dissect them with razor blades and examine them with magnifying lenses.

“The damage, if it’s there, is already done. We can only do our best to mitigate it and just have to roll with the punches. It’s farming. Nature always bats last,” Egerer said.

If too many vines die, it will impact how much wine the vineyard can produce.

Optimistically, Egerer said the thick layer of snow on the ground may have offered insulation to protect the plants.

Egerer said growers may have to accept cold snaps as a new normal.

“It’s something I think we’ll have to get used to going forward, that it’s a part of winter here,” Egerer said. “And we might have to adjust the way we farm accordingly.”