Fires in British Columbia

[Innkeeper]

Has anybody heard how the vineyards are faring up there?

[Bucko]

No vineyards have been hit yet as of yesterday, according to Golddigger cellars. I sent an email to Amy and she said lots of homes have been ravaged, but no vineyards.

[Innkeeper]

There were some folks from there at our B&B on Grand Manan who were terrified their home was in danger. They went to check on it, and we never saw them again. They may have been leaving that day anyway, but needless to say, it left many of us very apprehensive.

[winer]

I can tell you categorically that at least one winery has been burnt, along with some portion of their vinyard. St Hubertus is the name of the winery, for those who are familiar with the Okanagan wineries in British Columbia.

[Thomas]

Winer, I don't know enough about BC wineries: is this a big or small one? How much burnt?

[Bucko]

St. Hubertus' wine shop, production facility and a family home (one saved) were destroyed by the fire. The storage room containing the inventory is undamaged, as are the vineyards.

[Thomas]

Wow. That's sad.

[winer]

Foodie, St Hubertus is a small (even by BC standards) winery, but it does sell some wines to the BC liquor Distribution Branch. This means that those wines get distributed across the province. It is larger than a "farm gate" operation. Their wines are well regarded in the province, and they have won a number of medals at Canadian wine competitions.

There is a St Hubertus page at Winepress Northwest (http://www.winepressnw.com/)

[Thomas]

Thanks, winer.