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in southern B.C. appellations. Although,
she says that could change as a result of
warmer temperatures associated with
climate change.
Project GIS-based
Bowen grew up in Kimberley, B.C., and has
a PhD in viticulture and ecology from the
University of California, Davis. She initiated
her terroir mapping project 20 years ago,
not long after joining the Ag Canada
research team in Summerland.
“Because I was so interested in terroir
and appellations, one of the first things we
did was develop a geographic information
system (GIS) for the industry here,” said
Bowen. “That started with mapping every
vineyard in the Okanagan/Similkameen,
down to individual variety blocks.”
As a result, she said, “We’re a rare
area where nearly everything has been
mapped and characterized, including
soils and topography.”
The GIS works as a framework which
holds a huge amount of data that’s been
collected over the years by such means as
old-fashioned, boots on the ground soil
sampling and more advanced techniques
involving sensor technologies, drones and
satellite imagery.
Bowen believes all these data points,
like how much growing season heat a
vineyard receives and the type of soil it sits
on, paint a valuable picture of what areas
within the Okanagan and Similkameen
appellations are best suited for different
varieties of wine grapes, but also how
they’re grown.
For instance, on the Naramata Bench
area where Bowen lives, the soil is a fine
textured silt loam capable of holding a
lot of water. For this reason, vineyards in
this area generally don’t require as much
irrigation as do vineyards in the south end
of the valley near Osoyoos, which have
sandy soils that hold little water.
Osoyoos also has 1,600 growing
degree days, a measure of its growing
season heat. Bowen says that’s similar to
conditions in Bordeaux, France, and Napa
Valley, Calif., which grow mostly red wine
varieties that require a lot of heat to ripen.
Head 125 kilometres north to Kelowna,
this region has 1,200 growing degree days,
around the same as Burgundy, France,
and the coastal valleys of Oregon, and
northern California, that are renowned for
producing fine Pinot Noir.
COV E R F E AT U R E
Naramata Bench in the Okanagan Valley
FALL 2020 § POURED CANADA § 21
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