From Dream to Reality: A Vineyard is Born!
By Arlene McInnis

How many times have you sat on a warm, sunny patio while visiting one of your favourite wineries, sipping a delicious sparkling wine made with grapes from the rows and rows of vines stretched out before you? After enjoying a second glass of Chardonnay that originated in the little vineyard to the west, down the little road lined with olive trees, did you not think – I could live here! Then, unable to resist that third glass of Cabernet from the vineyard on the hillside, next to a grove of fig trees, did you not decide that someday you would give up your real job and buy a vineyard?

Unfortunately we all have to return home to jobs and the day-to-day grind. But those memories of that wonderful day in the vineyard will return every time we sip a glass of wine with those perfect flavours and bouquet…and those thoughts of our own vineyard will briefly return.

For my husband Mike and me, those thoughts now keep returning more and more often – because we purchased property on Vancouver Island for retirement!

Our original intent was not to start up a vineyard, as we are city folk, but rather to have enough land for a little garden and a spot to relax in the sun. After spending too many years in the rain forest on Vancouver’s North Shore and working mostly indoors, the island was so tempting. Our new property was a sunny ten-acre hay field with some perimeter trees and lots of wild blackberries. We called it our “blank slate.”

But where to start and what to do?

While visiting the property one day after a lovely lunch and bottle of wine at a charming local café, those thoughts of establishing a vineyard surfaced once again. Why not? After all, the land was perfectly situated, with a west and south exposure, there was sufficient available water, and there were already numerous vineyards in the area. Could we do it? Could we not do it? How difficult could it be? So our journey began: could two city people actually figure out how to create a vineyard from a hay field?

Let’s find out……

Spring 2007: Starting with a Hay Field

Our property is in Central Saanich and was a former strawberry farm that apparently grew some of the best berries on the island. But for the last few years the land had been a hay field leased to a local farmer.

We just up and decided should be able to grow grapes!

The property is in B.C.’s Agricultural Land Reserve, which means to be eligible for greatly reduced property taxes, the land had to be used agriculturally. Fortunately, the list of appropriate activities was quite variable. As we read through the list of approved agricultural uses, another thought was triggered. You know, the idea one has while enjoying a fabulous fresh breakfast on a private terrace at that “oh so adorable” vineyard Bed & Breakfast. That’s right – if we were going to attempt one project we knew nothing about, we might as well add another to the mix! So now the seed was firmly planted in our minds for Blackberry Ridge Vineyard, Farm and B&B.

The first step was to find out if our plans would comply with the local zoning regulations. We got the green light, and it was so easy. The next step was to arrange for a ‘perc’ test for a septic field to make sure we could build a home on the property. Again, we passed with flying colours. So off we went to have our home designed. Another process we were new to, and we had no idea as to the cost and time involved to have plans created. But it gave us the time to talk with some of the locals involved in grape-growing and wine-making. We discovered a wonderful organization called the Wine Islands Growers Association (WIGA). We joined and participated in some of their vineyard workshops over the next few months to get a handle on what grape-growing involves. This is where we were almost stopped in our tracks.

There were so many concerns: healthy vines on proper root stock, botrytis, powdery mildew, wire worms, degree-day calculations, soil preparation, management and nutrition, lack of labour, vine spacing, trellising, irrigation, deer fencing, rabbit fencing, bird netting, wasps, electric fencing for the raccoons, and on it went.

We’d always heard the best wine comes from vines that struggle. Obviously not the case on idyllic Vancouver Island. There were some specific grape varieties that had survived the local climate over time, and others that ended up on the “definitely should not be planted” list.

We also found that to establish a vineyard that would properly nurture grape vines would cost – gulp – up to $30,000 an acre. Gone were our visions of acres of Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon and maybe some Pinot Noir grapes. Back to the drawing board (and the wine bar) to start sampling local grape varieties.

One reprieve from all this reality was that we had some time to rethink our original plan and to research what local growers were doing. The summer was spent visiting more vineyards, chatting with wine makers and our local agrologist about what else we could grow. It was becoming quite obvious that our vineyard would be starting off as a small part of our property. Most people we talked with were positive about our plans and offered valuable, welcomed advice. As the summer ended and the hay was harvested from our land, we were starting to feel a bit more optimistic and a bit more “rural” every time we visited our property. We had started to meet our new neighbours and were immediately made to feel part of the community. We were finally working with a home designer and anticipated plans early in the New Year. I had acquired a couple of great publications on vineyards: From Vines to Wines by Jeff Cox and the British Columbia Ministry of Agriculture and Lands Best Practices Guide for Grapes. I poured over these books with my yellow hi-lighter. Meanwhile, Mike was eagerly planning our home and testing recipes for B&B breakfasts (yum!). It had become obvious that our vineyard would not be planted the following spring. We still had a lot to learn and knew we had a lot to accomplish over the winter.

Winter 2007/08: Oops!

Guess what?? Things don’t always happen on your timetable.

After numerous trips to the island to meet with our designer, it became clear we weren’t connecting – too much time and money without getting our vision onto paper. So we parted ways and began the search for a new designer. This set us back almost a year and would also push back the planting of the vineyard. Baby vines need attention and we wanted to be living on the property when we planted. Things weren’t looking good for planting in 2009 either. But we regarded this time as a chance to gather even more information. We were becoming the most knowledgeable growers in the area without a vine in the ground! With the help of some friends in Vancouver, we found a new architect and connected immediately. He truly understood our vision of a country-style home surrounded by a vineyard with a separate B&B suite that would provide our guests with a farm/vineyard experience. Once again we were excited about our plans and tried not to dwell on the wasted time. In the interim, I spent took courses and planned the B&B. Another project with lots to learn!

Summer 2008: One Small Grapevine

We continued to participate in as many WIGA events as possible and things started making more sense. I’m sure we were the first members they had who didn’t have a vine in the ground or who didn’t even live in the area. It was inspiring to visit some of the older vineyards in the area and to see new ones that had recently planted their vines. For fun, I purchased a small grape vine for my deck in North Vancouver to watch how a vine actually grows. I was intrigued by the pruning program that is so crucial to vine management. Again – this is not something that crosses your mind when drinking a glass of wine as you languidly gaze at a vineyard in Europe or B.C. Each book or article I read promoted a different way to prune, a different method of trellising. We visited numerous local vineyards and wineries and listened to the different experiences and ideas each grower and winemaker had about their product. It was becoming clear we would need to make many decisions ourselves, and hopefully our choices would result in success three to four years down the road when the first grapes would be harvested. Grape growing requires a lot of patience, total understanding of your vines and confidence that you are following the best program for them to thrive. The reward comes slowly, as you watch your vines develop from year to year. That little vine on my deck produced one cluster of beautiful purple grapes – only to be devoured a few days before harvest by a local squirrel. I was learning early about the perils our vineyard would be confronting!

Winter 2008/09: Another Dose of Reality

With each visit to our architect, we could see our vision getting closer and closer to reality. Trips to the property now involved sitting on our planned terrace overlooking our planned vineyard with the mountains in the distance. We paced out where the deer fence would go and how the vines would frame the B&B suite and patios. We decided it was time to start getting the land ready for home construction and vineyard prep over the summer. For our home to have a true country setting, we needed to build off the main road by about 700 feet. Our architect had designed a layout for a winding country-style road into the property that would have guests passing beside the vineyard on the way to the house. As we staked the path of the road with our contractor in November, I could actually see in my mind rows of vines and clusters of ripe, juicy grapes greeting those who visited.

As the house plans neared completion we learned how complicated and expensive building our little road would be. Again, as city folk, we never thought twice about how the power, water, cable, phone and a heat source actually arrived at our home. Beside our beautiful winding country road we needed to dig a four-foot deep, five-foot wide trench to carry the services. The power company needed to put up a new pole on the street and we would need a transformer as we would be far enough off the road that the electricity would need a boost. To get the proper water flow for crop irrigation we would have to install larger sized pipes. We also found out the natural gas pipeline was way down the road, and it would cost $10,000 to have it extended to our property. Now it finally made sense as to why our neighbours had propane tanks in their yards…

The district took forever to approve the removal of some dead trees along the road to create a new entrance to the property. The power people were busy repairing damage from a record-breaking cold and snowy winter, so we waited some more. We finally broke ground on the road in February and completion would come in May.

Spring 2009: Deep Ripping

With each visit we could see our vision unfolding. The digging of the trench which ran right through the area where the vineyard would go provided the perfect opportunity to really inspect the soil and have some sampling done. The soil showed reasonable top soil but a hard, gravely layer starting around two feet down. This layer would have to be broken up to allow better drainage and spaces for the roots of the vines to travel. Our agrologist sent me information on what this process involved. Included with his advice were You Tube clips of large caterpillar tractors pulling huge prongs through the soil to depths of up to seven feet. This was our introduction to deep ripping! My vision of gently digging holes in the land with my spade and tenderly planting baby vines while the birds chirped softly in the background quickly disappeared after seeing the violent clips of the soil being attacked by the loud destructive machines! But this process would be necessary to ensure the vines would have a long and healthy life. We were quickly learning the behind-the-scenes procedures required to establish our tranquil and romantic vineyard.

It was now two years since we purchased our acreage, and we finally had house plans! We also had a beautiful new road, a tap near the home site with running water, results from our soil sampling and vastly increased knowledge of what needed to be done to create our vineyard. In May we attended a WIGA grower’s conference, again feeling a little odd as we still didn’t have a vine in the ground, and yet we left with more solid plans about what needed to be done. We met many more local growers and winemakers and sampled wines made from locally- grown grapes. We had decided to start our vineyard with eight rows, each 100 feet long, of two different whites and two different reds. We wanted to grow some varieties that were new to the area but which exhibited qualities needed to thrive and survive the local challenges. There were many growers experimenting and getting good results with new varieties being developed locally. I was able to meet one local grower who was promoting a variety called Schoenberger – a wonderfully, tasty white grape that also is good for eating right off the vine. She was eager for others to cultivate it and on our next visit I returned home with 32 baby vines to nurture on my deck in North Vancouver in preparation for planting in the spring of 2010. A vineyard is born!

The following months will involve actual vineyard prep. Hay removal from the vineyard site, deep ripping, planting a cover crop over the land for the winter, fencing and irrigation planning. A builder will be chosen for the home and construction should start. But most importantly we will select the remaining three varieties of grapes to be planted in the spring!

Note from Editor-in-Chief Ellen Schoeck: Watch for Part Two of Arlene MacInnis’ story this winter.