#MyWineAdventure Contest Trivia Question #2

Well hey there you crazy cats!  It's Jess here, from Farm to Glass Wine Tours.

Does anyone know how many grape varieties grow in BC?  We're talking about combined total of white grapes, red grapes, grapes that are from the vitis vinifera family as well as hybrids?  Well that is the question on the #MyWineAdventure trivia contest that you can find on here on Instagram.  

The possible answers are:  A) 72 B) 91 C) 49 or D) 26 

Make sure you answer on Instagram to be entered for a chance to win a free wine adventure for the 2022 season!

So what do you think the answer is?  You may also be asking yourself, "what is a hybrid?"... that's also a great question I will answer in another future blog post.  

Based on the data collected from the BC Wine Grape Acreage Report, and whether I can actually count correctly, ha!  The answer is:

B) 91! 

That's broken down into 74 vitis vinifera varieties (the wine grapes we all know and love) and 17 hybrids* (if this word still makes you scratch your head, it's as if a European wine grape and a North American table grape had a baby).  You could call me a hybrid fan, one of my favourites being the Cayuga grape because I like to scream it out to the world..... CAYUUUUUUUUUUUUUGAH!  Can you hear it?  Ha!

But 94... that's something, isn't it?  Name of grape variety, and we probably have it.   Sangiovese, yep.  Cinsault, yep.  Grüner Veltliner, also have that.  We might be better off trying to name grapes we DON'T have.  

Here's a list of grapes grown in BC, in order of acres planted, and before you start reading this list, maybe pour yourself a glass of wine to get ready, because it's long.

All acreage reports were rounded up or down as required

Red grapes planted in British Columbia:

• Merlot 1619 acres
• Pinot Noir 1332 acres
• Cabernet Sauvignon 853 acres
• Cabernet Franc 720 acres
• Syrah 554 acres
• Gamay Noir 190 acres
• Malbec 122 acres
• Maréchal Foch* 115 acres
• Petit Verdot 76 acres
• Zweigelt 41 acres
• Pinot Meunier 27 acres
• Zinfandel 23 acres
• Tempranillo 20 acres
• Marquette* 15 acres
• Carménère 14 acres
• Blattner Cabernet Fock* 14 acres
• Pinotage 14 acres
• Baco Noir* 12 acres
• Sangiovese 10 acres
• Léon Millot* 10 acres
• Frontenac Noir* 10 acres
• Blattner Brickett Rd* 9 acres
• Lemberger 8 acres
• Chancellor 7 acres
• Blattner Cabernet Libre*
• Grenache 6 acres
• Dunkelfelder 5 acres
• Mourvèdre 4 acres
• Castel* 4 acres
• Barbera 4 acres
• Dolcetto 4 acres
• Tannat 3 acres
• Concord 3 acres
• Rotberger 3 acres
• Dornfelder 2 acres
• Rosette 2 acres
• Nebbiolo 2 acres
• Chambourcin 2 acres
• Teroldego 2 acres
• Touriga Nacional 2 acres
• Alicante, Petit Sirah, Cinsault, Regent*, St. Laurent, Lucie Kuhlman, Agria all have plantings under 1 acre!

Fun fact!  Not listed here is the Italian grape Montepulciano which has been planted in Naramata!  

Ok, so that was a lot... and it was only the reds.  But what about the whites?  Maybe pour yourself another glass, because here we go:

White grapes planted in British Columbia: 

• Pinot Gris 1166 acres
• Chardonnay 1132 acres
• Gewürztraminer 646 acres
• Riesling 613 acres
• Sauvignon Blanc 403 acres
• Viognier 234 acres
• Pinot Blanc 232 acres
• Muscat 10 acres
• Ehrenfelser 65 acres
• Sémillon 56 acres
• Siegerrebe 51 acres
• Ortega 49 acres
• Bacchus 49 acres
• Auxerrois 43 acres
• Vidal* 43 acres
• Chenin Blanc 33 acres
• Schönburger 28 acres
• Chasselas 26 acres
• Rousanne 26 acres
• Kerner 25 acres
• Petit Milo* 20 acres
• Grüner Veltliner 13 acres
• Frontenac Blank/Gris* 13 acres
• Madeleine Angevine 13 acres
• Sovereign Opal* 12 acres
• La Crescent* 12 acres
• Optima 10 acres
• Müller Thurgau 10 acres
• Marsanne 7 acres
• Sylvaner 6 acres
• Albariño 6 acres
• Oraniensteiner 5 acres
• Madeleine Sylvaner 5 acres
• Traminer 4 acres
• Trebbiano 3 acres
• Reichensteiner 3 acres
• L'Acadie Blanc 3 acres
• Orange Muscat 2 acres
• Verdejo 2 acres
• Verdelet* 2 acres
• Perle of C'saba, Seyval Blanc*, Savagnin and Siefriedrebe have all less than 1 acre each!

Well, friends... we made it.  It's pretty unbelievable that our small wine growing region can grow so many varieties of grapes.  

Do you have a favourite grape?  Let me know!

And as always,

Be Kind.  Drink Wine.

xoxo Jess

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