Wine producers around Southern Georgian Bay are taking a closer look at the damage caused by the winter’s extreme cold.

Mike Todd was out surveying the grape vines at the Coffin Ridge Winery in Meaford on Monday. He was looking closely at small fruit buds to see if cold weather this winter caused any damage.

“I'm looking to see if the primary bud is still alive, because when it grows that is the bud that will produce fruit for us and obviously fruit is what we are after to make wine,” he says.

That cold has resulted in some damage to the vines in the region. Further south in the Niagara region, temperatures also dipped below -20 C, where more cold sensitive varieties of grapes like Syrah, Merlot and Chardonnay are grown. Losses are expected to vary from vineyard to vineyard.

At the Georgain Hills Vineyards, Robert Ketchin expects his crop to be down 30 per cent to 50 per cent for the second year in a row and that may force the winery to reconsider some of the types of grapes being grown.

“The reality is some are hardier than others, and as we go along over the next five years, we will adjust our vineyards and definitely learned from these harsh winters.”

Even so, there will be no shortage of wine. Ketchin says there are thousands of cases of wine in storage from past vintages to help supplement their supply. Back at Coffin Ridge, Todd says he will change the way vines are pruned this year, so he can take advantage of all the fruit buds that are there.

“We are going to prune around the damage, which shouldn't be too much of a problem,” says Todd. “I haven’t checked the back of the vineyard, which is probably more damaged. If it's 70 per cent damaged we will have to manage it differently. “

Grape growers will have a better idea what this year’s crop will be like later this spring, when the vines start to blossom.

Source - http://barrie.ctvnews.ca/