Douglas Weekly 2024

Douglas Weekly – July 29

July 29, 2024

photo of Janet Docherty, co-owner of Merridale Cidery — Janet Docherty, co-owner of Merridale Cidery and Distillery.

IN THE KNOW:

Local cidery shines at Seattle competition

Merridale Cidery & Distillery has been awarded Gold for its Traditional, Mo’moro, and Merri Berri ciders at North America’s largest and most comprehensive cider awards, the Seattle International Cider & Perry Awards.

It was also recently awarded Silver for its Cowichan Dry and a Double Gold for Merri Berri at the 7th annual Cidercraft Awards, a competition spearheaded by the first and only print publication dedicated to cider in the Americas and around the world.

“It’s been many years since we have entered competitions, however, entering these competitions gives us the opportunity to highlight our cellar and distillery,” said Janet Docherty, owner of Merridale. “Our team is incredibly skilled, passionate, and dedicated to craft. I want to congratulate Jeff Phillips, our Cider Master, and the rest of his team for staying true to craft and caring so much about what Merridale creates. These awards belong to them.”

Province allots funds to help B.C. wineries

B.C. vineyards negatively impacted by a colder than usual winter will receive provincial support to help save the 2024 vintage.

A media release says the devastating loss of grapes and damage to vines due to freezing weather, and other climate-related disasters such as wildfires has resulted in growing uncertainty for the industry. Without intervention in response to the January 2024 deep freeze, many wineries have said they face substantial financial losses and possible cuts to thousands of direct and indirect jobs, including the loss of highly specialized wine makers and cellar masters whose expertise is integral to the industry.

This targeted support will offer wineries the option to address costs associated with importing grapes and grape juice in relation to producing B.C. wine. This will allow B.C. wineries to plan for the production of a 2024 replacement vintage, retain jobs and contribute to the province’s tourism sector.

The wine industry generates approximately $3.75 billion annually for B.C. and employs more than 14,000 full-time workers at about 350 licensed grape wine wineries.

Meanwhile, on Vancouver Island …

The Cowichan Valley Wine Festival returns August 1-31 for its annual wine-tasting
passport event. Attendees can meet the producers and experts behind the wines
they’re tasting, ask questions and get to know the people who have dedicated themselves
to the craft of winemaking in Cowichan.

The region’s unique proximity to the ocean, combined with the rain shadow effect of both
the Olympic Mountain range and the west coast of Vancouver Island, results in warm
and dry growing seasons with mild and temperate winters, providing the perfect climate
for premium viticulture and winemaking.

Vines and grapes in Cowichan are rapidly developing and the 2024 harvest is set to
produce a variety of wines, including Pinot Noir, Marechal Foch, Pinot Gris and
Cowichan’s famous Ortega.

From land to ocean: MarineLabs launches Forecast AI

The ocean tech company that went viral for its 2022 measurement of the most extreme rogue wave ever recorded is now offering Forecast AI, providing localized, accurate coastal weather forecasts using the company’s new machine learning models and data from their real-time sensor nodes. It becomes a companion to MarineLabs‘ flagship product, CoastAware.