This week in Canada.

[XXX-er]

I Always wondered cuz Weibo Ludwig raised a lot of shit got a lot of press back in the day

end of the parkway/ girl in Parks Can threads, I assume that pict is in jasper

[UkBCyeti]

Putting aside the fantastic dad joke.. This is a little worrying:
https://www.kelownacapnews.com/local...d-snap-7317236

[XXX-er]

No only Cherries also grapes are even worse, the wine industry in the Okanagan valley is pretty much wiped out completely

[UkBCyeti]

That'll make for a slow tourist season in he Okanagan then... isn't that the majority of visitors in the summer?

[XXX-er]

yeah people go to wineries but there is all kinds of things to do besides gargling wine, I lived there for 5 yrs

[UkBCyeti]

Fair call, I've been to Silver star in the summer a couple of times for MTB, and the lake looks good for wakeboarding etc. I guess that's why most people from here go to the Okanagan, so you just assume.

[Thaleia]

Toronto man gets prison for tricking men into anonymous sex through hole in sheet


https://www.thestar.com/news/crime/toronto-man-gets-prison-for-tricking-men-into-anonymous-sex-through-hole-in-sheet/article_27b0d47a-ccee-11ee-afb6-3bd222f66c24.html

[riser4]

Toronto man gets prison for tricking men into anonymous sex through hole in sheet


https://www.thestar.com/news/crime/toronto-man-gets-prison-for-tricking-men-into-anonymous-sex-through-hole-in-sheet/article_27b0d47a-ccee-11ee-afb6-3bd222f66c24.html

Seems more like an Ottawa Valley scenario.

[el hefe]

Tourism (wine) will be fine here for this year, will see moving forward. As long as the lakes stay mussel free people will want to be here in the summer. I am biased though.

[bennymac]

Plenty of wine in barrels I suspect? Plus all those golf courses and bike trails and lakes and sunny weather…

[el hefe]

..... lots of great things to do around here besides standing in line for wine.

[subtle plague]

I have no idea what to make of that last pic. I like the smiley crocs though.

[UkBCyeti]

..... lots of great things to do around here besides standing in line for wine.

Yeah, not denying the Okanagan has plenty of other stuff to do, or there is wine in barrels that can still be drunk. Happy you're stoked to live there El Hefe, and your photos always show what an awesome place you think it is. I work in the tourist industry, however, and have for long enough to know that it doesn't take much online or in the news to make people change their minds about where to go.
Just pointing out there may be a dip in the tourism due to people thinking there's now less wine.

[el hefe]

^^^ for sure it is not a positive for our local economy. Pretty scary actually and all of our fruit trees are heavily damaged this winter as well.

Thought the last pic was very canadian thats all. Girls were doing a ice dip and I had to use the pick to put a hole in for them.

[alive]

Yes, during the cold snap, there were helicopters buzzing above, trying to push warmer air down into the vineyards and orchards. Don’t think it helped very much though. It will be rough on the vineyards in some respects, but still a lot of wine in the barrels. Thinking about stocking up as I’m sure the prices will be heading up pretty quick.
And like like Hefe showed, have to get creative to make the best of it!

[XXX-er]

well its a 350million industry so its not just some dead grapes there is a lot of support and jobs

[BCMtnHound]

I heard the big issue is the VQA label will prevent them from getting their grapes outside of BC. So now they are trying to amend the standard. Sucks when your own protectionism bites you in the ass.

[bennymac]

well its a 350million industry so its not just some dead grapes there is a lot of support and jobs

I don’t think anyone said it’s not a bad situation for growers - only that it’s not gonna necessarily be bad news for tourism. Location of wildfires and smoke seems to be bigger determinant of where tourists are gonna go in summer than a failed season of fruit.

[XXX-er]

Yeah it can't be VQA if the grapes are not from BC, I wonder if hey could do something like importing grapes in the interm for a couple of years ?

[garyfromterrace]

Yeah it can't be VQA if the grapes are not from BC, I wonder if hey could do something like importing grapes in the interm for a couple of years ?

As bcmtnhound suggested, they're trying to amend the standard for vqa wines.

[LHutz Esq]

Sucks when your own protectionism bites you in the ass.

Very much this.

Just take the VQA off the label while you are using the other grapes.

If the label doesn’t mean anything what purpose does it serve the consumer anyway.

Problem being that the consumer will realize they can’t tell the difference anyway. Those of us that like to support the local ish industry won’t care but all the marketing $ about quality etc will be wasted

[XXX-er]

yeah you could always get non VQA BC wine its just the high end stuff that had the label, I haven't really drank much BC wine lately but IME the VQA stuff was definaltley better

I don't remember wine tasting being much of a draw for tourism the 5 years i was there but I don't know if that has changed

[garyfromterrace]

It's changed all right. The lads who live down there would know more but as a frequent visitor and a previous resident ('92 - '97), there's a shit ton more vineyards and every second one seems to have a tasting room/bar/restaurant. I'm sure they all have scads of bottles of previous vintage wine though too. And, yeah hutz, I agree with you. Simple - just don't call the 2024 harvest vqa...

[UkBCyeti]

El Hefe will be able to give a better idea, I'm sure. A friend opened a new brewpub in Osoyoos last summer, and was saying he was surprised by the amount of wine tourism. Definitely been way more opened up in the last few years it seems, on the drive through.

[XXX-er]

The beer craft brew and mtn biking thing is defnaltey big