Randy Toor moved to Oliver, B.C., from Winnipeg about 20 years ago.
He doesn’t miss those long-ago winters. The mild climate, heat and long frost-free days in his current location are much to his liking – and to the liking of six different grape varieties he grows on 24 acres.
Toor operates Desert Hills Estate Winery, one of many dotting the slopes of the Okanagan River as it winds through Osoyoos, Oliver, and points beyond.
The winery is a hop, skip and jump from Southern Plus Feedlot, operated by Bill Freding. Southern Plus is one of the larger feedlots in British Columbia and one would think it would be a good source of fertilizer for the vineyards. I suggested as much to Toor during a visit last week, but he responded with only a wry smile.
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This has been a successful year for the vineyard, Toor said. Several of its wines won medals in international competition and his pride and joy, Syrah Select, won the Lieutenant Governor’s Award of Excellence.
The art and alchemy of wine production are mysteries to me, though I now know that cattle manure apparently does not play a part. Toor said he tests the sandy soil each year. Like most crops, grapes love nitrogen, which makes up a major part of the fertilizer cocktail that he serves to the vines.
Then there’s the pest side of the equation. Weeds in troublesome areas are controlled with chemicals applied near the ground so the grapes are not touched. Hungry starlings are a bit more of a challenge, as evidenced by the sound of gunshots during our conversation. There are limits to the deterrence provided by scarecrows.
Last week the cabernet sauvignon grapes hung heavy on the vines at Desert Hills, looking small and plump. Toor said harvest would likely start this week or next, but in the meantime he was busy offering tastings of his wares to wine tourists.
Agricultural tourism comes easily in wine country, where the product is plentiful and popular and has an indefinable cachet.
But agri-tourism opportunities are expanding everywhere. Could the attraction of wine tours be replicated in other ag ventures? Could loyal milk drinkers, for example, be enticed to sample the various stylings from prairie dairies? And could dairy producers develop the tourism patois of their wine-producing colleagues?
“Here we have a fresh and impudent little offering, freshly squeezed this morning from the buxom and luxuriant udder of our most productive cow, Bovinia Par Excellence du Lait.
“Note the lustrous colour of the cream, the pearl-like opacity of the liquid as it swirls in the tumbler, and the meaty texture of its finish on the tongue…. What’s that? You’ll take a case? Most certainly!”
