Winemakers in the Okanagan Valley are holding their breath, hoping the Terrace Mountain fire doesn't flare up again and cause the same damage it did in 2003.
"If the fire is above you, it's dragging the smoke down into the vineyard all night," Gray Monk Estate Winery's Roger Wong said Thursday.
When fires hit Okanagan Mountain Park in 2003, the taste of local wine suffered. Some growers stayed optimisted about their crops, until an unpleasant smokiness appeared in their wines -- making them impossible to sell.
"We ended up discarding the whole crop, so 120 acres," Wong recalls of the fire.
Until now, Wong says, the grapes have been at a firmer stage of their development where smoke tends not to penetrate.
The grapes are just at the stage where you can see they are starting to soften, where smoke can cause serious problems for wine makers.
With the fire still smoldering on the side of the hill, Wong has his fingers crossed. "Hopefully the firefighters are helping us keep them [the grapes] as fresh and fruity as possible."
With a report from CTV British Columbia's Kent Molgat
