British Columbia has extended the wine grape vintage replacement program to include the 2025 crop, allowing land-based wineries to purchase wine grapes from outside the province, including Washington.
However, the British Columbia Ministry of Agriculture and Food said this is the last time.
“Government has made clear that this is a one-time only extension: further extensions of these supports will not be considered,” according to a news release from provincial officials on Sept. 22.
Normally, British Columbia liquor regulators require most of the region’s 350 or so wineries, classified as land-based, to source all of their grapes from the province and a portion from their own lands. The few commercial wineries that do import grapes are charged an 89 percent markup.
The provincial government waived those rules in July 2024 to help many wineries continue operating after two devastating freezes left them with almost no grapes of their own. In turn, the arrangement has helped Washington growers who have faced a glut of grape volume since a large producer, Ste. Michelle Wine Estates, has scaled back production in recent years.
The extension will allow purchases of out-of-province inputs through March 2026 — including grapes, grape juice, red wine must, unfinished white wine after first fermentation and unfinished red wine after second fermentation.
For more information, visit the Washington Winegrower’s grape and wine dating service web page at: wawinegrowers.org/grape_wine_dating_service.
