You have heard the story about the midnight heist in Burgundy where the thief cut several pinot noir vines and smuggled them back to California in a Samsonite? In British Columbia, it’s more than just an urban legend. It’s all true – the locals call that fruit suitcase wine.
They represent some of the oldest wines in North America, as these vines were brought over in the suitcases of Italian immigrant Joe Busnardo in the late 1960s. Busnardo planted Pinot Blanc and Trebbiano vines at Hester Creek Wineryand those vines are still bearing fruit to this day.
According to Kimberley Pylatuk, public relations coordinator at Hester Creek Estate Winery, Busnardo went through official channels. He grew up on a farm in Italy’s Veneto region; when he arrived in the Okanagan Valley in 1967, he saw a landscape that looked like home. He wanted to bring 10,000 vines with him, but the federal and provincial governments refused. They allowed him to import two cuttings of 26 separate grape varieties in 1968. Adding to the red tape, the government quarantined the vines before releasing them. Luckily for Busnardo (and his cuttings), he was patient.
Oliver Osoyoos Wine Country. Leila Kwok’s photo
By 1972 he was planting over 120 different grape varieties on his land, all Vitis Vinifera, and long before that The BC government gave growers a subsidy of $8,100 an acre for Labrusca and vinifera cultivation.—a move that is said to have changed the trajectory of the region’s wine industry.
“We see British Columbia as a new wine region. But when you look at the people who live here, there are French, Australian winemakers. People brought their knowledge, heritage and traditions to grow grapes and produce wine,” Pylatuk said. “People like Joe in the 1960s started that. He knows how to make good wine, how to grow grapes and how to choose the right type of vineyard. Let’s look at the ancient Romans, who knew how to grow grapes on hillsides because of the cooler drainage, and look at the site Joe chose—it speaks to ancient traditional knowledge. ”.
Oliver Osoyoos Wine Country. Photography by Leila Kwok
Busnardo sold the estate in 1996, and winemakers have been wondering where some of his vines came from ever since. “We call block 13 Joe block. We know they come from Northern Italy, but we don’t know exactly what they are. We sent them to UC Davis and McGill University multiple times and they came back with no clear results,” Pylatuk said.
A few months ago, the Hester Creek winemaker traveled to Vancouver Island to ask the 90-year-old Busnardo directly. His answer? “I’ll take that to the grave.”
Oliver Osoyoos Wine Country. Photography by Leila Kwok
“Forty years ago, the original owners of Route 13 [Golden Mile Cellars then] determined their site was similar to what they have back home in Europe and probably thought, who’s going to check my suitcase for a few plants? Let’s bring it back to the Okanagan Valley and see if it grows,” said Jennifer Busmann, executive director of Oliver Osoyoos Wine Region.
Don’t think Busnardo is the only grape smuggler to the BC coast, rest assured that others have skirted customs laws as well. According to Alfredo Jop, assistant customer experience manager at 13th Street VineyardThe Serwo family brought German vines carefully wrapped in damp towels in their luggage when they moved from Germany (where they grew their grapes) to Canada in the late 1960s. There are also Chenin Blanc vines around the area that can be found in other suitcases and intrepid travelers.
Oliver Osoyoos Wine Country. Photography by Leila Kwok
The Okanagan Valley’s changing growing seasons and diverse microclimates allow for a wide variety of cultivars from around the world to thrive. As a result, many of the region’s more than 200 wineries have similar baggage and lore. Okanagan winemaking is not only a story of pioneering farming methods, but also a story of immigrants journeying to new homes with a piece of their heritage tucked into their luggage.
Visionary immigrants like Busnardo and the Serwo family may not have understood what they were starting at the time, but they planted the seeds that grew into a wine region that produces half of its wine. British Columbia’s award-winning wines across nearly 50 wineries. Busmann added, “I believe the vision from those growers and winery owners set us on our path.”
