BC's wine identity?

Rob Gibson - Apr 23, 2018 / 5:32 am | Story: 224231

A new video takes a stab at answering the question, "what is British Columbia’s wine industries core Identity?"

You can find out this weekend at the Okanagan Wine and Orchard Museum, located in the Laurel Packinghouse on 1304 Ellis.

The University of British Columbia and Kedge Business School, in collaboration with The Innovation School, and The Glasgow School of Art, have launched a video documenting their work with entrepreneurs from across the province to discover and define the identity of the B.C. wine region.

The video was filmed by Stefan Matis, Plia Film Productions, Kelowna and features segments from a series of workshops that took place across the province last fall.

“Identity is not the same as marketing. Identity is far richer. It's culture, it's social values, it's relationships across people, it's relationships between people and the land. Marketing when done well in a successful wine region, is based upon that,” says Dr. Roger Sugden, Faculty of Management and Regional Socio-Economic Development Institute of Canada (RSEDIC), University of British Columbia.

The academic team is confident that the stronger the region’s identity, the easier it will be for it to remain competitive and compete on the world stage.

“Every year, more and more regions are telling the consumer they are making the greatest wine. And in order to express that correctly, you have to know who you are,” says Dr. Jacques-Olivier Pesme, Kedge Business School, Bordeaux Wine & Spirits Academy.

“You don’t have an identity until you grow up and I think we as an industry are growing up. It’s a very appropriate time for us to focus on the future of our industry,” says winery owner Don Triggs.

The Wine Regions of British Columbia include: