Following the devastation of last winter’s extreme cold snap many wineries in the Okanagan are trying things differently.

At a 200-acre vineyard on Stewart Road in South Kelowna, Quails’ Gate Winery is testing an infrared light heating system.

“This is one of our trials we’re doing to mitigate winter damage,” explains Rowan Stewart, winemaker, vineyard operations.

The system comes from Belgian manufacturer Frolight Systems, which was founded in 2021 and has emerged as a leading provider of spring frost protection solutions. Quails’ Gate is one of the first wine producers in the world to trial this system in winter conditions.

“This is kind of a trial for us, a trial for them. But we’re pretty excited about the possibilities if it does work,” said Stewart.

“It’s a vacuum-packed LED. The tube is all vacuumed inside, so there’s no air to get in the way of the warming. In theory, it should warm the vine itself by about six degrees.

“That’s enough to save them. If it’s -24 C in the air and the vine is seeing damage, if it warms the air to -20 C we might not have bud loss. That would be a huge win.”

This weekend will be one of the first true tests of the lights. Temperatures are set to dip near or below -10 C overnight. Stewart says he and the staff at the vineyard will be up very early in the morning to monitor if the system is having the desired effect.

For years, vineyards have used wind machines to pull warmer air from an inversion layer down to the vines. Typically, they’re only useful on a still night. If the wind is over 10 km/h the machines can’t run.

“This(system) doesn’t have the limitations of requiring an inversion layer and it isn’t as affected by the wind. We’re hoping it will be successful and it’s probably price-comparable to a wind machine,” said Steward.

It costs Quails’ Gate about $14,000 to $16,000 an acre for the purchase, installation and monitoring of the system, which has been installed in just a small, two-acre section of the vineyard.

Last winter, Quails’ Gate was hit hard by the extreme cold. So far, about 60 acres of vines have been replanted. He says 70 acres will be replanted this year, with another 50 acres to follow.

If this trial proves effective, the infrared heating system could pop up in vineyards across the Okanagan.

“The company that makes it, I’m sure, if we are successful would be very excited to have another market they can sell it into,” notes Stewart. “ So for us, if it works as it says on the box, we’d be rolling out acres and acres of it.”