United States
United Kingdom
Canada
Australia
New Zealand
IrelandCreston's winemakers grow grapes against the cold, and share the machinery
CBC News visits two southeastern B.C. wineries where an inviting microclimate comes with harsh winters and a practical spirit of cooperation.
CBC News
Story of Why this story? One of the most watched videos since yesterday, with 9,177 views.
Why these winemakers chose a remote B.C. community to grow their grapes
Things we can learn from the video
Press to jump
- 0:58Shannon Cardinal measures grape sweetness and explains why earlier-ripening Gewürztraminer suits the Creston Valley.
- 1:36Wes and Myran Hagenfeldt recount taking over Baillie-Grohman and the Kootenays gaining formal wine appellation status.
- 2:47The growers explain how the local microclimate and water-holding glacial soil support their vineyards.
- 3:40Severe winter losses prompt replanting with cold-hardy hybrid vines.
- 4:50Local wineries share costly bottling and corking machinery to help make their businesses work.
- 5:56Tasting-room visitors sample the wines as the growers reflect on seeing their work enjoyed.
Shannon Cardinal checks the sweetness of Gewürztraminer grapes with a handheld refractometer. For Red Bird Estate Winery, the variety has a useful advantage: it ripens a little earlier, an important consideration when your vineyard is in Creston, British Columbia.
CBC News's new documentary heads beyond the province's better-known Okanagan vineyards to meet growers making wine in the Creston Valley. Directed by Trixie Pacis, the report has drawn about 9,000 views in its opening hours. Its answer to why people plant grapes here involves both the ground beneath the vines and the neighbors down the road.
At Baillie-Grohman Estate Winery, Wes and Myran Hagenfeldt describe a distinctive microclimate and clay-rich glacial soil that holds water. Harvest brings family and community workers into the vineyard to pick Pinot Noir. The Kootenays' formal recognition as a B.C. wine appellation also gave this less familiar growing region an identity of its own.
But the cold can undo a season's work. "In 2024 we lost our entire crop," Wes says. The report follows the growers' response to severe winter damage, including replanting with hardier hybrid vines.
That vulnerability sits alongside an unusually practical kind of neighborliness. Red Bird and Baillie-Grohman's winemakers describe sharing expensive bottling and corking equipment rather than each carrying the cost alone.
The film ends in tasting rooms, where the work becomes something visitors can enjoy. "I think the success is contagious," says Red Bird's Rémi Cardinal. In Creston, that means making room for another local winery's success, too.
Published on Trari
Where next?
Is this your channel?For the channel's owners and team: a ready picture and text for your audience
Share the story with your audience. Everything is ready:
For an Instagram story or a WhatsApp status
For a community post or your channel's description
- Channel
- CBC News
- Subscribers
- 4,780,000
- Channel views, last 7 days
- 17,293,226
- Channel views, pace per day
- 3,075,549 (on a normal day: 2,355,901)
- Video published
- November 5, 2026
- Video views so far
- 7,373 (less than a day online)
- Video views, pace per day
- 18,580
The numbers
The documentary drew about 9,000 views in its first 18 hours. That is an opening-hours total, not a full day's viewing.
💡 Test your knowledge
Which grapes are being harvested at Baillie-Grohman in the report?
Family and community workers pick Pinot Noir grapes during the harvest sequence.