{"id":496380,"date":"2026-02-24T13:43:12","date_gmt":"2026-02-24T13:43:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/496380\/"},"modified":"2026-02-24T13:43:12","modified_gmt":"2026-02-24T13:43:12","slug":"its-always-heartbreaking-multiple-okanagan-wineries-in-foreclosure","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/496380\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018It\u2019s always heartbreaking\u2019: Multiple Okanagan wineries in foreclosure"},"content":{"rendered":"

Terralux Winery along the West Kelowna Wine Trail has sat unfinished for more than two years and is now officially in foreclosure.<\/p>\n

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It\u2019s one of three wineries currently in foreclosure across the Okanagan<\/a>, including one in Cawston and a vineyard in Okanagan Falls.<\/p>\n

The filings follow several difficult years for British Columbia\u2019s wine industry.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s been tough ever since COVID, like most businesses,\u201d said Jeff Guignard, president and CEO of Wine Growers BC. \u201cBut on top of COVID, we had forest fires and then a generational cold snap that destroyed about 90 per cent of the grapes in the Okanagan. We\u2019re still replanting about a third of it.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tOkanagan winery real estate snapshot\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

In 2024 alone, at least a quarter of Okanagan wineries were listed for sale. Last year, roughly 20 were publicly on the market, a sign of mounting financial pressure in the region.<\/p>\n

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\u201cIt\u2019s always heartbreaking when one of these wineries doesn\u2019t make it,\u201d Guignard said. \u201cBut this happens every year \u2014 a few more open, a few more close. Certainly after a few tough seasons, you have people looking at the value of their land and thinking, \u2018Maybe I want to do something different.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

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Ron Kubek, owner of Lightning Rock Winery, believes the strain on the industry also reflects provincial policy decisions.<\/p>\n

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\u201cThe B.C. government says they\u2019re going to help you, that you can bring in fruit from the U.S. and then the BCLDB says they\u2019re going to tax you,\u201d Kubek said. \u201cThey\u2019re not doing anything.\u201d<\/p>\n

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In response Minister of Agriculture Lana Popham said, \u201cFrom the outset, there were very clear guidelines communicated to the wine industry about maximum production and program rules, and it was intended to help the industry keep the lights on during a very serious agricultural emergency. Our government has helped the wine sector through challenging times with several different supports, and we understand the pressures they are facing. The Liquor Distribution Branch will continue to work closely with wineries and Wine Growers BC.\u201d<\/p>\n

While it may be considered an oversaturated market, the Okanagan wine industry remains one of B.C.\u2019s strongest tourism draws.<\/p>\n

\u201cB.C.\u2019s wine industry is an economic engine and a massive tourism driver for this province,\u201d he said. \u201cWe should be doubling down on investing in tourism, driving folks from Alberta, the rest of Canada and the U.S. to build this region. We\u2019ve been talking to government about that.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Guignard says while the number of wineries for sale and in foreclosure may raise eyebrows, it\u2019s not time to panic, but rather a moment to watch how the industry adapts and evolves.<\/p>\n

\n\t\t&copy 2026 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Terralux Winery along the West Kelowna Wine Trail has sat unfinished for more than two years and is…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":496381,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[199025,49,48,44,79004,199026,199027],"class_list":{"0":"post-496380","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-canada","8":"tag-bc-wine","9":"tag-ca","10":"tag-canada","11":"tag-news","12":"tag-okanagan","13":"tag-okanagan-wine","14":"tag-south-okanagan"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/496380","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=496380"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/496380\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/496381"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=496380"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=496380"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=496380"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}