A family-run winery in the Cowichan Valley has to close down after two decades in business.
“In hindsight, we shouldn’t have taken those loans,” said Linda Holford, who owns Rocky Creek Winery in Cowichan Valley with her husband Mark.
Holford says during the pandemic, they took Canada Emergency Business Account (CEBA) loans to ensure Rocky Creek Winery survived, but says the current interest rates on those loans are making it impossible to keep their doors open.
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“A third of my budget is being used to strictly pay off interest on those loans,” said Holford. “It’s the small businesses that made those choices to get through the pandemic, that got hammered by the interest rates.”
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The couple is now being forced to close the winery in a week. Instead of keeping the farm to gift their children or to retire on, they’re looking to sell the five-acre lot.
“It’s heartbreaking,” said Holford. “It’s really sad.”
The former chair of Wine BC and owner of Unsworth Winery in Cowichan Valley Chris Turyk says the wine industry as a whole is taking a hit, given the rising costs of goods and supplies and a growing trend of people quitting drinking alcohol.
“It’s not a surprise that wineries are facing challenges right now, everything is expensive right now and wine is a luxury,” said Turyk.
Turyk says the Cowichan Valley is actually in a better place than the Okanagan, which is facing unprecedented crop loss due to consecutive cold snaps and has to source grapes out of Washington to survive as an industry.
“It’ll be tough for the next few years and we’ll need all the support we can get as an industry,” said Turyk.
In comparison, the Cowichan Valley is having a bit of a spotlight shone on its wine cultivation, said Turyk.
To the Coast Salish it’s known as ‘”the land warmed by the sun.” To scientists, it’s Canada’s only maritime Mediterranean climatic zone. To wine makers it offers a unique terroir.
But the warm weather, consistent rainfall, and rich soil are just the foundation, not enough to keep at least one family-run winery afloat.
“We just didn’t forecast the inflation,” said Holford.
Rocky Creek Winery’s last day open will be Oct. 13.
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