Northern Lights Estate Winery has made it a mission to help save bears and humans from each other. And they are crushing it.
On Friday they poured hundreds of pounds of apples into an electric pulverizer. That pulp is then dumped into a hydraulic press with some water added.
The nectar that trickles out the bottom is accumulated into the vats from which they make sellout batches of fruit wine.
The vino made from these apples is sold as a fundraiser for the Northern Bear Awareness Society. Last year was the pilot program and this year they are well underway on the second edition.
"Last year we were able to collect more than 5,000 pounds of apples and we hope to surpass that this year," said winery co-proprietor Doug Bell.
"We have a larger team working on this, this year, out picking apples and helping us process the fruit, so we want the public to get involved in this program. We have three goals: reduce the number of human-bear conflicts, save the humans from the risk of the bears and save the bears from being destroyed over human interactions, and to provide funding to this worthy society."
All of the apples crushed into the wine comes from donated fruit. From crab to McIntosh, no variety is turned away.
Anyone with a backyard apple tree is invited to participate, so the unused fruit doesn't become an attractant for the hungry bruins.
Pick them yourself and bring them down to the winery located on P.G. Pulpmill Road, or call for the volunteers to come gather them for you. It all goes into this triple-win initiative.
"The secret to the success is, we don't know the varieties in the mix and we don't care. It all makes a great wine blend," said Northern Lights agriculture manager Noemie Touchette.
"It makes a fresh, crisp apple wine and it is always a delicious surprise."
Dave Bakker of the Northern Bear Awareness Society said Prince George's bear fatalities are down significantly this year - only about 20 killed so far by Conservation Officers in the name of human safety - but that could change any day now. As the apples ripen, so ripens the appetites of the bear population.
"This is always the worst time of year, as the bears go into the hyperphagia stage, packing it on for the winter hybernation," Bakker said.
"The numbers can easily shoot up in this period of the year, no matter how the summer has been. It was a year of abundant natural food for the bears this year, so they weren't around town as much, but this is different. So much depends on the environmental conditions, and you don't want your household habits to play a role in that."
There is nothing Bakker's team of volunteers can do about people being negligent with garbage or bird feed or unclean barbecues, but they can subtract the big apple equation.
For more information, call the winery, look up the society's website, or refer to the Prince George Fruit Exchange page on Facebook for a full array of apple options.
