Grape King reflects on role as reign comes to an end

Advice for the next king? Enjoy it and say yes to everything

Jeff Duc’s time as Grape King is wrapping up. A new king will be announced in September as the Grape and Wine Festival gets underway. - Granthaven File Photo

By Luke Edwards

Jeff Duc’s reign as Grape King won’t go out with a fizzle. Instead, it’ll be a busy few weeks as he prepares to hand the role over to whoever comes next.

And as he’s discovered over the past year, that’s the way it should be.

“Just enjoy it. Say yes to everything they ask you to do, and have fun,” he said, offering some advice to the next Grape King that was quite similar to the encouragement he received when he was installed as Grape King last fall.

“I got to do a lot of things that I haven’t done in a long time, all the wine events and things like that. So it was fun to do all that stuff,” he said.

The Grape King is a longstanding tradition that dates back to 1956. Each year a king is selected from a prestigious group of nominees who exemplify excellence in the vineyard.

Duc is the second generation of his family to be named Grape King, with his opa Jack Forrer receiving the honours more than 50 years earlier. Duc and his dad Ray manage 250 acres of mixed grapes, supplying Arterra Wines.

Over the past year Duc said it’s been a thrill to take part in all the events and activities that Grape Kings get invited to. One of the highlights was the trip out to the Okanagan Valley. Historically the Grape King would go out to a spring wine festival held in the area. The festival ended with the COVID-19 pandemic, but Grape Kings still get the opportunity to travel to B.C. Duc said he was able to tour several grape and wine operations, learning about some of the commonalities between the two grape growing regions and also what makes each area unique.

“The trip out to the Okanagan was fantastic, that was a lot of fun,” he said.

“It was interesting to see the different perspectives on things.”

Duc still has a few busy weeks ahead of him, including the Grape and Wine Festival and the International Plowing Match, the latter of which is taking place here in Niagara beginning on Sept. 16 and is something Duc said he’s never been able to attend before.

Over all, Duc said the biggest part of his year as Grape King was simply the recognition that goes with the position.

“Just being recognized by your peers and knowing and hearing that you’re doing a good job. We all try to do our best but to be recognized every once in a while is pretty special,” he said.

One thing he learned over the past 12 months is just how curious people are about grape growing. While out at events he was always answering questions from the public.

“You put the jacket and chains on and people just want to ask questions,” he said.

As for the industry, Duc said things are looking fairly strong.

“It should be a good harvest this year,” he said. It may be a tad on the light side, but the quality should be strong.

And with grapes in demand, he said there’s reason for optimism.

“I think as an industry, everyone’s feeling pretty good right now,” he said.

As for the general public, his message was a common one that producers have been sharing in recent months.

“Keep supporting your local growers and your local community members,” he said.