July 28, 2010

 

Canadian producers use wine to feed cattle

 

 

With the Canadian cattle industry still recovering from the aftermath of the mad cow disease outbreak, a group of farmers came up with a new idea - wine-fed beef.

 

Southern Plus Feedlots owner Bill Freding said the idea of wine-fed beef became a reality this past November, when the first cattle were fed wine to supplement their grain diet.

 

Freding said he is trying to produce a product that is equal to Japan's Kobe beef, where Wagyu cattle are fed a beer a day and massaged with saki before they are slaughtered. The steaks, known for their tenderness and its marbled-texture, can cost hundreds of dollars in Japan.

 

The comparisons between the Kobe beef and the B.C. wine-fed beef have already been made, according to media reports.

 

Freding describes the product as a little more tender compared to other products, including the Alberta Black Angus beef. "It's a brighter red, you can really see the red colour," he said. "It's got a different flavour, but I wouldn't like to say it was definitely a wine flavour, or anything, but it definitely has a sweeter flavour to it," he said.

 

While the cattle are fed mainly a diet of grain, it is during the final 90 days leading up to their slaughter that they are fed red wine supplied by a number of wineries in the Okanagan Valley. While it might sound like a lot of wine, Freding said the opposite is true. "They are fed a litre per head, which is probably equivalent to you drinking one glass of wine a day," he said.

 

Freding pitched the idea of wine-fed beef to a number of representatives from the B.C. meat industry earlier this month. "Everybody is quite excited about it. They all want the steaks and the ribs," he said.