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The Wine Wire: Giving the boot to ICB wines, new head of WGAO, nominate a VQA promoter and Niagara releases at Vintages

Canada wine

By Rick VanSickle

The long — and often painful — road to respectability for Canadian wines (from grapes grown by our farmers and bottled by Canadian wineries with no imported juice) has taken many twists and turns over its relatively young history.

On the surface, things look amazing. Fantastic VQA wines are finding their way on top wine lists around the world, awards and kudos pour in on a regular basis and international wine writers and respected drinks publications are showing lots of love for top Canadian wines.

But no matter how much we seem to advance the romantic notion that all is well in the Canadian wine industry there are still many roadblocks in our way.

There are constant reminders of this, of course.

B.C.-based wine writer Anthony Gismondi, in an excellent article about potential changes to rules governing blended Canadian wines, offers some optimism for the future of the domestic wine industry — the part of the industry that believes using 100% Canadian grapes is critical for the survival and growth of quality wines in this country.

As if on cue, I cringed when I read a column in the Peterborough Examiner a few days ago penned by an Ontario writer who wrote an entire column about a boxed wine made by a big Ontario winery that she seemingly assumed was an Ontario VQA wine because of the labelling. I give her credit for trying to find the origin of the grapes for the wine, making several phone calls to the winery in question but getting nowhere. And like consumers who go shopping for Canadian wines at the LCBO and venture into the Canadian International Blends section of the store, she was left dazed and confused by the deceptive and confusing labels on popular Canadian brands.

The fact is, the boxed wine she liked so much was an ICB (International Canadian Blend) that is made with 75% grape juice shipped to Canada from who knows where, that giant wine lake in the great beyond, that has nothing to do with Canada at all.

You cannot blame the winery; it has a licence to make wine this wine. You cannot blame the writer; she tried to do her homework but was stymied in the process of trying to authenticate the wine she was writing about.

It is our great dilemma and our great embarrassment. We still legally allow Canadian wines to be blended with imported swill that is sold essentially to look like a proud Canadian product. It’s not, it’s simply business, a very profitable business.

In Ontario, a minimum of 25% domestic grapes is required for these ICB wines. In B.C., you don’t need any domestic grapes. How sad is that?

The law has had a staggering affect on the Canadian wine industry and has been the cause of endless confusion for consumers and ridicule from critics beyond and inside our borders.

In Gismondi’s article, he says the rules are about to change to force the big Canadian wineries, the blenders, to stop trading off the “Canadian” part of their deception and call these blended wines what they are. “International” blends, not International “Canadian” Blends, which consumers are most likely to view as a Canadian product.

According the Canadian Vintners Association, there are two types of wines primarily produced in Canada: 100% Canadian (includes VQA and B.C. VQA) and International Canadian Blends. Together, they contribute an annual economic impact of $6.8 billion ($3.7B for 100% Canadian and $3.1B for blended wines).

The CVA maintains that blended wines are an “important part of the Canadian wine industry, supporting over 10,000 jobs (direct and indirect) and purchasing more than 15,000 tonnes of Canadian grapes annually.”

International Canadian Blended (ICB) wines use the label “Cellared in Canada” by (the name of the company) from imported and/or domestic wines. The label designation must include domestic content to meet federal labeling requirements to ensure the label is not false, misleading or deceptive. Ontario regulations require that blended wines produced and sold in the province, contain a minimum 25% Ontario grape content. In B.C., there is no minimum requirement.

ICB wines are sold domestically to compete against imported wines in the value price category. For example, the LCBO reports that the average price of an ICB wine is $7.54, compared $13.25 for a VQA wine and $31.56 for a VQA wine in its specialty Vintages section ($31 seems high, but I can’t confirm the number).

Since 2008, according to the CVA, it has been working with the Canadian Food Inspection Agency to modernize the blended wine label designation.

Plans were in place for a federal-industry consultation on blended wine labelling in late 2012, but the passage of the Safe Food for Canadians Act forced CFIA to shift direction and in June 2013, a broader Food Labelling Modernization initiative was launched. CVA organized industry round tables last October with a view to providing CFIA updated industry feedback on ICB labelling.

These round tables concluded that the label designation “International Blend from Imported and Domestic Wines” is a better fit than the current labelling requirements.

CVA submitted this recommendation to the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food in December. In the interim period before a response or any labelling change is required by CFIA, the origin statement Cellared in Canada will continue to be used.

When these labelling changes take effect is not clear, but when that day comes it will be cause for celebration for many Canadian wine lovers and the industry — at least that part of the industry that believes in 100% Canadian wines.

In other Canadian wine news …

New CEO for WGAO

Del Rollo, chair of Winery & Grower Alliance of Ontario (WGAO) announced the appointment of Aaron Dobbin as President & CEO effective Jan. 30, 2017.

“After an extensive executive search process, we are delighted that Aaron Dobbin will be joining WGAO as President & CEO,” said Del Rollo. “His in-depth knowledge of public policy will be a great asset to our organization and industry as a whole.”

Dobbin was most recently Vice President of StrategyCorp, one of Canada’s leading government relations, communications and consulting firms. Previously Dobbin served in senior positions with the government of Ontario including Senior Advisor and Director of Policy and Research in the Premier’s office.

Dobbin holds a Bachelor of Arts, Honours, from the University of Guelph, a Bachelor of Education from the University of Windsor and a Masters in Public Administration from the University of Victoria.

“I am very excited to join such a respected organization as WGAO and a $3.3 billion industry that has such enormous growth prospects over the coming years,” said Dobbin.

About WGAO

The Winery & Grower Alliance of Ontario (WGAO) is a trade association of leading wineries and grape growers that produce over 85% of all the wine in Ontario, including both Vintners Quality Alliance (VQA) and International Canadian Blends (ICB) wine.  They also purchase over 85% of the grapes grown by independent farmers in the province.

VQA Promoters Awards
— nominations now open

You can help recognize individuals for their outstanding achievements in the grape and wine industry.  It takes only five minutes to complete but will work to continue to inspire your worthy recipients to promote VQA wines in Ontario and abroad.

What better way to recognize the hard-working individuals who promote, in an exemplary manner, VQA wines in Ontario?  This is your opportunity.

Who can nominate? You can.

Categories:  Media; LCBO; Hospitality; Retail (Winery Advocate); Education; Lifetime Achievement; Promoter-at-Large; Non-Ontario VQA Promoter

Past Recipients are eligible to win in a different category. For example, a past winner in the LCBO category may now be considered for Lifetime Achievement award. However, to be eligible a minimum of 3 years must have passed between the Nominees first win and subsequent nomination in another category.

Deadline for nominations is Feb. 22.

To nominated someone go here

Award recipients will be recognized at the Cuvée Grand Tasting (Friday, March 24) as well as the Experts Tasting at Brock University on April 19, 2017.

Niagara wines at Vintages Saturday

• Rockway Vineyards Unoaked Chardonnay 2015 ($15)
• The Tragically Hip Ahead By A Century Chardonnay 2014 ($20)
• Vineland Estates Gewurztraminer 2015 ($18)
• Chateau Des Charmes St. David’s Bench Vineyard Gamay Noir Droit 2015 ($18)
• Rosewood Select Series Merlot 2013 ($20)
• The Tragically Hip Fully Completely Grand Reserve Red 2015 ($25)