NewsNiagara Wine ReviewsTop Stories

The Mavericks: Bottle shop owner flies the flag for Ontario VQA wines

By Lidija Biro

“Wine may be a consumable commodity, but it is also a luxury item. At the high end, let’s say $65, Niagara wine can beat same priced wines from Europe,” says Robbie Raskin, bar/bottle shop owner and recipient of 2024 VQA Promoters Award for Hospitality.

The Mavericks is an occasional series by wine writer Lidija Biro focused on entrepreneurs providing a service that widens the appeal of Canadian wines through their bottle shops, eclectic wine clubs, tastings, and events. In Part 1, Lidija talks to Archives Wine & Spirit Merchants owner Robbie Raskin. 

Raskin is on a mission to promote local. He has made personal connections with Niagara winemakers and attests to the world class quality of wines being produced there. “Spend $25 on Ontario wine and you are buying good quality. Spend $10-$15 more and you are getting something special,” Raskin said.

Niagara wine
Robbie Raskin with his 2024 VQA Promoters Award for Hospitality from Brock.

But we are getting ahead of ourselves. So, let’s go back to the beginning of Raskin’s journey.

How do you jump from being a student at university to successful entrepreneur all before the age of 26? Look no further than the owner of Archives Wine & Spirit Merchants in St. Catharines and now newly opened bar and bottle shop, Beach Hill Wines, in Toronto.

Raskin came to Niagara after studying political science at University of Toronto. But it wasn’t something he could turn into a career. In 2019, he enrolled in the artisan distilling program at Niagara College. His hope was to eventually establish his own boutique rye whisky brand.

At the college, Raskin made friends with young, aspiring winemakers and explored Niagara wineries and wines. One winery venture caught his attention: Lost Vineyards (https://www.lostvineyards.ca/home), a small start-up run by a husband-and-wife team. It seems that Raskin took their motto to heart: “With every journey, there is starting point, a destination, and the desire to get there. We started Lost Vineyards to embody the translation of desire into determination and the many ways of getting lost.”

During the COVID lockdown, he had plenty of time to think (and drink local wine). Raskin put aside the desire for a spirit brand and made wine “the destination.” COVID helped to loosen some rules for alcohol sales in Ontario and paved the road for the emergence of bottle shops.

Photo by Lidija Biro.

In 2020, Raskin began translating his “desire” into “determination.” After leaping through many hoops involving licensing, zoning, and challenging regulations imposed by the city’s building department, Archive Wine & Spirit Merchants opened their door in mid 2022 at 39 James Street in St. Catharines — the city’s entertainment district and a nascent community ripe for gentrification and young entrepreneurs like Raskin. Never mind that the rent was a lot lower than in Toronto.

Fast forward to the close of 2024 and Archive Wine & Spirit Merchants is doing just fine, thank you. The St. Catharines location now features chef Kevin Kelly’s “prepared from scratch food,” special events, and winemaker led tastings. The very successful pop-up location in Port Dalhousie recently closed, but it was always meant as temporary, according to Raskin. Bigger things are planned at the new Toronto location at 1879 Gerrard St. E. with a special section for fine, rare, and cult wines.

Wines in Niagara recently sat down with Raskin at Archives Wine & Spirit Merchants in St. Catharines for this Q&A.

Photo by Lidija Biro.

Wines in Niagara: Why should someone buy wine at a bottle shop when Ontario wineries sell direct to consumers and often ship for free (with certain quantities) to one’s door?

Robbie Raskin: I should know this one [chuckle] … it’s the wider range of wines. We feature wines from a rotation of 70 wineries all under one roof. That saves on a lot of driving! We are handy and urban here is St. Catharines — centralized in the middle of wine country. Also, smaller and virtual wineries cannot sell direct or ship.

We can open a lot of wines to taste, and customers don’t have to feel bad if they don’t like them as they might at a winery. On the other hand, wineries when selling to us, have a higher profit margin than when selling through the LCBO. It’s a win-win.

WIN: What additional value or benefit do you offer customers that they might not get at a winery?

Raskin: You get a one-to-one customized wine tasting experience. You can have wine by the glass and just chill at one of our tables or in our comfortable lounge chairs. You can have food — fresh in-house made pasta, pizza, or charcuterie. You get many wineries in one room, and we don’t try to upsell.

You can also order online, and we can bring wine to our other location for you to pick up. We represent producers from British Columbia, Nova Scotia, Québec and a small percentage of international wines that you cannot get in Niagara’s LCBO stores. We carry craft beer and cider, too.

WIN: How does the mark-up on alcohol work in Ontario? What’s your mark-up on wine, if you don’t mind me asking?

Raskin: We get a wholesale or licensee price from the producer and that differs from winery to winery — but it’s anywhere from 10-20% less than retail. That’s where our mark-up comes in. But it’s never more than 30%. When you order a bottle of wine in a restaurant you are paying three times the licensee price, that’s a 200% mark-up. We make money not on bottle sales but on a corkage fee of $10 if you purchase a bottle that you wish to enjoy in our bar or selling wine by the glass ($12 tax included).

WIN: What do you see as the future of bottle shops in Ontario?

Raskin: To begin with, bottle shops still do not have a legal designation. They are places to buy a bottle with a food item (however small). Since you cannot make enough money selling bottles of wine, it makes sense that a bottle shop has to have a bar/restaurant component with on-premises food and wine by the glass. Now that convenience shops sell beer and wine, it’s hurt the bottle shop business especially with entry-level, inexpensive wines. So, you have to offer premium alternatives and support local, featuring smaller wineries and virtual wine brands you cannot find in the LCBO.

You cannot compete on choice and price with the LCBO. More changes are going to happen in 2026 to wholesale pricing on alcohol and expansion of alcohol sales. Will that mean retailers can deal directly with producers? Will that mean any retailer can sell spirits? Those are game changers.

WIN: How do your Archives locations differ in terms of offerings, vibe and customer base?

Raskin: Well, we just closed our pop-up location in Port Dalhousie. It was never going to be a permanent bottle shop, but it was a fun location and got us some attention. Our customers care about what they are drinking. Some are from younger generations and others are retired, affluent and collecting (wine).

Younger people are spending more on experiences, food and wine. They know they will not afford a house, so what are they saving for? They are drawn to the authentic and different in wine.

The St. Catharines and Toronto shops have a similar vibe, the same dark wood shelving and comfortable lounge areas — so mostly the same.

However, we offer more natural, funkier, orange, and pét nat wines in Toronto as well as more wines from Prince Edward County. We also house a larger selection of international wines from Europe and South America at Beach Hill Wines. We will be offering library tastings (older vintages) at the Toronto location and have installed a fine and rare wine fridge. Our customer base is larger there, with deeper pockets.

Photo by Lidija Biro.

WIN: As a business owner, where do you want to be in 5 to10 years?

Raskin: Hopefully on a beach somewhere. But seriously, I don’t want to do the front-line retail every day and do the mundane jobs such as cleaning washrooms. I hope to have a reliable cash flow and reliable staff so I can step away from time to time.

In the short term, I want to grow the on-line part of the business. I think it can be the ‘gateway’ to Niagara wines with competitive pricing and good shipping to anywhere in Ontario. I am also working on a live chat addition to the online platform if you need help choosing a bottle.

But if you ask me to dream my future … then, I pick the wines for the shops and talk to winemakers all day. I would also love, one day, to be producing of some kind of alcohol.

WIN: Ah, yes … there are many ways of getting lost.

WIN: Please share a wine recommendation and tell us why it appeals to you.

Raskin: Let’s see. OK, this one. From Flat Rock Cellars, a Chardonnay from their estate vineyard that fits my personal taste … good minerality, racy acidity, clean, purity of fruit. It also has a cool factor as it was an experiment with a particular cultured yeast strain (for added aromatics) when everyone else is doing wild ferments. So, it’s an easy recommendation when you love the wine.

Flat Rock Cellars Delta Chardonnay 2021 ($32, available at Archives, 90 points) — This is a lovely fresh, perfumed and saline Chardonnay from the Monolith Series of fermentation trials by winemaker Allison Findlay (now at Niagara College Teaching Winery). The wine is bright gold in colour with aromas of lemon chiffon pie, pink grapefruit, and tangerine. On the palate the fruit carries through with more grapefruit, mandarin orange, pear, and some ginger spice on the finish. The texture is creamy and smooth like heavy satin. Only 110 cases were produced. — Lidija Biro review.

About Lidija Biro

Lidija Biro, wine writer and blogger, is passionate about wine and particularly Ontario wine. She completed her DipWSET as well as the Winery and Viticulture Technician Program at Niagara College, and the French Wine Scholar program with Wine Scholar Guild. Adding to her wine knowledge, she’s tried her hand at making wine, pruning and planting vines, doing harvests, and working in wine sales and marketing. But she says there is always more to know and that’s what makes the world of wine so fascinating!

You can find her blog here and follow her on Instagram here as well as LinkedIn here

She also writes about wine for other publications.