[Growwine] St Catherines Standard.

[Paul Troop]

Jim

I understand the history and agree that the wine industry needed a change decades ago. I have no dream of returning to Labrusca wines, only a good look at possible acceptance of the many quality crosses that have come out of 'modern' breeding. If you look at the VQA rules they do include some hybrids, things like Vidal that have such a large role in the ice wine business, one of the mainstays of VQA. At least in Germany there is a process to have new crosses evaluated. If they produce good wine they can be included in the list of acceptable varieties. 

So I advocate a rethink of varietal evaluation, not a return to the old ways. What Nova Scotia growers and wineries need to be vigilant about is that their government isn't persuaded by 'big' interests to adopt the restrictive rules that worked 20 years ago but are not designed for a changing industry. 

Paul
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Jim Lloyd 
  To: growwine at littlefatwino.com 
  Sent: Monday, January 14, 2008 12:20 PM
  Subject: Re: [Growwine] St Catherines Standard.


  A couple of things:

  If my ears didn't deveive me today, my understanding is that the LCBO is going to reduce the number of facings for low priced Plonk and to allow more spaces for more expensive wines that "consumers" have been asking for. Who will get the listings..........?????  Do you think that the LCBO might make more money for themselves by increasing the average markup on a bottle of wine sold ????

  Paul - I am afraid that your dreams will not happen on a wide scale. A long time ago, the Gov't of Ont paid millions  +  dollars to subsidize grape growers to pull Labruscas out of the ground. They were replaced with Viniferas in the hope that a wine industry would blossom. So, what happened ? Blossom it did. Don't expect any crusadre to run back to the Gov't and say, well that worked and now lets allow some of those rotten Labruscas to contaminate our shelves again. The agree,emt that was worked out maintained that non vinifera grapes are not allowed in "table wines" in Ont.

  As you indicate, it may be possible for a small winery to produce a crogenic Labrusca. But you need a market to suck up the endeavours of your work.

  Jim
    ----- Original Message ----- 
    From: Paul Troop 
    To: growwine at littlefatwino.com 
    Sent: Monday, January 14, 2008 2:35 PM
    Subject: Re: [Growwine] St Catherines Standard.


    The point of all the regulations and the compliance of organizations like the LCBO is to serve the needs of commodity wine producers. From the perspective of the artisan winery and those interesting in growing in a truely sustainable fashion this sounds a bit evil. On the other hand it would be a shame if the low priced commodity wines disappeared, that would definitely make things harder overall for everyone. What is needed is an understanding by both sides of each other's needs and some workable compromises acheived in the provincial legislations. Obviously Nova Scotia is on the right track but I have some concerns that with wine industry growth in that province there will be regulatory changes that don't necessarily favour the artisan wineries. 

    Paul
      ----- Original Message ----- 
      From: Paul Bulas 
      To: growwine at littlefatwino.com 
      Sent: Monday, January 14, 2008 11:26 AM
      Subject: Re: [Growwine] St Catherines Standard.


      Another ironic twist to this whole thing is that I bet if the Ontario wine scene were not so dogmatically anti-labrusca and could get past the old ways of vinifying native grapes, it might be possible to create a whole new niche market for wines made from them - and call them "old vines" to boot, as many juice vineyards are in fact "old vines" - maybe older than most other varieties we have in the province today.  There are boutique wineries in New York State who are making, for example, cryogenic wines from Concord, Delaware, etc. (Lakewood in the Finger Lakes does exactly this, and look what they're charging for them - http://www.lakewoodvineyards.com/borealis-label.html)  The wines do have a following there and we have a similar climate here in Ontario.  But invariably, the uppity press apparatus will decry this, being firmly fixated on the past - which, by the way, has rightly been buried. Why not apply quality vinification to these varieties, reinvent the styles for which they are known, and add something new to our overall wine tapestry?

      If anything, the cheap plonk blends should be called into question instead, as maintaining native grape vineyards would help our local growers.

      The point is, we have the terroir in Southern Ontario to make something better from the native grapes than was ever made here before quality wines of hybrid and vinifera lineage became the norm.  Tearing them up seems hasty, and not thought-through.

       
      ----- Original Message ----
      From: Ryan Daum <ryan at darksleep.com>
      To: growwine at littlefatwino.com
      Sent: Monday, January 14, 2008 2:02:34 PM
      Subject: Re: [Growwine] St Catherines Standard.

      When they say increase shelf space for cheap Ontario wine, I presume
      this basically means "Cellared in Canada" plonk, since I can't think of
      many VQA wines in this price point.

      That's not good news.

      Ryan


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