[Growwine] Acreage necessary for on-site winery outside of DVA

Wed Jun 25 12:10:27 EDT 2008

The problem as I see it in Ontario is that VQA is being run by the same people who control production of "Cellared in Canada" wines.  Why on earth would anyone want to grow grapes when you can purchase 30 cent a litre finished wines and sell them in bottles which are very similar to those you sell your VQA wines in? And the LCBO wants to sell anything but Ontario wine, simply because every time a customer spends $100 at an Ontario winery, LCBO sees this as a loss of $40 "Record Profits" which impacts on management bonuses and other "Perks"...  http://littlefatwino.com/lcboissues.html     Those who currently have their snouts in the trough don't want to make any room for anyone else.

I know that there are potential problems in the BC regulations, but I still see Ontario and Quebec as being 20 years behind their coastal compadres.   Is it possible in British Columbia to get the BC Wine of Distinction for fruits other than Grape?  How about for heirloom varieties such as Concord?  What is the situation in Nova Scotia??

Anthony Carone recently did an excellent article in Canadian Grapes to Wine (Summer 2008) about Appellations in Quebec.  Anthony can you copy this to the list??

Lardy

Larry Paterson, lfw, rd, adcc
(Little Fat Wino, Roving Drunk, Alcohol Distribution Channels Critic)

http://www.littlefatwino.com/

----- Original Message ----- 
From: Dave Godfrey 
To: growwine at littlefatwino.com 
Sent: Wednesday, June 25, 2008 11:45 AM
Subject: Re: [Growwine] Acreage necessary for on-site winery outside of DVA

Mark an end to the "tier 3" concept. Now that both Nova Scotia and BC have their own, distinctive regulations, the long efforts of CVA to relegate "local" wine to inferior status are over.

The BC Wine Authority has recently appointed three external directors to run the BCWA. There are still 4 winemakers on, but they are the founding members and will resign at the AGM in September.

The BC Regulation will soon be amended to include a great number of the Blattner varietals plus every other grape which we found to be planted somewhere in BC.  It also establishes a new level, Wine of Distinction, which will serve as the base of 100% BC grown wine. To get this certification, you will need to have a certified winery and records of production to indicate clearly where all your grapes came from.

BC VQA is now a trademark of the BC government, licenced by them to the BCWA and by the BCWA to wineries for individual products. The government will work to keep the  trademark defensible. 

The regulation will only be amended by a double majority of the BCWA member wineries, by number of licences and by quantity of production. The members of the BCWA (a society) are any winery in BC who wishes to join and pay $10 a ton. They will elect the arms-length directors by simple majoriy. The Directors must consult fully with the industry, via an advisory committee, before proposing any changes to government.

BC VQA will continue with taste panels, but they will not taste for "typicity" nor will they be able to cite wholly subjective faults.  The level of inclusion will likely remain at around 95%, but this new structure will allow for a third, higher level which might at least be a real indicator of higher quality rather than just a marketing ploy.

There will be an appeals process and no winemaker or grapegrower will sit on any taste panel (after December 31st of this year). The BCWA will not engage in promotion.

This regulation is not a perfect solution (certain terms will eventually by tied to BC VQA rather than Wine of Distinction) but it is certainly infinitely better than what the CVA proposed at the national level and it something (like the Nova Scotia regulation) that independent Ontario wineries ought to examine. At the very least, BC will no longer have to follow the official Ontario model and the door is now open for reform within Ontario.

Here's the reference to the current regs: http://www.qp.gov.bc.ca/statreg/reg/A/79_2005.htm

The final amendments should appear fairly shortly.

Dave Godfrey
(soon to be a past director of the BCWA)

On Tue, Jun 24, 2008 at 2:33 AM, Glenda Baker <glenda at dccw.ca> wrote:

  Hi Terry,

  It was nice to meet you too!

  After checking out the VQA site I realized you are no doubt right, they
  probably won't do anything.

  Can you still grow the grape varieties of your choice in ON and then sell
  the wine without VQA approval? Are there no more new varieties being
  developed and tested in ON?

  Glenda

  -----Original Message-----
  From: growwine-bounces at littlefatwino.com

  [mailto:growwine-bounces at littlefatwino.com] On Behalf Of Terry Rayner
  Sent: June 23, 2008 10:38 PM
  To: growwine at littlefatwino.com
  Subject: Re: [Growwine] Acreage necessary for on-site winery outside of DVA

  Hi Glenda, it was nice to meet you at the Atlntic Canada Wine Symposium.

  I think you're right that the direction that Atlantic Canada is taking
  relative to the Ontario VQA 3 Tier Nationwide wine standards could impact
  positively on vineyards and wineries across Canada that are using varieties
  not currently on the VQA list. Couple that with the efforts that are going
  on to get the Blattner varieties listed on the BC VQA list and it's possible

  ripple effect to other intersepcific hybrids could put pressure on Ontario
  to "blink".

  Terry

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-- 
Dave Godfrey
Godfrey Brownell Vineyards
Glenora, BC, Canada 

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