PRIVATE WINE IMPORTS ARE BIG BUSINESS IN QUEBEC
SAQ plans to make ‘niche products’ available by the bottle on SAQ.com
I often say to folks who complain about the SAQ that any wine worth buying is available in Quebec. But only so many can be sold through the SAQ — the rest are sold via a parallel sales stream called private importation.
All wine sold in Quebec is represented by a promotional agency that acts as an intermediary between the winery and the SAQ.
These wines are proposed to the SAQ, and if accepted, are sold through their outlets. But if the SAQ decides not to sell them, the promotional agency can decide to bring in the wine and sell it themselves. These are private import wines.
Private importation is big business in Quebec. The SAQ sells between 8,000 and 10,000 different products at the store level each year. In 2016, more than 16,000 different wines, beers and alcohols were available through private importation, bringing in more than $125 million.
The reasons these wines aren’t chosen by the SAQ are many. Sometimes it’s simply a lack of space in the category, or the producer can’t send enough wine to Quebec to make it worth listing at the store level. More often than not, these are cutting-edge wines or from places that have yet to achieve mass popularity.
The SAQ sees this stream as complementary to their outlets. They watch what sells, and quite often, wine styles or regions that sell well through private importation eventually make it into SAQ outlets. So if you are looking for non-sulphite wines, orange wines, wines from more obscure places or simply wines made by small, and quite often, exceptional producers, you can find them through private
importers. For the moment, the biggest problem facing the agencies and consumers is that these wines can be purchased only by the case, which is why restaurants account for more than 80 per cent of the purchases.
When I interviewed SAQ president Alain Brunet last February, he said that “in the past, we lacked an effective way to distribute all these niche products.
“Now we have the technology and within two years, our goal is to have all private import wines available by the bottle on SAQ. com.”
That would be great news for all consumers. However, in the meantime, if you want to taste the future of wine, I strongly urge you to attend the Raspipav tasting, which will be held at Marché Bonsecours on Oct. 28 and 29. It is open to the public from noon until 7 p.m. both days.
More than 150 winemakers will be on-site, pouring their wines and answering questions, and more than 2,000 different wines will be available to taste. Depending on availability, these wines can be purchased by the bottle.
Sometimes it’s simply a lack of space in the category, or the producer can’t send enough wine to Quebec to make it worth listing at the store level.