$11M funding announced for grapes and wine
Researchers at Brock University will receive the lion’s share of about $11.5 million in funding to help make Canadian wines even better.
Federal Agriculture and AgriFood Minister Lawrence MacAulay was in Niagara Wednesday to announce the investment, to support research being conducted across Canada, and at the Brock University Cool Climate Oenology and Viticulture Institute (CCOVI).
“The funding will help Canada’s grape and wine industry increase their market share of Canadian wine here in Canada and around the world,” he said.
MacAulay, MP for the riding of Cardigan, P.E.I., visited Huebel Grapes Estates in Niagara-onthe-Lake to make his announcement, after a tour of Brock University’s facilities.
He said the initiative will also help protect the environment, cut production costs “and continue to make grape and wine quality the best it will be.”
The funding is being provided to the Canadian Grapevine Certification Network — an unprecedented partnership of grape and wine organizations across the country — to assist research efforts being conducted by the new Canadian Agricultural Partnership’s AgriScience Clusters.
In addition to $8.4 million in federal funding over five years, he said, the research programs will receive more than $3 million from the industry itself to help cover the cost of efforts to develop grapevines that will thrive in a changing climate, as well as the impact soil fertility can have on the grapes grown in that soil to improve the quality and flavour of wines produced from those grapes.
CCOVI director Debbie Inglis said Brock will receive about $4 million of the funding to lead research projects within Ontario, finding new ways to “deal with issues that are of national importance.”
“We’re going to study them here in Ontario, but also work with national partners to look at those areas,” she said in an interview following the announcement, referring to ongoing research into ways to improve wine quality and protect plants from disease and insects.
She said results of that research will be made available to the industry as it becomes avail-
able, “to make sure the growers and the winemakers get this information and can put it to good use.”
MacAulay said the Canadian grape and wine industry “drives our economy,” bringing in more than $1 billion in sales and $80 million in exports, as well as millions of dollars through the growing agri-tourism industry.
“We certainly intend to expand that … It is an amazing achievement and it’s all because of the strong focus on quality,” he said.
However, to produce quality wine, “you need quality grapes” and that is the focus of the Canadian Grapevine Certification Network.
MacAulay said the federal government has identified agriculture as one of the country’s top sectors for growth in job creation, and has set a target of exporting $75 billion of agriculture and agri-food products by 2025.
“That will include lots more wine,” he said.
Huebel Grapes Estates owner Matthias Oppenlaender — he’s chair of the Ontario Grape and Wine Research Inc. and the Grape Growers of Ontario — said the development of the Canadian Grapevine Certification Network was the result of years of work and collaboration among grapegrowing organizations from Ontario, Nova Scotia, Quebec and British Columbia.
“We’ve had many meetings and phone calls. The work that has gone into this organization to get us here is just unbelievable.”
MacAulay said an additional $1.5 million in funding over three years is being provided to help bolster the international reputation of Canadian wines in the hope of reaching that export goal.
“The future of Canada’s grape and wine industry has never been brighter. Global demand is growing for our food and beverages, and that includes the worldclass wines that we do produce,” MacAulay said.