Modernization needed now

Canadian vintners must take lead on production, regulation change

News that the Nova Scotia Liquor Corporation has opened its provincial borders to comply with federal law is welcomed by Canadians who think we should be able to buy Canadian wine from any Canadian producer.

However none of this matters until the 21.6 million people who live in Quebec and Ontario agree to do the same thing.

Nova Scotians can now have their favourite Canadian wines delivered directly to their homes, but if you live in Quebec or Ontario you have no access to Canadian wine unless you buy it via the convoluted, heavilytaxed, LCBO or SAQ monopoly store system, under which Air Miles trumps case discounts and home delivery.

Diana Whalen, the minister responsible for the Nova Scotia Liquor Control Act says Nova Scotians can now import locally grown and produced Canadian wine for personal use without going through the Nova Scotia Liquor Corporation.

In typical provincial fashion, because sadly we have no national wine laws that matter, the Nova Scotia government issued its definition of Canadian wine that will govern which Canadian wines Nova Scotia wine drinkers can bring into their province.

To wit: “Wine can now be imported into Nova Scotia from another province for personal consumption if the winery that produced the wine is licensed and legally permitted to produce and sell wine; at least 85 per cent of the wine content in the bottle is derived from fruits or other agricultural products grown in the province that produced the wine, and the remaining content in the bottle is derived from fruits or other agricultural products grown within Canada; the consumer buys the wine from the winery that produced it.”

Ironically, Nova Scotia’s move to the 21st century was applauded by Dan Paszkowski, president and CEO of the Canadian Vintners Association.

“Reducing barriers for consumers to directly purchase Canadian wines is critical to growing the entire industry,” Paszkowski said.

Given that the Canadian Vintners Association has been around since 1967 and represents more than 90 per cent of all wine produced in Canada and is situated in Ottawa, where it lobbies for the dubious International-Canadian blended wine products, one wonders when will it will step up on behalf of Canadians and say enough is enough and overturn the provinces’ objections to allowing the sale of wine made outside of Quebec and Ontario inside Ontario and Quebec.

In light of another Canada Day now passed and no further movement by Ontario or Quebec to allow Canadian wine to be sold direct to consumers in their provinces, maybe it’s time for the wineries making 100-per-cent Canadian wine to band together under a national banner and create rules and regulations that are national and international in scope that deal only with wine produced in Canada and made from grapes, fruits and other products grown only in Canada.

The wine world has changed dramatically since 1967. One need only to walk into a Canadian vineyard in the Similkameen, or along the Beamsville, Ont., or Naramata benches to sense the complexity and quality of the business. I’ve just come out of a weeklong national wine competition of more than 1,400 handmade Canadian wines, many of which bear no resemblance to what was going on five years ago, let alone almost 50 years back.

Canadian wine quality is moving so fast it has surpassed the goofy rules and regulations put in place and enforced by people many of which have no idea what is going on at the front end of our industry or internationally.

The CVA and many winery associations were formed in another era ago in isolation when just getting something in the bottle was an achievement. They were built on protectionism and tax manipulation and they have no place in the modern Canadian wine business.

It is time to change the direction of wine regulations in this country. Canadian wine has a chance to enter the international stage in an intelligent way. All we need is for the pretenders and the protectors to get out the way of the folks who want to get the job done.