Estate wineries and all VQA brands are not importing the wines.
The bulk wines are brought in under different brands or sometimes only slightly different labels by the Big Three winemakers, Vincor, owner of the Jackson-Triggs label, Andrew Peller Ltd. owner of the Peller Estates label, and the Mark Anthony Group, owner of Mission Hill and the Artisan Wine Co. wine brand.
All three also sell VQA wines, with almost identical labels in some cases.
World-renowned wine writer Jancis Robinson has championed the issue, calling it “the great Canadian con.”
Winemakers fight for their product’s reputation
By Gordon Hamilton, VANCOUVER SUN
September 24, 2009
Consumers are reacting with anger and confusion over revelations that imported bulk wine is being labeled and sold as B.C. wine. After dining out in the Okanagan with a visiting French winemaker, Liberty Wine Merchants general manager Robert Simpson indulged his guest by going for a late-night walk in a nearby vineyard. The French winemaker had explained the problems he faces in the south of France, where co-operatives buy cheap wine from Spain or anywhere and bring it in by the tanker truck-full.
The resulting wines are inferior and undermine the reputation of true French wines.
It was a quiet evening and the winemaker said he wanted to walk in the vineyard to “commune” with the Okanagan grapes.
“It’s late, it’s after 11 o’clock, and we are walking around in the vineyard and he hears this sound and says, ‘What’s this? I can’t believe this! It’s night! Why are they bringing wine at midnight into a winery?’
“I didn’t pick up on it at all, but then sure enough, a few minutes later this big tanker truck comes up the road, slowly gearing down up this long, steep road into the winery.”
It was a load of imported bulk wine, no different from what the winemaker had seen so often in southern France.
“Typically, trucks go into the winery during the day and the wine’s going the other way,” Simpson said.
“If you are buying bulk wine, there’s not a pipeline. You’ve got to bring it in by truck.”
The bulk wine business is extremely profitable for wineries that import it, bottle it, and then sell it as B.C. wine, Simpson said.
Further, the B.C. Liquor Distribution Branch aids them by stocking it in the “British Columbia Wines” section of its stores. They don’t have to contain so much as one drop of actual B.C. wine under LDB regulations. It’s a practice that critics say is not about the quality of the wine, it’s about fooling the public and using deception to cash in on the reputation of local wineries.
“To be honest, not all wine that’s imported in bulk is bad. A lot of it is very good. The problem is the perception, and that’s where the crux of this issue lies. It’s the perception,” said Simpson.
Canada’s three major wine companies all bring in bulk wine, blend it to enhance the flavours, then bottle it and call it “Cellared in Canada” in fine print, often at the bottom of the back label.
Cellared in Canada wine has becoming an international blot on the B.C. and Ontario wine industries, where local winemakers have earned respect for their 100-per-cent Canadian grown and bottled products.
The B.C. Winegrowers Association, which represents B.C. winemakers who pride themselves on their locally produced wines, is also fighting for more clarity in the labelling and marketing of the bulk wines.
None of the three major wineries have agreed to requests for interviews.
However, Michael Tutt, Vincor marketing director, said representatives of the Big Three are ready to talk to The Vancouver Sun editorial board as an industry group “as soon as possible,” over the Cellared in Canada issue.
“We view this as an important industry topic that needs to be addressed,” Tutt said in a telephone message.
The Liquor Distribution Branch told The Sun in an e-mail that it is addressing the issue with winemakers. However, the e-mail, from the branch’s communications department, said the LDB has received no “formal” complaints over the issue.
“Some industry groups have expressed opinions about the best way to label British Columbia-produced wines with imported content. The labelling of wines in Canada comes under federal jurisdiction,” the e-mail said.
“LDB has offered to work with industry representatives to enhance consumer awareness about how British Columbia-produced wines are displayed in its stores.”
The LDB said it has no control over how private liquor stores display the wines.
Simpson said Liberty Wine Merchants sells some of the wines in some of its outlets because they are reasonably priced to compete with imports from Australia or Argentina and consumers ask for them. Unlike government-run stores, they are not displayed as B.C. wines.
He wants to see the labelling and marketing practices changed.
“I understand having to compete on a world level. I get it on a business perspective.
“But my perspective is this should be done as an honest, legitimate wine that’s brought in here. I think that’s where the problem is.”
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