winefind.ca
If you want to buy a wine, just click on the wine name below and you will instantaneously connected with the LCBO database. The wine name will appear in blue and all you have to do is click on the name again and then the next screen will provide details along with the store search. Just click on the search. The number of bottles in each store is updated nightly. You should call the store first to see if stock still remains (each store phone number is provided).

I am ecstatic at the continuing success of Ontario wines. Last night, for instance, winemaker Derek Barnett picked up the best Cabernet Franc trophy for his Lailey Vineyard 2001 Cabernet Franc ($29 winery only) at the 2003 Canadian Wine Awards dinner at the Metropolitan Hotel. To check out other CWA winners click here.

This week I also received an LCBO update informing me that Ontario wineries are on a roll. In addition to the 165 Ontario VQA wines currently available at the LCBO, it states that “sales initiatives such as the WOW (World of Ontario Wines) leader program, which designates and trains LCBO store staff to promote domestic wines, have helped boost sales. LCBO first quarter dollar sales of VQA wines were up 13%, while non-VQA Ontario table wines rose 8% over same period last year. Overall, Ontario table wine sales grew by more than 10% - up from one to three per cent growth a couple of years ago. During past year, the LCBO offered 422 Ontario wines on its general list, including 189 white, 146 red, 16 rose, 26 sparkling, 20 fortified (ports, sherry, vermouth) and 25 other wines (Kosher, dessert, flavoured, etc.)”

Of course, one has to ask whether being on a roll should necessitate steamrolling the competition. This is where I draw the line. For many, the government-LCBO-Ontario wine industry relationship has become too incestuous. The Executive Director of the Ontario Wine Council, for instance, happened to be a key player in the Eves premiership campaign. Also over the past year alone, taxpayers have gifted considerably more than $10 million in marketing support to the Ontario wine industry. Meanwhile the LCBO has effectively become a marketing machine for local wines with the express objective of greatly expanding their market share.

It is one thing to support something you love, and quite another to stifle the competition. Unfortunately for Ontario consumers and wine importers, the government has built a myriad of essentially restrictive policies aimed at restraining competition and the proliferation of imports. At present there is no level playing field.

Last week, for instance, at the annual Australian wine fair I tasted the terrific Watervale 2002 Riesling ($19.92 -Lifford Agency). The importer has this and hundreds of other cases sitting in the LCBO warehouse for sale. And yet I cannot order a single bottle - or even just a few bottles. I must order a minimum case of 12 bottles. By contrast, a bottle of Ontario wine can be sent via the postal service at any time. Surely this discretionary LCBO rule has to be challenged.

Even more frustrating is the fact that importers are limited in the number of bottles they can have in their own offices. Because wines come by the case, importers simply can’t stock all their wines due to ridiculously low limits. Can you imagine the wine gestapo appearing at your door, doing a bottle count, charging you with breaking the law because you have too many bottles of your own wines in your own office? It is shocking to discover that many such blitzkrieg raids have been carried out against importers, who have been subjected to huge LCBO-imposed financial “penalties” (prior to being proven guilty) and are in the process of having their import licenses revoked. This week one of the charged importers was in the Alcohol & Gaming Commission’s “star chamber” fighting for his economic life! It is appalling to discover that since 1997 provincial law makes every importer in possession of more than 20 cases, lawbreakers!

What makes all this especially ironic is that coincidentally the Ontario Wine Council has changed the amount of cheap imported wine to 90% that can fill that Ontario wine bottle (until January 31,2005). In a rush last week, the Eves government approved this “short crop strategy”, which will open the floodgates to cheap imported bulk wines soon to be appearing in LCBO stores near you. In the past, these offshore blends were kept far away from genuine VQA items in LCBO stores. Now the LCBO has blessed the repositioning of these offshore blends, which may be mixed with VQA wines. Also, all Ontario wineries will now be able to ship these blends directly to consumers and licensees at a lower LCBO mark-up, which will be a tremendous lift to profits again at the expense of imports.

It seems that the expression “Ontario, yours to discover” now has a new meaning. We can spend hours trying to guess whether the “Product of Canada” content is from Argentina, Italy, Australia or even Romania. This new ability to blend and sell offshore wines, often with almost identical labels as the VQA products, in the same section as the hallowed VQA stuff will seriously impede VQA credibility. Everyone seems oblivious to the fact that such discriminatory policies fly in the face of Canada’s international obligations. Do we really need a monopoly whose agenda is to keep imported prices high and non-LCBO store sales of imports down? Unfortunately, such a system only victimizes importers and penalizes hapless consumers. Surely the time has come to level the playing field. Thankfully, a number of Ontario wineries dedicated to bringing you the best have no intention to start bending thereby diluting the VQA quality they have struggled to build!

Check out our winefind.ca tasting notes database

Our tasting note database goes back to January 1, 2001 and covers every Vintages release product for the past 31 months. There are approximately 5,000 notes in the database data. Just enter the name of the product, supplier name or CSPC number. Or you can search by type of wine, country of origin, even wine agent! Nothing could be easier. When you get your search results (starting with the most recent release), click on the item name and you will instantaneously connected to the FBTI Vintage Assessments database. You will see our tasting note along with the name of the agent. You can get information on the agent by clicking on the agent’s name. Also, you can check LCBO store inventory by clicking on Check LCBO Availability. It will automatically take you to the item you want to search.

To use our winefind.ca Tasting Notes Database: click here

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Check out the
September 2003 InStore Discovery

Copyright Food & Beverage Testing Institute of Canada 2004
Prior written permission is required for any form of reproduction
 (electronic or other wise) and or quotation.
Contact Michael Vaughan at
mbv@total.net