Local wineries
One of the real local success stories over the past decade has been the wine industry. Three new wineries plan to open over the next two years, and they’ll join 15 established wineries that stretch from Amherstburg to Blenheim along Lake Erie’s North Shore.
In all, there are now 1,300 acres of vineyards and 300 people employed in the industry. The region’s wineries are winning awards and the North Shore and Pelee Island are becoming increasingly attractive destinations for both area residents and tourists who are interested in wine tours and stocking their wine cupboards.
It’s a long way from the early ’80s when there were just two wineries in the county. But that changed when entrepreneurs began taking advantage of the region’s natural grape-growing attributes – soil conditions that are perfect and a climate that offers longer sun hours and greater heat units than any other place in Canada.
In fact, the North Shore is situated at the same latitude as the Mediterranean and is located as far south as Northern California and the Tuscany region of Italy, and farther south than the renowned Bordeaux and Burgundy wine regions of France.
Everything seems to be going in the right direction for the local wine industry with one exception – the heavily regulated way alcohol is sold in this country and province.
Federally, the problem is the Importation of Intoxicating Liquors Act of 1928. The Prohibition-era law that was designed to stop the movement of alcohol across the country now restricts wineries from shipping small amounts of wine across provincial borders.
The 84-year-old law says that “no person shall import, send, take or transport, or cause to be imported, sent, taken or transported, into any province from or out of any place within or outside Canada any intoxicating liquor.”
While the law obviously affects individuals, it also has a negative impact on the hundreds of small wineries in Canada which could expand their sales if they were able to cater to tourists or wine fans in other provinces.
There is at least some hope things will change. B.C. Tory MP Ron Cannan has introduced a private member’s bill that would let people send or take wine across a provincial border for personal consumption. It’s received second reading and deserves the support of all parties.
Another, and much bigger, problem for smaller wineries remains the difficulty they have in getting their products on LCBO shelves. You would think in a place like Windsor all local wineries would be featured, but that’s not the case.
It’s an issue that both opposition parties have recognized. Conservative Leader Tim Hudak, who wants greater access for Ontario wineries and also favours opening VQA-only stores, has said Ontario wineries are being hurt by the provincial liquor monopoly.
“Ontario wineries are in a smothering retail environment. They can sell from one store at their winery, and then they have to hope and pray that somehow they get into the LCBO,” Hudak says.
NDP Leader Andrea Horwath has also vowed to target the barriers stopping small wineries from getting their products into LCBO stores and has even talked of allowing sales at farmers’ markets.
Our local wineries, and all operations across Ontario, deserve every opportunity to sell their products in places – including LCBO stores – that are convenient and accessible. At least give them the option. And that should include letting small wineries establish their own stores in malls, downtown areas and grocery stores.