Abstract:
Canada is the only major wine-producing country where domestic consumption of the local product is not in a majority position. A century of bad local wine, the snobbery of European wines, and the growing appeal of wines from the Southern Hemisphere continue to take their toll. More damaging, however, is the on-going saga of the larger Canadian wineries being allowed to produce, and label as a Cellared-in-Canada wine, a blend of up to 60 percent foreign content.
Meanwhile, the Ontario government with its regulatory control wrestles with a David and Goliath situation, between growers who cannot sell their grapes and powerful corporate interests who argue that for quality and price reasons the status quo of blended wines must prevail. Behind the idyllic rural landscapes of Niagara, and some 90 small estate wineries producing 100 percent Ontario wines, lay a troubled industry. Significant quality, price and regulatory challenges in the years ahead can be seen. Improvements in grape quality will allow the elimination of the domestic content requirement for blended wines in 2014. However, wines made of 100 percent Ontario grapes must be better marketed if they are to compete with Cellared-in-Canada wines of 100 percent foreign content. Also, there is a public that remains largely unaware of what constitutes a Canadian wine, and efforts to change such perceptions are impeded by differing corporate agendas.
