Between the Vines


The value of wine awards


Competing for local and global recognition takes onmore importance as the number of B.C. producers continues to rise.


By Judie Steeves I


n the global ocean of wines, the quantity produced in British Columbia is a fine mist—it’s not even a droplet.


However, in quality, the 1994 win by Mission Hill Family Estate of the Avery Trophy for the top Chardonnay in the world at the International Wine and Spirits Competition, magnified that fine mist so it was suddenly visible around the globe—in the world of wine. (In fact, judges insisted it be re-judged because they couldn’t believe it was a Canadian wine.) With that win in mind, no one can say winning awards for wine is not important in promoting and marketing B.C. wines, because such international recognition casts a reflection on the entire Okanagan wine industry.


That reflection was noticed not only by the international wine community, but by wine afficionados at home as well, and was responsible for a paradigm shift in thinking about the B.C. wine industry.


Sure, there are a few wineries, including some that produce top- quality wines, who disdain competitions, because their style of winemaking is edgy or pushes the boundaries of what’s expected of a particular grape varietal. They have good reason not to participate.


However, for the majority of wineries, it’s to their advantage to compete, particularly if they wish to get noticed in what has become a crowd of B.C. wineries clamouring for


24 attention.


Distinction is possible with a few medals hanging on your bottles.


Consumers do enter wine shops with lists of winners from wine competitions as a guide to what to buy, reports Tracy Gray of Discover Wines VQA wine shop in Kelowna.


She says it gives a winery credibility, particularly if it is otherwise unfamiliar to the consumer — and especially if the award is an international one. However, Gray admits that in fact, not winning


JUDIE STEEVES


Tracy Gray, of the Discover Wines shop in Kelowna, says many customers bring lists of competition winners to help them make their selections.


awards doesn’t tell you anything about a wine or winery, because there are lots of wineries that have made a name for themselves and sell out each vintage without such promotion, so they don’t enter competitions. Others simply don’t make enough wine for it to be worthwhile for them to enter contests for the awards. However, she feels it is important for new wineries to enter contests in order to make a name for themselves. New wineries must take some steps to become known: hold tastings, get out during the Okanagan Wine Festivals and do some form of marketing, she believes.


“If you still have product from the previous vintage when the next vintage is being bottled, you may want to think about entering competitions in order to sell out your earlier vintages,” she suggested.


“It’s one of the best marketing tools you can use, and one of the least


expensive ones.”


She says sales of wine to the public are a pretty good indicator of how good a wine is, but also how well it’s priced—especially when it comes to return sales.


“Wineries that don’t enter miss out on some good exposure. Large wineries enter because they have a huge selection and it builds credibility for all their product lines,” she explains.


This year’s change during the fall wine festival was well-received by retailers like Gray, who said the early announcement—prior to the start of the 10-day event—created a lot of excitement and a real buzz. “People were looking for those wines all through the week of the festival,” she commented. The earlier announcement significantly increased traffic at wineries during the first weekend of the festival, agrees one of the festival


British Columbia FRUIT GROWER • Winter 2011-12


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32