Wine regs get some big changes


Despite their concerns, BCWI’s Prodan believes small wineries will benefitmost.


By Judie Steeves D


uring the past eight months the B.C. wine industry has undergone a seismic change, in terms of adjusting to new regulations governing the sale of wine. Not that the changes haven’t been discussed for many years, but up to now most of the new regulations amounted to tinkering rather than wholesale change.


One of the biggest shifts, as part of the 73 recommendations made by MLA John Yap in his Liquor Policy Review tabled April 1 this year, was a move to permit sales of B.C. VQA wines in grocery stores.


Since another recommendation was that no new licences be issued, the 21 VQA licences belonging to the B.C. Wine Institute are now in demand for use in grocery stores, and the government has announced it will auction off 24 licences next year that were dormant.


BCWI executive-director Miles Prodan says several licences on the Lower Mainland have changed hands, as have the licence used by the B.C. Wine Museum in Kelowna and Discover Wines in Kelowna and Kamloops, owned by Kelowna city councilor Tracy Gray.


She sold her businesses to the Overwaitea Food Group, with the condition that the BCWI would assign a VQA licence to go with them. “The licences have no economic value, although there would be equity in the business, “ explains Prodan. By November, four Overwaitea Group grocery stores in the Lower Mainland were operating B.C. VQA liquor outlets within their stores and consumers were embracing the new concept, he says. “We were running out of space on our shelves at private and VQA stores, “ he says, adding, “the walls aren’t rubber. “ Prodan figures there are in the region of 2,700 B.C. VQA wine labels now, so if every one demanded space, it would be difficult to find it, so he’s glad to see


market everyone, except at trade shows.” Along with these changes announced last spring by the provincial government, a B.C. Wine Industry Appellation Task Group chaired by Summerhill CEO Ezra Cipes, this fall released its final report after seven months of consultation, on changes to the act governing the industry, the Wines of Marked Quality regulations.


B.C. Wine Institute executive director Miles Prodan.


expansion to sale of the wines in grocery stores.


At the beginning, he remembers, the liquor distribution branch used to be crying for product to stock the shelves, but today, shelf space is the issue, as B.C. wineries have grown from 50 to more than 280.


Another associated change is from consignment sales in the B.C. VQA stores to wholesale pricing. And then there is the hospitality price: restaurants used to receive wine at the retail price, but now that’s been opened up and wineries can set the price they sell to restaurants.


Although he admits there have been “lots of doomsday scenarios and concerns from the industry, “ that’s eased now with the kinks being ironed out.


In fact, he says “I believe the small wineries will benefit from this the most, “with more shelf space and more eyes on their products in grocery stores.” Another recommendation adopted by government was that local wineries, breweries and distilleries be permitted to sell at such events as farmer’s markets, another move that’s proven popular for consumers.


“Change isn’t always easy but it’s good for us overall,” Prodan comments. Membership in the BCWI is voluntary, but it represents 95 per cent of all wine produced in B.C., even though just 160 wineries are members. Many of those who are not members are wineries located on Vancouver Island, notes Prodan, who adds, “And, we


Those are administered by the B.C. Wine Authority, which will now conduct an industry plebiscite on approval of the 13 recommendations for reform. The mandate of the group, which included representatives from across the industry, was to recommend improvements on the system of appellations and the certification for wine produced from 100 per cent B.C. grapes.


It’s being seen as part of the industry’s ‘growing up’, with agreement that there needs to be some changes to ensure the future continues to be bright for the burgeoning B.C. wine business. The group’s recommendations include putting an end to the use of taste panels to assess faults, a notion that could be controversial.


Another contentious issue is its recommendation that membership in the BCWA be compulsory in order to have a winery license in B.C. Not all would be required to be part of the VQA program, however. A non-VQA wine that is 100 per cent B.C. wine would be labelled a Product of B.C., but no further delineation would be allowed. The group also recommended that there be four new appellations: Thompson Valley, Lillooet-Lytton, Shuswap and Kootenays. That would add to the current five officially- designated wine regions: Okanagan Valley, Similkameen Valley, Fraser Valley, Vancouver Island and Gulf Islands.


The group recommended there be a framework for 15 sub-appellations within the Okanagan and that the audit process between multiple government agencies be harmonized to enhance quality standards and reduce regulatory red tape.


Called the Wine Industry Turning Point, the full report is available at: www.bcwinetaskgroup.ca


British Columbia FRUIT GROWER • Winter 2015-16 19


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