mhicken August 25th, 2009
The “cellared in Canada” controversy is growing across Canada. For those of you not in the know, this refers to wines that are labelled as “cellared in Canada” but which are made from a mixture of imported and domestic juice. In Ontario, regulations require that at least 30% of CIC wines be domestic juice (so you can almost guarantee that 70% is imported). However, in BC, there are no regulations on CIC wines so they could theoretically contain 100% imported juice. Most of them are labelled that they are a blend. As a result, the imported juice predominates, sometimes massively so (99% anyone?). As a result, these wines are not really Canadian wines at all, they are imported wines which are simply bottled here. Some of the larger Canadian wine companies such as Vincor, Andrew Peller and Mission Hill make a good chunk of revenue from the sale of these products. However, Ontario grapegrowers particularly are upset about these products given the soft market in Ontario for grapes.
In addition, a consumer revolt is gathering steam as wine writers rail against the marketing of a product which is, frankly, misleading to many consumers. For example, the esteemed British wine writer, Jancis Robinson, recently visited a BC LDB store where the “cellared in Canada” product was displayed prominently underneath a “British Columbia” sign. BC’s new wine labelling laws prohibit the cellared in Canada product being labelled as “British Columbia” wine (often the fine print ‘fesses up to the content) but it seems a little off side for the LDB to circumvent this by displaying the product in a section labelled the same way. The Wine Spectator has also recently joined the fray, writing an article illuminating the labelling problem and describing how Canadian consumers are being misled by the description “cellared in Canada”. Update (Sep. 15th): no less an authority than the stalwart British magazine, the Economist has also now joined the chorus of complaint.
In Ontario, consumer and industry pressure has resulted in the “cellared in Canada” product being moved out of the “Ontario” aisles. However, the real solution to the problem would be to prevent this practice entirely. Maybe it’s time for the BC government to take some action?
Here are some links to recent articles on this subject:
Jancis Robinson on the Canadian Con
Wine Spectator Article
Facebook Page on Cellared in Canada
Wines & Vines Trade Article on Cellared in Canada
Cherries & Clay Blog Post on Cellared in Canada
Financial Post Article on Cellared in Canada
The Economist Article on Cellared in Canada
Tags: bc, canada, cellared in canada, labelling, marketing, ontario, wine
