Dan Albas - Our Hero

Last night, the House of Commons unanimously passed Bill C311, which will allow Canadians to buy wine for personal consumption in one province and (gasp!) transport it to another province, including through online shopping.  (Read my post about the history of this prohibition here.)

The Bill now goes to the Senate for its sober second thought.  Let’s look forward to the Senate acting quickly and Royal Assent before the end of the current session.  (The words “Senate” and “acting quickly” are not written together very often but here’s hoping.)

Dan Albas

Ron Canaan

Cheers to rookie MP Dan Albas (Conservative – Okanagan-Coquihalla) for sponsoring the Bill and to all MPs for unanimous consent! And thanks to MP Ron Canaan (Conservative - Kelowna-Lake Country), who led the fight to change the law in the previous Parliament.

And congratulations to Free My Grapes, who conducted a classic advocacy campaign to push MPs to action.

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How Sweet It Is…or Isn’t

There’s a certain rhythm to the year for us winos.

Sure, there’s the viticultural year…dormancy, budbreak, flowering, green harvest, veraison, harvest, pruning.

There are the familiar labels that show up in the Vintages release at the same time every year.

Even some issues seem to pop up at the same time, one year to the next. Here’s one of my favourites.

Decanter reports that Olivier Humbrecht, the boss of Zind-Humbrecht, one of the top producers in Alsace and Biodynamic to boot, is calling for a “sweetness code” on the labels of Alsatian wines.

Certainly one of the biggest challenges that both Alsatian and German wines (particularly Rieslings) have is that consumers are never quite sure how sweet a particular wine is. Vinification styles vary widely.

My strong preference is for bone-dry white wines, and I’ve been disappointed with some wines (including from Zind-Humbrecht) that are sweeter (perceived or actual) than I prefer. I know that many other Riesling fans out there have the opposite preference, and have been equally disappointed when an Alsatian or German white wine doesn’t meet their expectations.

Sure, in Ontario, we have the sweetness ratings provided by Vintages/LCBO, but I’ve found that system has its drawbacks, largely because there are other factors (pH levels, acidity) that affect the perception of sweetness in a wine.

So, when I posted about the International Riesling Foundation’s Taste Profile at this time last year, I said that I liked the solution of having the winemaker put a Taste Profile right on the label. Still do. Good for the consumer, good of the producer. An idea whose time has come?













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Do More Expensive Wines Taste Better?

Check out the latest Freakonomics podcast on whether more expensive wines taste "better".   It's great fun (if listening to economists can be called fun). 

Their basic point?  Too many "experts" make wine out to be something complicated and too many consumers buy wine based on what these experts tell them they're supposed to like or, worse, based on price.  To quote from their concluding remarks:  "Wine isn't supposed to be a drag...it's a celebration...civilization in a glass..."

So, especially for the next 2 weeks, drink what you like and lots of it.  Just relax and enjoy!  

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The Provenance Paradox

Regular readers know that I like to find wines that are “off the beaten track”. I look for wines made from lesser-known traditional varietals, unusual blends, or underappreciated regions. Apart from the delight in finding something new, I've found some of the best value in wines that aren’t as well-known, especially when compared to wines that are over-hyped.  It's something that we all know instinctively, that you can find good value if you're willing to look for it.

This month, Harvard Business Review has an interesting article entitled “Why You Aren’t Buying Venezuelan Chocolate” that validates that approach. (That sound you hear is me patting myself on the back.) As the author, Rohit Deshpandé, writes,

A product’s country of origin establishes its authenticity. Consumers associate certain geographies with the best products: French wine, Italian sports cars, Swiss watches. Competing products from other countries—especially developing markets—are perceived as less authentic. Even when their quality is on par with that of established players, the developing-market firms can’t command a fair price. The lower price, in turn, reinforces the idea that the offering isn’t as good and that the region doesn’t make premium products.

Professor Deshpandé calls it “the provenance paradox”.

Here’s a short (13-minute) video interview with Professor Deshpandé, with examples of the challenges faced by companies like Concha y Toro (one of Chile’s best wine-makers) and how other companies, like Corona beer, overcame the challenge.

For anyone who’s trying to bring lesser-known wines into the marketplace, whether a Canadian winery, an importer, or as a sommelier working with clients in a restaurant, it’s a fascinating examination of what you’re up against.

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The Law is a Ass

Buying wine in one province and bringing it into another province is illegal.

You read that right.  A federal law (the Importation of Intoxicating Liquors Act) that dates back to 1928  - just as many jurisdictions repealed prohibition - makes it a crime to transport alcohol across provincial boundaries. Unless, of course, you’re the provincial government’s own monopoly, in which case it’s OK. (That was the point of the law: to strengthen provincial liquor monopolies)

Now, I don’t know anyone whom the Crown has ever charged with this crime. And looking at the number of vehicles with Quebec license plates at Ottawa’s LCBO locations (and Ontario-plated vehicles at the SAQ in Gatineau), there’s not much of a deterrent to this common cross-border criminality.

Not that I’ve ever done it, of course.

But it's a bad law:  every law that is ignored by both citizens and law enforcement is a bad law.

It gets worse.  It’s also illegal for a winery in one province to ship its wine directly to a customer in another province. Heard about those great wines in BC? Want a few bottles? Not available at the LCBO? Sorry, you’re SOL…unless you buy it privately by the case through the LCBO (at their option, they don’t have to do it). There’s that monopoly again.

In a time when purchasing goods is just a click away, it’s way overdue to strike down this outdated law and one MP is leading the charge to wipe out a piece of it. Ron Cannan, Member of Parliament for Kelowna-Lake Country, has tabled Motion 601 in the House of Commons to allow Canadian consumers to purchase wine directly from Canadian wineries.

A group that calls itself the Alliance for Canadian Wine Consumers has launched a grassroots write-in campaign at freemygrapes.ca  They make it easy for you to join the fight by asking your own MP to support Cannan's motion.  Check it out.

Because the proposed exemption only covers the interprovincial sale of wine directly from Canadian wineries to Canadian consumers, the change won’t fix the ridiculous problem of criminalizing all cross-provincial-border shopping for wine.

But it’s a good start.

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Brilliant Idea

Ever bought a bottle of Riesling and been surprised that the wine is sweeter than you expected? Or not as sweet? Me too. I can’t think of another varietal that winemakers produce in so many different styles. Some regions, like Germany, have their own classification systems to guide the consumer (although knowledge of German helps). Still, much confusion and disappointment reigns.

Back in 2008, the International Riesling Foundation (yeah, I didn’t know it existed either) launched the “Riesling Taste Profile”. The IRF designed the Tasting Profile to help consumers anticipate the taste of a particular bottle of Riesling. The Riesling Taste Profile consists of “voluntary technical guidelines for wine makers and winery owners in describing their wines for consumers and that may be used on a back label, point-of-sale materials, and elsewhere”. The technical guidelines have benchmarks for residual sugar, acid, and pH. All three elements affect the taste profile of Riesling, which is why relying on only one element, such as the LCBO’s sugar content ratings, can lead you astray. For example, a Riesling with more residual sugar but high acid may well taste drier than one with less sugar and low acid. Measurements for these three elements determine how a winemaker classifies its Riesling on a continuum from Dry to Medium Dry to Medium Sweet to Sweet. Despite the benchmarks, however, a winemaker may still use judgement in how the label describes the wine.

The IRF has members in North America (including Cave Spring Cellars), Europe, South Africa, and Australia. Decanter reports that 12 million cases of US-produced Rieslings now use the Taste Profile.

It’s not perfect, but anything that reduces consumer misperceptions and confusion has my support. Let’s hope more Riesling producers get on board.

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Silver Lining

I have a confession to make. I used to be a bit of a trophy-hunter for wines. You know, attracted by the big names…big scores from Parker and Wine Spectator…having bragging rights for the famous labels that I tried. But something very interesting happened in my sommelier courses: we tasted many excellent wines in the $20 to $50 range. Now my fun is in finding good wines at moderate prices. And the timing couldn’t be better.

The Great Recession has kicked the stuffing out of the market for high-end wines. Decanter – quoting a report from Silicon Valley Bank’s Wine Division (a bank with a wine division…how great) – says that, for many wineries, $50 bottles are now “permanently” out of the question. The bank’s report says that the market for fine wine (more than $20) dropped 11 percent in the first half of 2009 and that we’ll see a lot more wines at less than $50. In another report, Decanter quotes one vintner, “The dead zone is the US$50-100 price bracket.”

Meanwhile, Decanter also reports that 2009 Bordeaux futures are a tough sell, even though 2009 is a “stellar” year. Consumer demand just isn’t there. Diageo (the world’s largest wine, beer, and liquor company) passed on buying 2009 Bordeaux futures. Gary Vaynerchuk, who used to do $10 million a year in Bordeaux futures, won't offer futures at his store.

For us value-hunters, all this is the silver lining in the recession’s dark clouds. More wine stores and restaurants are re-jigging their offerings, bringing in far more “good wines at moderate prices”. Any customer of Vintages (Ontario’s fine wine store) knows that, slowly, more reasonably-priced bottles are showing up on the shelves, in their Classics Catalogue, and through their online exclusives. Sure, some “trophies” are still on the shelves but we’ll leave those to my former colleagues.

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