Cellared Wine

Many Canadian growers and wineries say the impact of the recession has been compounded by government regulations that they say benefit lower-priced imports. They point to “cellared in Canada” labelling rules, which allow large wineries to market wine as Canadian even if it contains 30 per cent or less Canadian grapes. These wines dominate many provincial liquor board store shelves and sell for under $10 a bottle, far less than wines made from 100-per-cent Canadian grapes.
In Ontario, blended wines must include 30 per cent Ontario grapes to qualify as “cellared in Canada,” but B.C. has no content requirement. As a result, big wine companies import bulk wine juice from Chile or California for as little as 21 cents a litre, bottle it in B.C. and market it as B.C. wine, Mr. Bond said. “Why does the government of British Columbia believe in deception and how long do we endorse this policy?” he said.