Ottawa-area vineyards say certification rules are hurting sales

Rules that favour VQA-certified grapes over the hybrid grapes suited to eastern Ontario's cold climateare making it too difficultto getlocal wines into customers' glasses, according to Ottawa-area wineries.

VQAOntario is a provincial regulatory authority that sets standards for wine made in the province. Its markon a bottle indicates the wine is made entirely from grapes grown in Ontario which have also been approved through a quality assurance program.

However, eastern Ontario vineyard operators say VQA standards put them at a disadvantage. Most vineyards from the region growcold-hardy hybrid plants,some of which can withstand temperatures as low as -40C.

The problem is those grapes aren't VQA-certified, while the certified varietiescan't survive the region's cold winter temperatures.

Planting some of the certified grapes would mean "we would have to bury them in the wintertime and then dig them up in the summertime or in the spring to start the season," according toPaul LeBlanc, who owns SmokieRidge Vineyard in Mountain, Ont.

Eastern Ontario grapes deemed inferior, winery alleges

The cold-hardy hybrid grapes used in the region were developed at the University of Minnesota around 60 years ago, but LeBlanc said VQA considers them inferior, even though sommeliers and regular wine drinkers can't tell the difference.

Not getting VQAcertification is a financial problem. Non-VQA wineries have to pay a bigger levy to the LCBOto be able to sell their wines in liquor stores.

"If Isell 10cases of wine, I have to pay theLCBO$877, but if I wasVQA, it's only $250," saidLeBlanc, speaking on CBCRadio's Ottawa Morning.

Smokie Ridge Vineyard also can't sell wines in farmers' markets. That's because the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario allows only VQAwines to be sold in farmers' markets, with exceptions only for wines not made with grapes, such as fruit wines.

"We don't need the wines to be VQA, but we need a level playing field to be able to get the wines into our farmers' markets and not be stuck just selling at the vineyard stores," said Julie Ricard, a sommelier who runs Fortified Grape Consulting in Ottawa, in an interview with CBC Radio's Ottawa Morning.

Rules have driven Ontario industry's success: VQAOntario

In a statement, VQAOntario's executive director defended the authority's rules, saying the organization's goal is to "provide consumers with a simple way to identify local wines made from 100 per cent Ontario grapes that meet an internationally competitive quality standard."

"The VQAprogram has been incredibly successful in supporting the transformation of the Ontario wine industry from a small cottage industry to one with several billion dollars of economic impact," said Laurie Macdonald, adding that any winery can make a formal request to add a new variety to be considered for approval by VQAOntario's board of directors.

Ottawa-area vineyards are attempting to bring attention to their challengeatthe Eastern Ontario Wine Expo on May 29.
Visitorswill be able to sample wines from seven local vineyards.

The eventbegins at 6:30 p.m. at the CollabSpace on Bongard Avenue.