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Debate Over Wine Labeling Continues in Canada

Purists don't want country's name to appear on bottles of imported wine

 

Ottawa, Ontario—A long-running battle over how Canada’s major vintners label wines bottled in Canada from a blend of imported and domestic juice is a centimeter closer to a conclusion.

The latest step was taken, appropriately enough, as Canada prepared to celebrate the 150th anniversary of its formation July 1. A survey the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) conducted throughout June promises to usher in final approval of new wording that will clearly identify what is, and what isn’t, a domestic wine.

CFIA sought feedback on a new rule that would replace the existing “Cellared in Canada” designation with “International blend from imported and domestic wines” for wines made primarily with imported juice, and “International blend from domestic and imported wines” for those made primarily with domestic juice.

According to a study St. Helena, Calif.-based Frank, Rimerman & Co. LLP produced earlier this year for the Canadian Vintners Association (CVA), Canadians drink 1.2 billion glasses of "Canadian" wine each year. Of those, 985 million glasses are blends. Grapes grown in Canada make just 251 million glasses’ worth of the wine consumed in Canada.

Blends sell for less than $10 per bottle Canadian (about $7.50 U.S.), and at that price many in the industry don’t think most buyers are reading the labels carefully enough to know what’s in the wine. However, few people want those wines identified with “Canada,” which is working hard to highlight the award-winning work of its premium producers (see “Canada’s Wineries Eye the World Stage”). 

“CFIA has heard that the statement ‘Cellared in Canada’ is not informative and potentially misleading to consumers,” the federal agency explains in the preface to the online survey that ran June 1-30. “These statements are intended to provide consumers with the information they need to make an informed purchasing decision.”

The survey simply asks respondents to say whether or not they’re in favor of the change.

Growing interest in local food pushed the topic to center stage in 2009, prompting the Wine Council of Ontario to study the issue. The result was an alternative designation, “International Canadian Blend,” which producers such as Vincor (which took the heaviest criticism) adopted (see “Rebranded Canadian Wines Clarify Content”). Many government stores implemented changes to signage at the same time, to help consumers distinguish between blends and those made exclusively from domestic grapes.

Regulations requiring the wines be labeled as “Cellared in Canada by (vintner, address) from imported and/or domestic wines” remained on the federal books, however.

“Many of the small wineries had outlined their concerns with ‘Cellared in Canada’ still being the federally required label option,” Dan Paszkowski, president and CEO of the Canadian Vintners Association, explained to Wines & Vines. “In particular, their concern was with the use of the term ‘Canada’ within that label statement.”

CVA picked up the issue and commissioned a consultant to interview large, medium and small wineries as well as liquor retailers to come up with an acceptable alternative. Producers in eastern Canada met in Ontario, and a roundtable discussion in British Columbia gathered feedback from producers in that province.

“It was unanimous that the preference was to move away from ‘Cellared in Canada from imported and domestic wines’ to a new label designation that would be ‘International blends from imported and domestic wines,’” Paszkowski said. “The key issue being to take the term ‘Canada’ out of the label, which some felt was confusing to consumers.”

He hopes the change will happen “sooner rather than later,” especially as it’s been eight years since the issue came to the fore. The interim saw the discussion become part of a federal labelling modernization initiative that also encompasses nutrition ratings and whether high-fat dairy products should carry warning signs.

The change has the broad support of industry.

Ezra Cipes of Summerhill Pyramid Winery, who chaired the B.C. Wine Appellation Task Group, told Wines & Vines two years ago that better, clearer labelling for blends would complement efforts to develop an appellation system for B.C. wines.

“They’re two sides of the same coin; we have to have integrity and truth in labelling,” he said.

Andrew Peller Ltd., one of Canada’s largest bottlers of blended wines, declined to change its labels in 2010, pending changes to federal regulations. It declined comment on the prospect of those changes becoming reality, referring questions to Paszkowski.

While vintners such as Vincor sought to respond to consumer concern in 2010, Paszkowski said changes made prior to a change in regulations would have been non-conforming. The enforcement process is complaint-driven, however, so unless someone objected to the changes they would, for all intents and purposes, have been acceptable.

“It’s not something that (CFIA) goes around to liquor stores and starts taking a look at whether every comma and font and everything else is correct,” Paszkowski said.

Whether it makes any difference in the long run is another matter. Paszkowski doesn’t think so. To his mind, the biggest beneficiaries will be those who want to position themselves as national champions.

“People that are drinking premium wines are very interested in appellation. People that are drinking under a $10 price point aren’t,” he said. “How important this is becomes is a good question. I think for consumers of 100% Canadian wines and producers of 100% Canadian wines this adds that additional clarity.”

CFIA staff told Wines & Vines that it expects to release survey results, including a summary report of all comments received, by the end of July. Its labelling modernization initiative wraps up in 2018.