Wait not so fast owning a winery may sound exciting and luxurious but It is a great deal of work. The major of winery owners are hard-working farmers.. they till the land, grow grapes, harvest the grapes and struggle to make money. If you want to be a successful wine owner its best to start rich and many do.
It also helps to hire an experienced winemaker, even a consultant with a great reputation and vineyard manager is also required. You also require the help of other wineries, especially if you plan on doing all the jobs by yourself.
Then, how are you going to sell your wines where is your market. Most likely its only the province your located in. But even getting your wine beyond your own gate is not easy. There are so many wineries out there.
To become VQA certified you have to pay for this honour. Getting restaurants, pubs ,and liquor stores to carry your wine, a most difficult task. Canadian restaurants don't have a passion for listing Canadian wines on their wine list. Is that the consumer fault?
So what are you left with, selling your wines on site. Can you afford a tasting room? Can you afford to staff it. You cannot sell, your wines outside of your own winery and tend to your tasting bar at the same time.
Winery owners are finding the industry is much more difficult than they anticipated
In the last few year we have seen the number of new wineries triple if not more. However numerous wineries are for sale and some have even declared bankruptcy
So let's support our local Wineries. But wait the majority of the population does not live in Wine Country. In Ontario its only 2 hours to the Niagara Peninsula In BC its five hours ( those of you who say you can do it four your away over the speed limit) from Vancouver to the Okanagan. To the Island wineries a rather expensive Ferry ride.
Also, there is the cost factors, wines in Canada are over taxed and cost too much
You can buy good wine in the USA for $5.00 in Canada finding one under $12.00 good luck. If you wish to bring box wines into the picture and other cellared in Canada wines remember those grapes are not grown in Canada It is economically challenging for Canadian vineyards to grow grapes at the price and quality needed to compete with the low priced imports that are flooding our wine market. Check it out for your self what are people buying in your local store. The big bottles from foreign markets I bet.
Many wineries sell limited quantity wines selling for $35.00 and up. Great but they better be way beyond good. Even if they are you need to find a way to let the consumer know and once again find a way to sell them
For over twenty-seven years now we have promoted the wineries of Canada her wines. Yet many wineries totally ignore our request for information.
AVAs like the Okanagan relay deeply heavily on tourist to purchase wines directly from the winery. That is one reason our website features a tourist section. We also believe we live in a great country and wish to bragg a little.
Icewine is Canadians biggest selling wine product Thanks to a very strong Chinese market. However, only a few wineries have access to this rich market. Due to the high price Icewines do not sell well in Liquor stores. In fact, I could find only three bottles of Icewine in our Local store. Some wineries in Canada produce only icewine. That's a gamble. If the weather is too warm there is no harvest.
Do you still want to own a winery?
and then you have California
California wines continue to grow in popularity with both trade and consumers in the Canadian market," according to Rick Slomka, Wine Institute Trade Director for Canada. "Some of the recent growth comes from new brands with eye-catching labels and clever names. Also contributing to this growth is the ongoing strength of the Canadian dollar which has made California wines more competitive compared to wines from other major wine regions. Our continued success with premium wines in the Quebec market and in LCBO VINTAGES, indicates that Canadian consumers see good value in California at all price points," said Slomka.
Canadian wines are world class yet consumers still flock to the wines of California and the old world.
We would like the hear your thoughts bobbell@winesofcanada.com
February 2012
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