Italian wines: what happens when heritage grapes get cutting edge winemaking

Very few wine producing nations bring as much panache to their tastings as do the Italians.

The Italian Trade Commission recently sponsored its ninth annual tasting in Vancouver, a gala affair in which producer tables occupied two-thirds of a large Convention Centre ballroom. The other third was, of course, devoted to fo0d. The Italians know how to eat and drink.

The Italians have sponsored tastings in Toronto and Montreal for 19 years; those cities are the major Canadian markets for Italian wine. In the last decade, Italy has made more of an effort in Western Canada as well, trying to win away consumers that buy most of their wine from Australia, California, South America and British Columbia.

Perhaps half of the 37 wineries at the Vancouver tasting have no wines in the market. Those wineries were looking for agents and listings in the BC Liquor Distribution Branch.

The LDB currently lists 460 Italian products, including multiple sizes and fortified products. Sales of Italian wines in British Columbia in the 12 months ended September 30 totalled $59.2 million, up five per cent from the previous 12 months.

It is a sliver of the market. The LDB’s total sales in the same 12 months were just under $3 billion.  

But the Italian sliver is worth exploring, to discover the excellent “new world” styling of the wines. In the past decade or two, Italian producers have really raised the bar. And they are doing it with varietals that grow primarily in Italy. The taste profile of Italian wines is a refreshing change to palates that may have become jaded with Merlot and Shiraz.

To be sure, Italians also grow the French varieties, making excellent Cabernet Sauvignon, for example. However, they understand their competitive edge does not require taking Australian Shiraz or Napa Cabernet head on.

Their edge comes from using varietals not even grown in much of the rest of the wine world. When you add those novel flavours to modern wine making, you get crisp, fresh whites without a trace of oxidation and you get juicy and appealing reds without the hard tannins of yesteryear.

Italy still offers the familiar brands that have been on the market for years and years, but made to improved quality standards. One example is a 45-year-old brand, Fazi Battaglia Verdicchio Classico ($14.99), a crisp, refreshing white still being sold in the green hourglass shaped bottle. Many of us bought it initially because the bottles, like the Chianti in the “fiasco” served well as candle holder.

(The fiasco disappeared from the market for a while. Last year, the LDB restored it by listing Piccini Chianti ($15.99) in the straw “fiasco” bottle. I don’t believe the latter was among the wines in the trade commission’s show.)

Fazi Battaglia is an example of why the Italians are competitive. Verdicchio is an ancient variety that is planted widely in central Italy but hardly anywhere else. The LDB’s tasting notes speak of flavours of baked apple, hazelnut and ripe melon. The wine is light but it has its own personality.

All of the wines I was able to taste – and there was only time to skim the surface – were impressive. Some examples:

Farnese: This is a familiar name in this market. The brand has been here close to 20 years, arriving first with a $7 Sangiovese that the liquor stores could not keep in stock. Well, Farnese Sangiovese Daunia is now up to $9.99. The LDB  currently stocks 2,800 bottles, along with small quantities of another Farnese red and a Farnese white, also both $9.99.

Well, Farnese has gone up market. All of the six wines at the trade commission show would be priced between $22 and $40, if listed. I scored all but one higher than 90. Keep an eye peeled for Farnese Montepulciano D’Abruzzo 2011 ($22.95), a delicious mouthful of black cherry, spicy fruit and chocolate.

Castello Banfi: This is a well known winery in Tuscany, currently with four excellent red wines in the LDB, all of which are 100% Sangiovese but all different in personality. Three were at the wine show. Rosso Di Montalcino 2010 ($26.99) is elegant and juice, with spice and plum favours. Brunello Di Montalcino 2007 ($59.95) has complex aromas of truffles and red berries and flavours of plum, fig, tobacco and chocolate. Brunello Di Montalcino Poggio Alle Mura 2007 ($69.95) is even more concentrated and complex, with notes of black currants and coffee. These all are 90 to 92 point wines.

Casa Planeta is an excellent producer from Sicily, with six wines in the LDB, most of which were at the wine show. There is a crisp, fresh $15.99 Planeta White 2011, a 50/50 blend of Chardonnay and an indigenous variety called Grecanico. The winery also has a $15.99 red, a blend of Syrah and Nero D’Avola, another indigenous grape. It was not at the show but, on the strength of the other wines, it is worth trying.

Moving up the ladder, there is Planeta Alastr0 2011 ($25.99, a 100% Grecanico white and a very interesting wine, with fresh, tangy lime-accented flavours. Cerasuolo Di Vittorio 2010 ($29.99) is made from two indigenous grape varieties, Nero D’Avola (60%) and Frappato. This is another intriguing wine, a red with aromas and flavours of pomegranate, plum and strawberry and with silky tannins. These are both 90 point wines, in my judgment. 

One of the producers that has not yet landed listings in B.C. is Marramiero, a winery from Abruzzo, the region on the coast east of Rome. The quality of the wines is high – none below 90. These included two made with Trebbiano, a widely grown Italian white and a versatile variety. One of the wines, Anima 2011, is a tank-fermented wine that displays floral aromas and appealing flavours of melon and apples. The other, Altare 2009, is made from grapes from 45-year-old vines. It was fermented and aged in oak barrels and given another year of bottle age. It is the most complex Trebbiano I have ever tasted, with the oak flavours cradling rich citrus flavours. The winemaker recommends aging this wine.

The winery’s three reds, all made from the Montepulciano grape variety, were big, rich reds, very satisfying to drink. They should be picked up for this market.

Another Abruzzo winery that is not here, but should be, is Azienda Agricola Nicola Di Sipio. Its offerings began with a delicious sparkling wine, Di Sipio Brut Spumante Metodo Classico, made with Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. There were two excellent white wines made with blends of Pecorino, Falanghina and Trebbiano – one made in stainless steel and one barrel fermented. Finally, there were a solid pair of reds made from Montepulciano; the riserva 2007 reminded me a bit of a Rioja red.

The bottom line is that the Italians, by adopting cutting edge winemaking techniques but not jettisoning their traditional varietals, are producing wines that are unique.

Class of 2012: Saxon Estate Winery

Photo: Saxon Winery's Jayne and Paul Graydon

Strictly speaking, Saxon Estate Winery is not new; it is a winery under a new name and under different management.

Located in the bucolic countryside behind Summerland, this winery opened in 2007 as Hollywood &; Wine. It was so named because one of the founders, Neil Massey, spent many years driving equipment trucks for companies shooting movies in British Columbia.

Last year, Neil and his wife, Betty, both in their 70s, decided they had had enough of the onerous work of vineyard and winery management. They sold the winery to a younger couple from Calgary.

I consider it new for 2012 because Paul and Jayne Graydon, the new owners, have totally rebranded the winery. They also hired Danny Hattingh, a young South African winemaker, to polish the wines, including wines they had purchased from other producers to raise the winery’s volume.

Danny did a pretty capable job, as the reviews below would indicate. However, I anticipate another jump in quality with Saxon’s 2012 vintage, over which Danny had total control.

There are no prices on the winery’s web site. However, each wine is not only described graphically but with a useful sound bite. This is a clever feature and I am not aware of any other winery that has picked up on the idea yet.

Here are my notes on the wine. You can compare them with Saxon’s sound bites.

Saxon Pinot Gris 2011. A wine with a slight blush, this has aromas of pear and flavours of pear and citrus, with good weight on the palate. It is well balanced, juicy yet dry on the finish. 89.

Saxon Viognier 2011. This is a light and lean white with aromas and flavours of citrus; a bit short on the finish. 87.

Saxon Gewürztraminer 2011. Here is a fine Alsace-style wine with aromas and flavours of spice and grape fruit. Full on the palate, it finishes dry and the flavours linger. 88.

Saxon Léon Millot Rosé 2011. Here is a rosé with a vibrant hue, thanks to the red flesh of the grape. It has aromas and flavours of plums and cherries. The juicy texture gives this wine good weight. The finish is crisp. 90.

Saxon Pinot Noir 2009. The shortcomings of this wine – it is over-extracted – can be laid to the previous management. This wine is still firm, with aromas of cherries and plums. 86.

Saxon Merlot 2011. The winery decided to make an unoaked Merlot, succeeding with a juicy quaffer that has aromas of cherries and ripe plums, with plum flavours and a chewy texture. 88.

Saxon Léon Millot 2011. Dark in colour, this begins with aromas of chocolate, plum and blackberry, followed with flavours of plum and mocha. The tannins are silky and the finish is long. 89.

Saxon Cranky Old Man 2011. This has to be one of the better names for a man, again attributable to the previous management and returned by the current owners. Any number of their customers walk away with bottles as gifts, perhaps to make a point. This is an unconventional blend of 70% Pinot Noir, 30% Merlot. (It’s enough to make a Pinot Noir fancier cranky!) There are aromas of plum and liquorice, leading to flavours of raspberry and cherry. The winery’s back label notes, which generally are very accurate, describe this wine as having silky tannins. I find the tannins firm enough that I would age this wine another year. 88.

Here is the winery profile from the recent edition of John Schreiner’s Okanagan Wine Tour Guide.

Paul Graydon liked what he found when changing careers in 2011 to buy, with Jayne, his wife, Hollywood & Wine Winery in Summerland. “I come from this dog eat dog software industry,” he says. “It is refreshing to come to the wine industry where watching your back is not the first issue. It sounds like there is room for everybody to play.”

Born in London in 1960, Paul pursued a high-flying sales career, first with Xerox Corp., then as vice president with a software company called Emtex and with Pitney Bowes, which bought Emtex in 2006. That was three years after he had moved from London to Calgary to accelerate the Emtex business in North America. In the summer of 2010, he and Pitney Bowes parted company and he decided he had had enough of that life.

“I said to Jayne that I could go back into the software industry and earn the big dollars,” he says. “But I was fed up with looking at airport ceilings and travelling all over the USA and Canada.  I wanted something that we can both do together, without having to report to our boss every day.” So they set up a wine agency called Great Wines of the World. “We had always been wine people,” Paul says. “I had been drinking the best wines in the world, having travelled all over Europe and the USA on expenses.” Jayne had also spent several years selling Piper-Heidsieck Champagne in Britain. When they began looking for Okanagan wines to supplement their agency’s European wine portfolio, they concluded that owning a winery better suited their career objectives.

Hollywood & Wine, one of several wineries they looked at, is an attractive rural property established by Betty and Neil Massey. They had moved there in 1998, planting about four hectares (10 acres) of vines for their winery that got its name because Neil was a trucker for movie production companies.  Both in their 70s and only selling about 1,000 cases a year, they were ready to retire when Paul and Jayne came along. The Graydons, given their commercial experience, are targeting annual sales of 3,000 to 4,000 cases for Saxon Winery, named for the historic Anglo-Saxon region of Britain they come from.

Saxon Winery

9819 Lumsden Avenue

Summerland, BC V0H 1Z8

T 250.494.0311

W  www.saxonwinery.com

Stoneboat gets four wines in Cornucopia's top 25

Photo: Stoneboat Vineyard's Martinuik family: left to right, Lanny, Tim. Jay, Julie and Chris

Four Okanagan wineries made it into the top 25 list for the wines that will be poured this year at Cornucopia, which is in Whistler from November 7 to November 11.

Blue Mountain’s Chardonnay 2011 was judged the best white. Stoneboat Vineyards has four wines in the list; Therapy Vineyards has two and Perseus Winery has one.

The list was compiled by a group of tasters. I am told they tasted about 100 wines.

Many other British Columbia wineries also will be pouring wines at Cornucopia’s major tasting, called Crush, which takes place on both Friday and Saturday evenings. I can only assume that many wineries chose not to compete, which is perhaps understandable, given the large number of wine competitions there are.

The imported wines are entered by their agents, some of whom have budgets for competitions and some of whom do not. Congratulations to Marchese Antinori for coming out on top of the red wines with a Chianti.

Having said that, I have tasted almost all of the British Columbia winners. They are worth looking for, either at Crush or in good local wine stores like Everything Wine.

I want to focus on Stoneboat, but first, here is the list.

1. Marchese Antinori Chianti Classico Riserva 2006 – TOP RED WINE
2. Blue Mountain Vineyard and Cellars Chardonnay 2011 – TOP WHITE WINE
3. Cristalino Cava Brut – TOP SPARKLING WINE
4. Oyster Bay Sparkling Cuvée Brut
5. Stoneboat Vineyards Pinot Noir 2009
6. Astrolabe Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc 2011
7. Therapy Vineyards Freudian Sip 2011
8. Stoneboat Vineyards Chorus 2011
9. Therapy Vineyards Freud’s Ego 2009
10. Villa Matilde Aglianico della Campania IGT 2009
11. Peter Dennis Shiraz 2010
12. Fuse Cabernet Sauvignon 2009
13. Canella Prosecco DOC
14. Antano Crianza Rioja 2008
15. DeAngelis Anghelos Marche Rosso IGT 2008
16. Speri’La Roverina’ Valpolicella Classico Superiore DOC 2009
17. Stoneboat Vineyards Pinotage 2009
18. Frontaura Crianza 2005
19. Signorello Estate Cabernet Sauvignon 2009
20. Bodegas Olivares Altos de la Hoya 2009
21. Stoneboat Vineyards Pinot Gris 2011
22. O. Fournier Urban Uco Malbec-Tempranillo 2011
23. Bottega Prosecco Spumante DOC 2011
24. Rodney Strong Vineyards Alexander Valley Estate Cabernet Sauvignon 2009
25. Perseus Winery Sauvignon Blanc 2011

Stoneboat is a family-owned winery that opened five years ago in a charming cottage just off Black Sage Road, south of Oliver. Since then, the winery has won several awards of excellence in the Lieutenant Governor’s wine competition, once with a Pinot Noir and once with a Pinotage.

That reflects the excellent viticulture by the patriarch of the family, Lanny Martinuik, who began growing grapes in the 1980s. Today, he is the leading propagator of vines in the Okanagan.

The winery was launched because the family, which had been selling grapes to other producers, decided it made sense to capture some of the added value for themselves. They have worked with several good consulting winemakers while Jay Martinuik, one of three sons, acquired winemaking skills.

The winery is one of three or four Okanagan producers of Pinotage, the red varietal that was developed in South Africa in the 1920s. Lanny got started with Pinotage when he was propagating the variety for Lake Breeze Vineyards. He tissue-cultured just one vine but ended up with one of the largest Pinotage blocks in the Okanagan.

It comes close to being a flagship wine for Stoneboat. Just this month, the winery released a reserve from the varietal, Pinotage Solo 2010 ($35), made from the five best barrels in the cellar. I have not had a chance to taste it yet.

Here are notes on Stoneboat wines I have tasted.

Stoneboat 2011 Pinot Gris ($19). This is a crisp and fresh wine, with flavours of lime and lemon and with a fine spine of minerals. 89.

Stoneboat 2011 Chorus ($18). This refreshing, tangy blend of six or seven white varietals that really sing well together. There are herbal notes on the nose and the palate, along with flavours citrus, pear and apple. 90.

Stoneboat 2010 Pinot Noir ($25). This winery’s Pinot Noirs are always charming, with aromas and flavours of cherry and raspberry and with a hint of  mocha chocolate on the finish. The wine has good weight and concentration and will age well for several more years. 90.

Stoneboat 2010 Pinotage ($25). This is bigger in texture and flavour than one usually sees in Pinotage, with tastes of black cherry, spice and chocolate. 90.

Stoneboat 2010 Verglas ($35 for 375 ml bottle). This is Stoneboat’s name for its Icewine. The wine absolutely explodes from the glass with tropical fruit aromas. On the palate, there are flavours of pineapple and citrus. The bright acidity balances the sweetness exquisitely, leaving a finish that is clean, tangy and refreshing. 90.

Class of 2012: Rafter F Wines

Photo: Rafter F's Bill and Darlene Freding

There is a very good reason why Darlene and Bill Freding have no plans for a Rafter F winery on their Saddle Ridge Vineyard on Black Sage Road. They also raise and finish livestock here.

“I don’t think it is wise for me to have a feedlot and a winery at the same location,” Darlene says with a chuckle. “A certain number of people might think it is unique and enjoy it, but a number will not and won’t enjoy it.”

That is why they are winemaking clients of Okanagan Crush Pad Winery. It is a concession to the olfactory-challenged among us.

So far, Rafter F has released just two wines from their debut 2011 vintage: 83 cases of Pinot Gris and 95 cases of Chardonnay. In the spring, Rafter F will release three reds – a Syrah, a Cabernet Franc and a Cabernet Sauvignon. Also look for more wine production in the future because the Fredings, with 47 acres of vineyard, would like to grow the brand to 3,000 cases.

Rafter F is the brand that the family has used in ranching for several generations. Bill Freding, whose master’s degree in agriculture includes expertise in genetics, is a fourth generation rancher. His great-grandfather, John Allison, was the first settler and rancher near what is today called Princeton.

Bill and Darlene began their ranching career in the Cariboo, running four different ranches until Bill, in 1988, bought a feedlot south of Oliver that had been in receivership. Here, he could better apply the genetics and the other sciences that he had learned at university.

Ultimately, the Fredings have developed a premium beef product which they sell as Okanagan’s Finest Angus Beef. The animals are fed a daily litre of wine for 90 days in the last 90 days of finishing them for beef.

“It was Bill’s idea,” Darlene says. “We had a customer from Merritt who owns a large ranch. He was acquiring the Kobe beef as calves and sending them to us and we were finishing them. Then his product was going to Japan. Of course, when BSE happened, all that came to a halt.” (BSE is so-called mad cow disease.)

Kobe beef is as succulent and tender as it is in part because the animals are finished with sake and beer in their feed.  “Why can’t we try it with wine?” Darlene remembers asking.

“And it is fabulous,” she discovered. “As a matter of fact, I like it better. The meat is a beautiful red colour. It has its own distinct flavour. If you know it has wine in it, you can imagine it was marinated in wine. It has that bit of a flavour. It helps to tenderize the meat. And when you cook it, the meat will caramelize better.”

Before we get too far down this path, it should be said that the Fredings did not start making wine to nourish their animals. It is just a coincidence.

They grow a lot of corn for animal feed. In 1998, with Richard Cleave as their vineyard consultant, they began planting vines in one of the corn fields. Today, they grow Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Syrah, Merlot, Chardonnay, Viognier and Pinot Gris.

For a number of years, fruit from their Saddle Ridge Vineyard was being sold to Road 13 Vineyards. Michael Bartier, now the senior winemaker at Okanagan Crush Pad, was then Road 13’s winemaker.

“Last year [in 2011], after Mike Bartier joined the Okanagan Crush Pad team, I decided it would be fun to see what we could do,” Darlene says. She sent OCP the grapes from 2½ acres and had Michael make the initial Rafter F wines. In 2012, she has sent double the quantity of grapes. Clearly, the Fredings are feeling their way cautiously into the wine business.

“We just plain, simple, agricultural folk,” she says.

Don’t kid yourself. This is a salt of the earth couple that grows good beef and good grapes.

Here are notes on the first two wines:

Rafter F Pinot Gris 2011 ($21). This wine begins with aromas of citrus and toasty lees. On the palate, there are flavours of green apples and lemon. The texture is flinty and the finish is quite dry. 88.

Rafter F Chardonnay 2011 ($21). This unoaked Chardonnay begins with citrus aromas. On the palate, there are flavours of white peach and citrus. It finishes dry, with a mineral note. 87.

  

www.rafterfwines.com

Rocky Creek releases for autumn 2012

Photo: Rocky Creek sparkling wine with Zork closure

The new releases from Rocky Creek Winery in the Cowichan Valley this year come with exceeding sophisticated new packaging.

Each bottle is embossed with a stylized R and C, so beautifully done that it might be turquoise raven by Bill Reid, set off dramatically against the colour of the wines and the bottles.

This is a package that catches the eye on the shelf of the wine store and also looks smart on the table.

The other feature that sets the Rocky Creek package apart is the winery’s use of the Zork closure. This is an Australian-developed alternative to screw caps with, arguably, more eye appeal on the bottle. The Zork and the screw cap producers can fight it out amongst themselves which is technically better. Suffice it to say, there is no risk of cork taint.

Rocky Creek began using the closure with its table wines several years ago. “We have done a pilot test of the Zork closure over the last three years and learned many challenges associated with this product,” says Linda Holford, one of the winery’s owners.  The challenges, mostly with getting bottles made to the right specifications, have been met and the winery believes this is a superior closure.

This fall, Rocky Creek became the first winery in North America to start using the Zork closure designed for sparkling wines. The closure comes off (a bit stubbornly) with a satisfying pop. One advantage is that it can be re-applied to preserve the bubbles. By resealing a bottle and keeping it in the fridge, you can actually enjoy a glass or two before dinner each day for at least three days.

Here are notes on the wines. They can be purchased in wine stores on Vancouver Island or directly from the winery.

Rocky Creek Katherine’s Sparkle Brut 2011 ($23.90 for 85 cases). Here is a delicious bubbly with a fruity aroma, flavours of apples, fine bubbles and a crisp, refreshing finish. It was amazing how quickly we finished the bottle. 90.

Rocky Creek Jubilee Brut 2011 ($23.90 for 85 cases). The dark rose blossom hue – the wine is Pinot Noir and Pinot Gris - adds to the festive personality of this wine in the glass. The wine is creamy on the palate, with aromas and flavours of strawberries, but also with a crisp and dry finish. 89.

Rocky Creek Pinot Gris 2011 ($17.90 for 265 cases). The wine has a slight bronze blush, indicating that the winemaker gave it skin contact both for colour and flavour. There are aromas of spice, pear and citrus, followed by flavours of citrus and apple. The wine is well balanced and finishes crisply. 88.

Rocky Creek Pinot Noir 2010 ($21.90 for a production of 155 cases). The wine begins with aromas of spice and candied cherry. The winery’s notes speak also of a hint of butterscotch. It is all part of the candy in the aroma. On the palate, there are flavours of wild strawberry, cherry and cloves. The wine is delicately light but the typical silky texture of the variety. 88.

Rocky Creek On The Mark 2011 ($16.90 for 140 cases). This is a blend of Pinot Noir, Cabernet Foch and Maréchal Foch. The Cab Foch is a red hybrid developed by Valentin Blattner in Switzerland. This wine reflects the difficult vintage on Vancouver Island for reds in 2011 in that the wine is lean and light. It begins with an interesting aroma that reminded me of one of my favourite lunches – a BLT with HP Sauce. I almost made a sandwich to pair with this quaffer. 86.

I look forward to tasting this blend from the 2012 vintage, a far riper year on Vancouver Island. Winemaker Mark Holford’s intent with this blend is to create the biggest red he can with what the year gives him. It would be easier to bring in Okanagan grapes but Rocky Creek is one of those island wineries that won’t do that. They are counting on their Cabernet Foch – the vines still are young – to be their primary big red.

Rocky Creek Wild Blackberry 2011 ($19.90 for 250 cases of 500 ml bottles). Dark in colour, the wine opens (as it should) with spicy aromas of wild blackberries, leading to aromas of blackberry jam. The texture is fleshy without being heavy. The flavour is naturally sweet, like the berries, and not sticky sweet like Icewine. The back label recommends this with chocolate. It is tasty on its own and would also be an excellent base for cocktails. 90. 

Laughing Stock releases Portfolio 2010

Photo: The Laughing Stock winery on Naramata Road

This summer, Laughing Stock Vineyards was the only winery to be included in Profit magazine’s list of Canada’s 200 fastest growing companies.

With a five-year growth rate of 279%, the winery was 159 on the list. Of course, the winery, launched in 2003 when David and Cynthia Enns bought a vineyard on Naramata Road, has grown from a comparatively small base. Even so, the growth rate is sizzling.

What are the reasons? First of all, David and Cynthia are very good business managers. In their previous career, they ran a consulting company that worked with leading financial companies. Cynthia has an MBA and such a good head for figures that David quips: “I am married to the spreadsheet queen.”

They are very effective at marketing their wines. “When the business plan was developed, we sat down and talked about distribution channels,” David recalls. “We used to do that same strategic planning in our other business. Where are we going to generate revenue? Where is our margin the best? How do we create and meet expectations?”

One of their best marketing ploys has been to sell futures on a portion of their flagship red wine. Customers who put their money down in February for a case or two to be delivered in October currently save about $5 a bottle on Portfolio, now retailing at $42 on release. The futures program and the direct sales to Laughing Stock’s wine club account for about 40% of the winery’s sales.

You might think there is a risk in buying a case before tasting the wine. In this instance, the risk is low, given Laughing Stock’s track record for quality. The winery’s sales have grown rapidly because the wines are all well made.

Portfolio 2010, just released this month, won a gold medal in the recent Canadian Wine Awards competition. The two previous vintages of Portfolio also won gold medals.

Many wineries of Laughing Stock’s size, about 5,000 to 6,000 cases a year, have been content to sell most of the wine in British Columbia, dribbling a little into Alberta.

Laughing Stock, on the other hand, has made a deliberate effort to sell its wines as far afield as Ontario. As a result, some of the wines get into the hands of the national wine press and get reviewed nationally. As well, the wines get into the hands of corporate customers.

Because of their background in business, David and Cynthia seek out corporate purchasers who use the wines as corporate gifts. The Laughing Stock bottles are tailored to that market. Ticker tape and stock symbols wrap around every bottle of Portfolio, as an example.

“When somebody gets a bottle of Portfolio, or a two bottle set in a box with the corporate logo on it, they are pretty impressed, even if they don’t drink wine,” David suggests. “A corporate gift should reflect your value system. It should reflect what you think of the person you are giving this gift to. It is not just schwag.”

Here is a heads up for those lucky enough to get either of the current Laughing Stock releases this holiday – or enterprising enough to buy them on your own.

Laughing Stock Portfolio 2010 ($42 for 1,675 cases). This is 42% Cabernet Sauvignon, 32% Merlot, 18% Malbec, 6% Cabernet Franc and 1% Petit Verdot. (The remaining 1% got lost on the spreadsheet.)It begins with an exuberant brambly aroma of currants and blackberries mingling with cloves and spice. Generous on the palate, with long ripe tannins,the wine has flavours of  black cherry, black currant, vanilla, mocha and spice. This is a complex and satisfying wine that is drinking well now but will age to greater complexity over the next five years. 92.

Laughing Stock Chardonnay 2011 ($26 for 314 cases). This wine was fermented and aged seven months in 500-litre oak puncheons, double the size of standard wine barrels. This means the oak is very subtly in the background, delivering a delicate toasty note on the finish but not submerging the lively fruit. The wine begins with buttery tangerine aromas and delivers flavours of tangerine and peach; the winery’s own tasting notes speak of lemon meringue. The fresh, elegant finish lingers. 90. 

Colonel McGugan is alive and well in Victoria

Photo: An example of a wine Belfry Theatre can't auction

The Belfry Theatre in Victoria is taking a massive financial hit after a fund raiser planned for Sunday was derailed by the Liquor Control and Licensing Branch.

If the outrageous ruling that blindsided the Belfry is allowed to stand, all organizations in B.C. that rely on wine auctions to help raise money for charitable causes are in trouble.

The now bankrupt Vancouver Playhouse Theatre Company used to get about $300,000 a year from the Vancouver International Wine Festival. Most of that money was raised at Festival’s glittering Bacchanalia which includes the auctioning of donated wine. Just last month, the Bard on the Beach Shakespeare Festival signed on to succeed the Playhouse as the wine festival beneficiary.

What do you think Bard’s artistic director, Christopher Gage, might the thinking now? “Is this a dagger I see before me?”

Here is what happened to the Belfry. The theatre has been raising funds for several years now with an annual wine auction, selling wines donated by wineries and presumably by individuals. It has raised at least $20,000.

This year, when Belfry applied for a special occasion license, the LCLB refused. It seems the regulators decided it is illegal to auction donated wines.

The Victoria Times Colonist, in its report this week, said: “On Monday, a ministry spokesman said the branch was ‘unaware’ the Belfry was auctioning privately donated wine on past occasions. ‘When we became aware of this situation, we advised the licensee that their event would not be eligible for a special-occasion licence’.”

According to the newspaper, the LCLB in an October 19 letter advised the Belfry that all liquor for such an event "must be purchased from a government liquor store or other appropriate outlet."

The LCLB's letter to a consultant used by The Belfrey asserted that "Provincial liquor laws and policies expressly prohibit organizations from soliciting bottles of liquor from individuals to be auctioned for charity."

This will come as a great and devastating surprise to the many charities which benefit from donated wine, and have been doing so for years and years. I have sometimes donated wine. Just 10 days, I donated some to a fund raiser at my church’s new school. A few years ago, I donated wine along with a tutored tasting to the CBC’s annual food bank fundraiser. That little donation raised $400 for the food bank.

There is not a winery in the province that does not give wine to charity, either to be auctioned or to attract ticket sales for tastings. One example: in the past year, CedarCreek Estate Wine has given away 686 bottles of wine to charity. If you wonder at the exact number, remember that wineries have to account to the tax collectors for virtually ever bottle of their wine.

The rule against auctioning donated wine obviously has not been enforced (nor should it have been). Perhaps it is one of those ambiguous rules that moulder happily out of sight until some blue stocking liquor regulator breathes life into it.

“I don't understand their reasoning,” says Vancouver lawyer Mark Hicken. “They have issued licenses to hundreds, if not thousands, of these events over the last 25 years and have never raised the issue before. I find it difficult to understand how they could not have been aware that privately donated wine was being auctioned. It has been going on for years with so many charities, and has raised huge amounts of money for charity. There are really only two possible conclusions to draw from this: either they were not doing their job for the last 25 years and issued all those licenses improperly, or their current interpretation of the law is wrong and the auctions are ok.”

Hicken, in fact, does not agree with the LCLB’s interpretation of the regulations. “I think they can be interpreted to permit private wine at charitable wine auctions,” he says.

The rationale for demanding that charities buy wines at liquor stores is, presumably, so that the government maximizes tax collection. As well, no one is allowed to sell wine unless he or she is licensed. Just try re-selling your wine cellar.

One suspects that Rich Coleman, the minister responsible for the LCLB, has also been blindsided by this, given that Coleman has been involved in pushing forward some recent positive changes in liquor regulation. It took pressure from the minister to get the LCLB to come up with a license that permits liquor to be served in movie theatres (on a very restrictive basis). It may also have been the minister that opened the door for patrons to bring their own wine to restaurants.

The LCLB now has managed to create a huge mess that will land on the minister’s desk once charities around the province get over their shock.

This is another example of how convoluted and antediluvian liquor regulation is in British Columbia. There still are pre-Prohibition rules: for example, the tied house rule that prohibited breweries from owning hotel is still on the books. As a result, at least three wineries have been prevented from selling their wines in offsite lodges and restaurants they owned.

The rule came in to stop brewers from monopolizing chains of hotels. There has been no need for that prohibition for at least 75 years. When I pointed that out to a former minister in charge of the LCLB, he agreed with me but he did not have the brass to get the rule dropped.

It is as though Col. Donald McGugan’s ghost still stalks the halls in Victoria. The colonel effectively ran what was then called the Liquor Control Board from 1923 to 1969 and he ran it with an authoritarian hand. He was 80 when the government finally managed to get him to retire.

“As far as I am concerned,” he said once, “the Act is only for control.”

Exactly.

This is the text of the October 19, 2012, letter from the Liquor Control and Licensing Branch that outlined the reason for not allowing the Belfry Theatre to auction donated wines.

The Liquor Control and Licensing Act requires all holders of a Special Occasion Licence to purchase or obtain their liquor products from the BC Liquor Distribution Branch or an authorized manufacturer or agent. This requirement includes liquor products which may be donated to SOL events for the purposes of consumption at the event or auctioning for charity. LCLB policy supporting the legislation specifically prohibits any individual, business or liquor retailer from providing liquor to SOL holders for any purpose. The SOL application form clearly states that all liquor for the event must be purchased from a Government Liquor Store or other approved outlet.

A liquor manufacturer or agent may donate liquor that has been purchased from the Liquor Distribution Branch to an organization holding an SOL as long as that organization is registered as a charity with the Canada Revenue Agency and the event is to raise funds for charity. Manufacturers and agents are not permitted to donate liquor to organizations that are not registered with the Canada Revenue Agency. Only liquor which has been purchased by the SOL holder or liquor which has been donated by a manufacturer or agent may be auctioned at a licensed special occasion to raise funds for a registered charity.

It is unfortunate that the Belfry Theatre made plans to accept and auction off wine from individual donors because this is clearly prohibited. Provincial liquor laws and policies expressly prohibit organizations from soliciting bottles of liquor from individuals to be auctioned for charity. The rule applies to anyone who holds a liquor licence. When the matter came to the attention of the branch earlier this week, we contacted the organizers to advise them that they can only accept product from a manufacturer or agent for the purposes of auctioning wine at their event.

I am unable to reconsider the decision to allow donated product by individuals because it is specifically prohibited.

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The government is now trying to save face. Here is the latest press release from Victoria.

Liquor laws clarified to help non-profit organizations

Friday, October 26, 2012 8:45 AM

VICTORIA - Minister of Energy, Mines and Natural Gas Rich Coleman today confirmed the Province will take a "common sense" approach that will allow non-profit organizations to conduct fundraising using gift baskets or similar items that have liquor as one of its components. The law will be permanently clarified by legislative changes at a later date.

The approach enables charities and non-profits to conduct certain types of fundraising, such as auctions, using liquor provided it is a part of a gift basket or an equivalent basket of goods. The liquor must have been commercially produced and must not be consumed at the event.

Presently, B.C. law requires anyone who sells liquor to be licensed and for the liquor sold under that licence to be purchased from the Liquor Distribution Branch or another approved outlet, such as a B.C. winery.

Charities that wish to fundraise using only liquor, without other items as a primary component of a basket, will have to wait until new legislation is in place. For those organizations, a special occasion licence will continue to be required and the liquor will have to be purchased through the Liquor Distribution Branch.

Quotes:

Rich Coleman, Minister of Energy, Mines and Natural Gas and Minister Responsible for Liquor -

"From time to time, we find outdated liquor policies that may have been relevant at a particular time in history but don't work today. Our goal is to get rid of these outdated liquor laws that unnecessarily restrict British Columbians and to regulate alcohol responsibly in the process."

Quick Facts:

The B.C. government is modernizing liquor laws in B.C. because many federal and provincial liquor laws have been around since Prohibition. Changes made since February include:

Liquor in Theatres

Provides flexibility to live-event venues and revises liquor laws for movie theatres.

Corkage - Bring Your Own Bottle

Provides opportunities for restaurant customers that want to bring their own wine into a licensed dining establishment.

Penalties for Bootlegging

Police and liquor inspectors now have the ability to issue $575 tickets to people found giving or serving liquor to anyone under the age of 19.

Personal Importation of Liquor into B.C.

Allows B.C. residents to bring back an unlimited amount of 100 per cent Canadian wine if it is for personal consumption and purchased from a recognized winery in another province, or choose to have it shipped from the winery directly to their home.

Allows B.C. residents returning from another Canadian province to bring back on-their-person up to nine litres of wine, three litres of spirits, and a combined total of 25.6 litres of beer, cider or coolers for personal consumption.

Learn More:

To learn more about the rules for liquor licensing in the British Columbia, visit: http://www.pssg.gov.bc.ca/lclb/LLinBC/index.htm.