Kelowna–The B.C. wine industry is looking closely at a ruling out of a New Brunswick courtroom that could open the door for direct wine sales across the country.
Currently, most provinces won’t allow direct sales of wine across their borders. That means it can’t be shipped to customers in those provinces or even brought back by travelers except in small quantities.
“We can more easily ship to England or France than Alberta,” says Aura Rose, owner of House of Rose Winery. “That doesn’t make any sense.”
But the court ruling out of New Brunswick has the Rose and other B.C. winemakers feeling hopeful.
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A judge there has found that provincial laws that restrict interprovincial transport of liquor are unconstitutional, something that could have a part in opening up the country to B.C. wine.
“Fabulous,” says Rose. “I mean, it’s something that B.C. wineries have been fighting for, for years.”
According to the legal website WineLaw.ca, the new law is not binding on other provinces as of yet, but it does set a precedent. If it is appealed to the Supreme Court of Canada, and is not struck down, it may eventually become binding across the country.
“I think it’s going to happen anyway,” says Premier Christy Clark. “And I’m delighted to have this court ruling behind me now when I go to premiers’ conferences and I make the case to other provinces that they should open up their borders.”
Agriculture Minister Norm Letnick is hopeful that free trade across the country could open up new markets for locally produced wine.
“In Canada we consume about 30 per cent of wines from Canada, so there’s obviously a lot of room for growth to substitute wines imported from other countries for wines we grow and produce in Canada,” says Letnick.
The ability to direct market to other provinces would have a bigger impact on small wineries, like House of Rose, which are not big enough producers to get their wines into liquor stores, and rely on direct-to-consumer sales and marketing.
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