John Peller talks future of Okanagan wine industry

It’s a done deal.

Canadian wine giant Andrew Peller has officially acquired three popular Okanagan wineries.

The $95 million blockbuster deal sees Tinhorn Creek Vineyards, Black Hills Estate, and Gray Monk Estate added to its portfolio.

“People are kind of surprised that we did all three at once and to be truthful it was totally coincidental,” said John Peller, chairman and CEO of Andrew Peller Limited.

Peller spoke to Global News while visiting the south Okanagan on Wednesday.

He said he foresees greater investment in the Okanagan Valley.

“I think we will see more investment in the next 10 years [than] the last 40 years combined.”

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Peller added it’s an expensive business and that’s why winery consolidation makes sense.

“Consolidation occurs naturally over an industry’s life span because it is the best way to get access to capital and acquire the resources that you need.”

But, he said there are other obstacles impeding the industry’s growth.

“I have no doubt that the confluence of so many government regulatory issues is one of the major challenges that we have to deal with now.”

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Wine producers face inter-provincial trade barriers as provincial monopolies impose hefty markups and additional taxes.

“When someone in Bordeaux ships a bottle of wine to Paris it doesn’t go through the government first so that they can rake nine dollars out of the margin, so this is a river that we’re going to have to cross,” he said.

The businessman said that as the Canadian wine industry matures, regulatory policies have to evolve as well.

“We’re heavily taxed as an industry more than other agricultural products, and we need to be able to trade freely in our own country,” he said. “They need to revere us for the value we bring to the community economically and culturally and help us along the way.”

He said the provincial and federal governments need to help winemakers with sustainable policies.

“We all need to be able to ship our wines across the country without paying excessive taxes and having to deal with trade barriers in our own country.”

As far as the publicly-traded wine company’s future growth plans, Peller said there is no immediate interest in acquiring additional wineries in the Okanagan, but they are looking at further investment opportunities out east.