wits a Hey. ¥. PEP A Bs RTE OT or aoe oe ey are aan aa ” 1 ~ petuating - . _ “The. drink, ~ mountain -. business encompasses five ‘major wineries, Calona, Ste. : By LESLIE SHEPHERD “ “KELOWNA,. B.C, (CP) —~ * The wine snob i is both loathed ‘ +and revered by . British ‘Columbia’s wine industry. ’ He's loathed for ‘per- the poor reputation of B.C. wines, as evidenced ina recent Sunday Times’ of London review of _ Canada’s best-selling wine, ’ Andre's Baby Duck: purple, . tkling stuff, tastes like a ~ blackcurrent “wine gum dissolved in a glass of An- ’ drews- Liver Salt. Served - extremely.cold — preferably “ona atick — you might be _ amused by its presumption." no "The ‘snob; however, is. °° Qpedited with increasing "public: awareness of wines and with prodding | the . wineries to improve. -.. Most eritics grudgingly admit that B.C. wines have. improved dramatically - in the last 10 years and they are _ Bteadily increasing their .. Bhare of sales.. Continued success rests . largely on two factors:. The ’ wineries’ ability to coun- ' teract the Ilngering im- pression that they produce ., Sweet soda pop with a kick, imental vineyards. . and exper At stake is a multi-million- dollar business centred on the hot and sunny Okanagan _ Valley fruit belt with its 7,000 ‘tacres of bright green vineyards nestled among brown, sun-drenched slopes. . The Michelle, Casabello, Andres —. and, Golden Valley, two _ cottage wineries and roughly 160 growers. “The big problem is _ iimage,"” says Bruce Sch- ‘midt, marketing director of Calona Wines: Ltd. in fine is be Kelowna, ‘jacgest of the wi- wneries, “It's been tradition te anything imported. is’ “A lot of people are saying mow, 'I have to admit your wines are good, but they just aren't imported.’ . - “You know, we're, not telling anybody. we're Chateau Lafite Rothschild. We make very good wine at reasonable prices. In many cases we make better wines than the imports,’’ , At International wine com- * petitions: in the last ‘five years, about 33 B.C. wines have collected more than 117 medals and diplomas of, honor. - _ increases in sales of B.C. and other Canadian’ wines ‘in- “dicate there must be a lot of closet drinkers of domestic wine. “They drink Canadian wine all week for dinner and when it comes to the- weekend they out a -bottle of imported,” he said. .- “] think that's OK. | ' “T don’t care when they drink our product” | Sales of B.C. wines have © increased almost 75 per cent - in the last 10 years to 1.7 million eases in 1979 from about one million in: 1970. However, in that same time perjod imported sales in- creased 400 per cent to 1.2 million cases from 292,000. B. c. ‘residents ‘drink more | Schmidt says significant wine per capita than anyone else in the country — about 16 litres a year, Albertans aren't far behind, Imbibing - just over 12 lltres each yéar. B.C. is also the only province in which domestic wines outsell imports, In 1978, British Columbians - bought 4.3 million gallons of Canadian wines compared with .2.2 million gallons. of imports. In Ontario, the wineries’ yardstick market, imports outsold domestic wines 6.8 million gallons to 5.6 million.. ; : ee ee eee ee ' gt aE EES EE B BA TG IEE ede TRE ERE EEE EE a EG ATE Gl EG ET : ‘The increase in wine con- sumption, which began i in the 1960s, is attributed to more travel toEuropes where wine is an-integral part of any meal, and the impact of European immigrants with thelr established wine tastes. ‘The wineries are ap- plauding Consumer Affairs Minister Jim Neilsen’s recent suggestion that B.C. © wines be sold in grocery stores, -But they. want guarantees that it would be stocked and ones in ideal conditions, “Wine is a delicate thing. that has‘to be treated in a: certain way,” said Leger, . “If it stays on the shelf beyond its life expectancy or is damaged by light, it reflects poorly on .tHe “company, even though the ‘product may have been fine - when it left the winery.” Selling wine In food stores erg ara! . Lid. of Pentieton. The first. year wine was sold in - . Quebec’s grocery stores, . total wie sales increased 20 per cent; he said. Casabello has hired a management - consulting firm to determine the feasibility and impact of, the move in B.C. The wineries also would , like to be able to advertise on . ~yadio and television, | * “Not being able to use the — PELE o Legney 2a ae eS eat ot al ie ae a a would increase sales dramatically, says . Harry McWatters, marketing sales manager of Casabello Wines electronic ‘media puts. one . hand behind your back as far as trying to reach the con- sumer,” said Walker. , VANCOUVER (CP) — -Even the sternest critics acknowledge that British Columbia wines have steadily improved. over the last decade. . _For. those with sour memories of the last botile of B.C. wine they sampled but’ willing to give it another try, The winery officials, critics and restaurateurs to rec- labels, weighing their judgments on palatability and value. The white wine most -often and most en- thusiastically rec- — was Casabello’s Fleur liquor outlets for $5 a for a 750 millilitre bottle. ' probably our best all- - round: wine," says Harry MeWatters, Casabello's marketing services manager, ackowledging the compliment. “It's consistent from year lo year." _ ‘The red wines miost often recommended were ‘Casabello's © Gamay ~ Beaujolais, a light, dry at $3.75 for a 750 ml bottle, Andres’ Similkameen Red, which sells for $2.60, and Moulin Rouge, Canadian Press asked | ommend the best of new - ' ommended — by thrée out - of seven people surveyed © fe Blanc, which sells in - “Fleur de Blane is. dinner wine which retalls ~ BC. WINES ARE IMPROVING another slightly fuller- bodied Andres product which goes for $2.75. If you'd like to follow-a new California tend and dyink your red wine cold, you may want to iry Casabella’s Burgon Rouge, the hbést-selling red wine in B.C, However, McWatters warns that the product, - which sells for. $2.15 a litre, is fairly. sweet. Other. white. wines recommended include ‘ four-Germanstyle wines: Andres Similkameen White ($2.75) and ‘their new Hochtaler ($2.45), as with the popular German Michelle’s winery store in leibfraumilches. Surrey, B.C, Casabello's. -Pinat Also recommehsy Chardonnay ($4.95), a Schriener and Dominique full-bodied dry wine, was 9 Chapheau, owner of ‘recommended as a good varietal, a wine made from one type of grape, | If you prefer’ rose wines, Ste. Michelle sales ‘manager Bob Leger recommends his com- ‘pany's Grenache’ Rose- ($3.75). “It's a super rose if a ' person likes roses,” he said, ‘However, the wine is sold only through Ste. . Chauney’s restuarant in Victoria, was the Reisling |‘ produced by Claremont Wines, ane of B.C.’s two cottage wineries. It is available at $2.50 a bottle only through the winery in Peachland in the Okanagan and at a handful of restaurants, . although it will soon be listed in the province’s . nine speciality liquor stores, a Ralph D Duibor : Certified General “Accountant , _ P.O, BOX 858 Se TERRACE, 5.C., V8G 4R2 PHONE 796-2426 . noe well as Calona’s Schloss - Laderheim ($2.40), the best-selling wine in B.C., and their Haut Village ($2.70) which has beenon the market only a month. “Haut Village is a _ complex wine in that is has an initial fruity taste * which develops into a dry, aftertaste,’’ says Larry Talarico, Calona’s > general sales manager. _ “TE your maiden aunts and her’ friends are coming over and you want something they will find pleasurable, try any of the new German-style . wines,” says Jack Schreiner, western editor of The Financial Post, re- ferring to Hochtaler, Schloss. 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