No Apologies for this Canadian!

Recently, like everyone with a business in Canada, I have been watching the news on the US trade war and ensuing tariff threats with horror and anticipation. Of course, being a brand owner with cross border imported wine from California, I have a vested interest. The sentiment in Canada is to boycott American products, and well... guess what mine is? A perfect hybrid of Alberta art and California wine. D'oh.

Why Wine Sourcing is so Confusing!

Wine branding is muffled in this funny qualifying concept of "terrior". At times. If you think about it, it makes sense. A business that is fundamentally tied to the land, cost of goods, regional weather patterns and microclimate, the whole marketing message is about 'place'. Or at least it has been traditionally.

It resonates with people as it is reminiscent of a feeling of belonging, of wonder with your land, your home and your surroundings. Many punters will not buy wine that isn't sourced from a vineyard-based operation.

There is another side. Many wines are not land -based and have broken these marketing rules, deftly and expertly with branding, and in Canada, this has been de regueur of Cellared in Canada wines - or domestic wines that have been augmented with imported grape concentrate or bulk wine. In the Canadian wine industry, two camps have formed, the land-based, high operational costs, traditional farm gate wineries who have fought for generations to yield vintages from sometimes unforgiving terrior and weather patterns; and the Big Corporations who willingly bring in supplementary bulk wine to blend and create value brands that are available en masse and usually fund the previously mentioned VQA projects.  The CIC wines formed a considerable section of the "Canadian wine" rows in liquor stores, and as I tell my friends, "If it is in that aisle and under $15, then it probably has imported wine inside.”

"Cellared in Canada"/CIC was a blasphemous word amongst wine purists; or people that purchase from the upper echelon of VQA and land-based wineries. It has long been the black sheep and a whispered dirty word amongst the wine world, because as the narrative goes, it is deceptive to the consumer.  The amount of vitriol that has been directed at the Big 3 over projects such as these. Gretzky wine? Peller Estates? Naked? All of these were CIC and now, under the new vernacular are labelled “Wines blended from Imported and Domestic wines” – but still sit in that Canada section. So while the label reads true, do consumers really know the wine inside is likely mostly or nearly all IMPORTED wine?

It's not only Canadian wine that practices blending from sourced vineyards. Did you know that brands such as Kim Crawford are not land based winery project and in effect contract projects? They literally are floating from cellar to cellar, without actual ownership of a vineyard or a winery to visit, and use several grape growers from around New Zealand. Almost all of your favorite American large-scale brands do the same, 12 Deadly Zins for one, and likely a few of the Mondavi and Gallo products. It is often hard to tell, because while not ‘imported grapes’ the labelling and marketing does a clever job of not telling you exactly where the grapes are from. Because #1) their home is constantly changing and #2) it appears inauthentic according to the requirements that we attach the notion of quality wine to someone’s family vineyard, and that the wine came from someone's home. Most of the wine is actually coming from contract grape growers who, if the weather or the market does not cooperate, can lose a crop or a contract in the blink of an eye.

Back to my reason for writing this blog entry:

We've been inundated with very patriotic, Canadian propaganda lately in all our socials. From "Joe the Canadian" to remixes of our favorite quintessential Canadian rock stars, Tragically Hip, dubbed over images of Terry Fox, to the Canadian Hockey memes that express domination and a fierce loyalty to being Canadian and Canadian made products. The super bowl ad, with Canadians eating Lays chips, spurned this post and the sentiment that I want to carry forward as I continue to mold my brand statement and raison d'etre. In the commercial, the Canadian refuses to apologize for continuing to eat the chips....I watched it and thought, no... I will not apologize, and I will not boycott USA products, and I sincerely hope no one boycotts my wine for the same reasons.

I have lived, worked and studied in the USA. I have had friends put me up couch surfing when I ventured in a mid life crisis to learn how to make wine as a cellar hand. My family built a business on hosting American hunters in Alberta’s great wetlands as a outfitting business for nearly 30 years. I sold American wines to Canadians, and Canadian wines to Americans.

When I asked, “Can I do it? A 46-yr old single mom learning how to make wine?”, my mentor and friend replied as only the AmeriCANs would “You can do anything you want mama!”.

Not all Americans carry the sentiment regarding international trade that is freezing us all in paranoia and fear. I remind myself daily, and I remind you. The only way to fight fear and intimidation is to carry on creating, loving and living a life without boundaries.

I am Canadian!

I represented my country in both business and on the sports field. I am a very loyal, proud Canadian. My personal opinion is that with what we are faced with right now, Canadians do need to stamp our culture and our commerce firmly on our land. We need to demand fair prices and trading for our natural resources and supply our own basic needs while protecting ourselves from future tariff threats.

But, some things are not made in quantity here, and for that, we need a positive and reciprocal trade relation with our neighbors. Fact is, we do not make enough Canadian wine to satiate our friendly nature :). What we do make (that is VQA qualified) is wonderful, true to terroir, premium and 100% land based winery operations - all marketing features that I love and promote.  Outside of wine, I try to buy Canadian because it makes sense, I buy local because I love the spirit of entrepreneurship, and I like whole foods, wholesome products and things created with care, attention, and love. I work hard for my money, and I want to spend it wisely, where it makes sense.

CIC existed because we keep having insane weather events that wipe out our vineyards like forest fires and freezing weather or frosts. Canada does not make nearly enough wine to supply the 963,000,000 L that we drink, and the various distribution boards supply us with. Just think that the average medium sized winery in Canada has an annual production of roughly 50-100,000 cases (roughly 1 million L) … and there are about 480 of those and only 3 or 4 that produce over that. We just don’t make enough wine! (And the cost to farm it is reflected in the price, FYI)

We Canadians (and Albertans) thrive on good trade relations with our southern neighbors, and in our Prairie Souls bottle is a product created by a love of entrepreneurship, hard work and family values. I know this, because I had to pass the scrutiny of the patriarch of a Californian vintner family… who agreed to help me with my dreams, despite it distracting, I am sure, from other more lucrative stateside business.

So, drink up. The label has beautiful art that comes from our land, our culture and our values, and inside the bottle the wine is a partnered labor of love between a cross-border families built on my crazy dream.

And it’s delicious.