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 Posté le: Sam Aoû 24, 2013 4:03 pm Sujet du message: Ontario should treat itself to B |
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{Ontario should treat itself to B.C. wines: Steward}
Two summers ago I was visiting Toronto and went into a downtown LCBO store to find a bottle of good B.C. wine.I wanted to give it to a colleague as thanks for some favours and also thought it was a good opportunity to introduce him to some of the tasty Okanagan wines — just in case he didn’t know about them.I scoured the shelves under the little Canadian flag and found nothing remotely close to a B.C. wine. I asked a clerk if the store stocked any. He gave me a look that seemed to say “how could you be so dim-witted” and led me over to a bottom shelf where there were two bottles of B.C. wine.One was a Burrowing Owl Merlot. I had been to that winery and restaurant that overlooks a desert valley near Oliver in southeastern B.C.; their wine is excellent so I knew I had finally found what I wanted.The clerk then explained that Ontario doesn’t sell B.C. wine because liquor regulations don’t allow for it so as to protect the Ontario wine industry. I was shocked. Why would the Ontario government want to deprive people of fantastic B.C. wines? What is the Ontario wine industry so afraid of? Ontario wines are available in B.C.In Calgary,longchamp sale, B.C. wine is readily available in liquor and wine stores along with wine from other producing regions of the world (including Ontario). I thought it was like that everywhere in Canada, especially Toronto.Of course, the Alberta liquor stores don’t stock wine from some of the smaller B.C. wineries; you actually have to go there to try them out. But that is a trip well worth taking.The Okanagan valley provides a stunning backdrop for a tour of wineries. It’s much more impressive than the Napa Valley in California because there are so many lakes nestled in the hills. Many of the larger wineries have patio restaurants set atop those hills so you can take in the vast stretches of shimmering water while you sip your chardonnay or pinot noir.You can’t do that in the Napa Valley; there’s not much water to be found.The smaller vineyards and tasting rooms in the Okanagan Valley are also a treat to visit. You can drive, bike or walk to some of them in Naramata, a short drive from Kelowna, the region’s largest city.I spent a few wonderful days in Naramata,longchamp le pliage, meandering around the windy roads on the Naramata Bench, stopping in at small wineries,longchamp sale, tasting wine, chatting with the owners. It’s all very informal: no fancy stores with lots of kitsch and pressure to buy. And you can simply drop in. During a recent visit to the Napa Valley I discovered that you had to make appointments to visit wineries and pay for tastings. And while the Calistoga area of California features lots of excellent wineries — after all, California wines don’t have a great reputation for nothing — the tourist industry there seems overdeveloped and very expensive. For tourists in the Okanagan there’s a sense of discovering a secret, getting in on something special before it becomes overblown, self-conscious and pricey. The wineries in Naramata are already winning prestigious awards. JoieFarm Winery earned a silver for its 2011 Gamay and bronze medals for its 2012 Pinot Blanc and its 2012 Noble Blend, and was named Canadian winery of the year at the recent New York International Wine Competition, the only major international wine competition to be judged solely by trade buyers. The Serendipity Winery, a labour of love for former Toronto lawyer Judy Kingston, won three bronzes at the same competition. At the recent premier’s meeting in the heart of Ontario’s wine country,longchamp le pliage, B.C. premier Christy Clark brought along some of the Naramata wines for the other premiers to try and urged Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne to open up Ontario to B.C. wines.Good for her. And here’s hoping that the next time I go into an LCBO store there will be plenty of B.C. wine on the shelves. Gillian Steward is a Calgary writer and journalist, and former managing editor of the Calgary Herald. Her column appears every other week. gsteward@telus.net |
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