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StateWays ■ www.stateways.com ■ September/October 2015
TequilaRose_2015RoseAd_Stateways_TP4C_V01.indd 1 8/31/15 1:42 PM
Bike-riding along the Naramata Bench
on the east shore of Okanagan Lake
near Penticton, BC, a region known
for its dramatic sand cliffs.
PHOTO
BY
WINES
OF
BC
(WINEBC.COM)
CANADIAN WINES
AT HOME OR ON THE ROAD?
"The Canadian wine industry is still in its adolescent stage," says
Donald Ziraldo of Ontario's Ziraldo Estate Wines, which specializes
in superior icewines. As the co-founder of Inniskillin, the charismatic
Ziraldo is to Canada as Robert Mondavi is to California: the inspira-
tional leader and intellectual force behind the Canadian estate wine
movement. "Converting skeptical gatekeepers abroad takes a lot of
persistence in knocking on doors. Top independent vintners know
that international recognition and export growth are the keys to long
term success, but there's no question that it's simpler and cheaper to
coast on Canadian demand."
As a result, exports have not been a priority for most of the biggest
players. "There is still a ton of opportunity domestically where the ma-
jority of our focus lies for dry wines," says Ben Dollard, president of
Constellation Brands Canada. Constellation's 2006 purchase of Vincor
International made it the largest producer of Canadian wine, owners of
some of the country's most prestigious brands like Inniskillin, Nk'Mip
and Jackson-Triggs, as well as value brands sold only in Canada.
But it's clear from Canada's national statistics that the tide is turn-
ing. Canadian wine exports to the U.S. have quadrupled since 2010,
including a 57% single year increase in sales in 2014 alone. This
latest spike coincided with a dramatic jump in the value of the U.S.
dollar that is making Canadian wines more affordable to Americans.
It can be harder to spot the Canadian wine trend on this side of the