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FEBRU AR Y NEWS Canadian Wines Clarify Content Producers phase out 'Cellared in Canada' G rimsby, Ontario—"Cellared in Canada" wines, the crux of a cause célèbre championed by wine aficio- nados and journalists, were virtually ab- sent from store shelves this past holiday season. This fall, Mis- sissauga, Ontario-based Vincor Canada launched new labels for its wines made from blends of domestic and foreign juice. The new packaging sports prominent notices that the wines within are, "Blended from Inter- national and Cana- dian wines." Unity, a house brand, as well as Full Press Vineyards are among the labels Vincor has intro- duced to sell its blended wines. Andres Rios, marketing man- ager for interna- tional Canadian blends with Vincor Canada, didn't re- turn calls for com- ment about how the new brands are faring in the mar- ketplace, but initial rumblings regard- ing the new labels surfaced last year at about the same time as the con- Vincor's Unity labels now explain that they are blend- ed from canadian and imported wine. troversy regarding "Cellared in Canada" wines, which many deemed misleading. The new labels were designed to provide better brand identification for Vincor's Jackson-Triggs line, which includes the Unity label. The prominence of the new formula describing what's actually in the bottle isn't small potatoes, either. "Vincor was the one that was attacked most aggressively." —Anthony Bristow Wines by Artisan Wine Co., a division of British Columbia's Mark Anthony Group, as well as most international-Ca- nadian blend (ICB) wines by Vincor and Andrew Peller Ltd. of Grimsby, Ontario, have abandoned the contentious "Cel- lared in Canada" formula that typically preceded notices of "international and domestic content." Those three words sparked outrage that was compounded by the fact the wines were typically shelved without special dis- tinction among wines made entirely from domestic grapes. Those typically bear the Vintners' Quality Alliance (VQA) seal. Not all wineries are acting as aggres- sively as Vincor, which Anthony Bris- tow, chief operating officer at Andrew Peller Ltd., believes bore the brunt of criticisms surround- ing "Cellared in Can- ada" wines. —Peter Mitham winesandvines.com Learn more: Search keyword "rebranded." a natural ice formation is perched on a bin outside oakstone Winery. Wineries cope with cold snap E l Dorado County, Calif.—Vintners in the Sierra Foothills AVAs, near the highways accessing Lake Tahoe's popular ski resorts, were pummeled by freezing temperatures recently. Members of the El Dorado Winery Association told Wines & Vines of the chal- lenges they faced during the frigid storm. "Our 36kW three- phase generator has been a lifesaver," winesandvines.com Learn more: Search keywords "cold snap." said John Smith, owner/winemaker at 8,000-case Oakstone Winery Inc. in Fair Play, Calif. Smith installed the generator and a 500-gallon propane tank when build- ing the winery in 1996. Nevertheless, it couldn't prevent temperatures around 20ºF from freezing exterior pipes. "We had to replace the outdoor plumbing," he said. D.J. Latcham, operations manager at Latcham Vineyards and Granite Springs in Somerset, ran into an unusual problem in late 2010: It was too cold to apply pressure-sensitive labels on the outdoor bottling line. Senecayuga_Jan11 11/19/10 10:13 AM Page 1 ON CAYUGA WINE TRAIL strategic capital and expertise for the wine industry www.bacchuswinefund.com (415) 828-8898 bacchuscapital@bacchuswinefund.com 79 ACRES; Hay barn 68x30 with full basement, workshop. Woods, gulley with creek. 3 Bedroom, 1.5 bath, with good set back from road, plus 1 bdrm. cottage on 70' west shore Cayuga Lake. Soils suitable for grapes. Was a working vineyard for many years. Licensed Real Estate Broker/Owner Office: 315-568-9404 Cell: 315-246-3997 $599,000 Mel Russo website: www.senecayuga.com e-mail: senecayuga@aol.com 22 Wines & Vines FeBRUARY 201 1 97 Fall Street, PO Box 386 Seneca Falls, NY 13148 —Jane Firstenfeld