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February 2017 WINES&VINES 21 WINE INDUSTRY NEWS C h a r l o i s C o o p e r a g e , U S A 1 2 8 5 S F o o t h i l l B l v d - C l o v e r d a l e , C A 9 5 4 2 5 w w w. c h a r l o i s - c o o p e r a g e . c o m When American oak meets French exper tise Integrated by the Char lois Group in 2011, and located in Califor nia's Sonoma Valley, this cooperage combines American production and French quality to create the best oak bar rels stateside. All the exceptional know-how built up by the Char lois Group's experience of wor king with oak is now brought to the USA thanks to this acquisition. Exper tise, quality and sustainable development are combined to create local products intended to complement the quality of the winemaker s' effor ts. Char lois Cooperage USA's raw material is sourced from the best oak forests of the Appalachian Mountains with the finest grains of the best American stave wood being hand-picked to make its bar rels. The fr uit of this intercontinental alliance is the creation of a high-end collection of American oak bar rels. Contacts: Michael Mercer Nor th American Sales Manager Cell: (707) 508-5006 michael@charloiscooperageusa.com Arianna Spoto Cell: (805) 453-9030 ari@charloiscooperageusa.com V ancouver, B.C.—British Columbia auctioned off an additional six licenses for wine stores in December, but it could be months before the re- sults are known. "At this point, the results are being audited for fairness," a spokesperson with the B.C. Min- istry of Small Business and Red Tape Reduction, which oversees the B.C. Liquor Distribution Branch and the province's state- run liquor distribution and sales regime, told Wines & Vines. BC Auction, the government- owned vendor of surplus govern- ment assets, sold the licenses on six dates between Dec. 6 and Dec. 21. Auction terms required that bidders submit a deposit of $25,000 and place minimum bids of $125,000 for each license (all amounts are in Canadian dol- lars). Participation was limited to grocery retailers with stores no less than 10,000 square feet. Ministry staff declined to identify the successful bidders, while the third-party audit is on- going. On completion of the audit, approved purchasers will be able to make a formal applica- tion to license their premises to sell wine. An initial round of auctions that concluded May 5, 2016, saw Loblaw Companies Ltd. of Bramp- ton, Ontario, acquire six licenses for $6.9 million. It took the prov- ince six months to officially an- nounce the results, though details were circulating among industry insiders well before then. However, ministry staff said these auction results will "hope- fully" be announced sooner than in the previous case, noting that the audit should proceed faster the second time around. Bert Hick, principal of the li- quor license consultancy Rising Tide Consultants Ltd. in Vancou- ver, said his sources indicate that final bids were again in the mil- lion-dollar range, but hard data has been tough to get. Loblaw is tipped among the successful auc- tion participants, as is another major supermarket operator. Successful license applicants from the latest round will join Overwaitea Food Group and Lo- blaw, which have been selling wine through the previous acqui- sition of licenses. "If you connect all the dots, in my view, you could have two, maybe three major grocery groups that have exclusive control of wine on grocery store shelves in British Columbia," he said. —Peter Mitham British Columbia Wine Store Auction for Grocers Wraps Up TRADE DISPUTE U.S. trade representative Michael Froman formally re- quested consultations with Canada regarding preferen- tial treatment for British Co- lumbia wines. Canada's federal govern- ment is being asked to ad- dress an initiative in British Columbia (B.C.) that allows only B.C. wines to be sold on grocery store shelves in the province. Other wines may be sold within grocery stores, but they must be within a segregated area op- erating separately from the grocer's checkout lanes. "The B.C. measures ap- pear to discriminate on their face against imported wine," reads a letter to the World Trade Organization's dispute resolution body. Wine began being sold on B.C. grocery store shelves in April 2015. "Local wines get an unfair advantage because they can be sold on grocery store shelves, while U.S. wines cannot. The United States simply seeks equal opportu- nities to market our wines."