IN THIS ISSUE


At this time of year, when harvest is coming to an end, the BC Wine Institute gears up for its annual Winemakers & Viticulturists' Forum - now in its 10th year.  This discussion provides content for the BCWI's annual vintage report, which is shared with industry and media. 

Anecdotal reports indicate another quality vintage, but we look forward to hearing directly from winemakers and viticulturists on November 24 ( click here to register if you have not done so already). 

November will see changes to the BCWI team as Maggie Anderson heads off on a 12-month maternity leave. Our marketing manager, Kim Barnes, steps into the marketing director role during this time. Many of you know how skillful and passionate Kim is about marketing the BC wine industry.

Replacing Kim on a one-year contract is Teresa Nykilchuk. Teresa joins us with an extensive international marketing background in the IT industry and most recently worked for Mission Hill Family Estate Winery for two seasons. 

Also joining the team in a part-time administrative role is Phillipa Douglas. Phillipa has eight years experience in the non-profit sector and an extensive events background. 

We are thrilled to welcome Kim to her new role, and Teresa and Phillipa to the team! 
MARKET DASHBOARD | SALES & EXPORTS
To view export reports, click here and log in to the Members Only section of WineBC.org.
EVENT OPPORTUNITIES | DON'T MISS OUT
View the official BC Wine Institute & BC Wine Industry Trade Calendar for information on BC Wine Institute events, FAM tours and marketing promotions. Consumer events are listed on the WineBC.com events page . Submit your winery events here  to post on WineBC.com.
ANNUAL WINEMAKERS & VITICULTURISTS' FORUM |  REGISTER!

The BC Wine Institute is holding its annual Winemakers & Viticulturists' Forum on November 24, 2016, at Black Hills Estate Winery in Oliver. 

This is an opportunity for your winemakers and viticulturists to share information on this year's vintage from budbreak to harvest. Moderated by Rhys Pender MW, the forum helps inform the BCWI's annual vintage report which is shared with industry and media.

Not registered?   Click here.

Unable to attend? Your input is important to us; please   click here to take our short survey to help inform our Vintage 2016 report.

Black Hills Estate Winery is hosting the 4th annual Cellar-Tek Harvest End After-party following the forum. Email Pauline@blackhillswinery.com to RSVP for the party.
VISA INFINITE DINING SERIES OPPORTUNITY | CALGARY
Chef/owner Stephen Smee calls the food at his new restaurant "new North American cuisine, built for sharing." That's just what will be on the menu at this lively, family-style brunch: a feast of robust flavours in a contemporary setting, paired with some of BC's most intriguing BC VQA Wines. 

This brunch will be prepared by Chef Smee; Andrew Moore, Chef de Cuisine; and Bern Glatz, Co-chef de Cuisine. Each dish will be paired with BC VQA Wine.

Click here to complete the expression of interest by November 4

Questions? Contact  Tanya Cormier .
SUSTAINABLE WINEGROWING | ASSESSMENT WORKSHOPS

Local grapegrowers, viticulturists, winemakers and other industry specialists have been working together to develop sustainability assessments and guidebooks, hands-on training and other tools to help continually improve the BC wine industry. 

Sustainable winegrowing promotes the economical production of high quality grapes and wine, while preserving a beautiful and diverse landscape on the farm and beyond, and maintaining a healthy and safe workplace.  The transition to sustainable practices requires a series of small, realistic steps that can be incorporated into everyday routines. A great first step is to complete a vineyard sustainability assessment so you can identify what you are already doing well and areas that you can improve on.

FREE ASSESSMENT WORKSHOPS
Come to a free workshop series where you will get the help you need to complete your 2016 sustainability assessment. 

The series consists of two half-day sessions. During the first day, you will be introduced to the web-based assessment tool and will work through the easier questions and flag those that require more thought and information. You will then have two weeks to collect required information to answer the tougher questions. Bring that information back to the second session where you will finish the assessment and prepare an action plan.


Register online at http://sustainabilityworkshops.eventbrite.ca . Questions? Contact Kellie Garcia at info@sustainaiblewinegrowingbc.ca or 236-420-2764.
MNP ANNUAL WORKSHOP  | DIRECT TO CONSUMER SALES
MNP LLP's 7th annual workshop for the BC wine industry focuses on direct-to-consumer (DTC) wine sales, as well as wine sales in grocery stores. The day-long event is separated into morning and afternoon sessions, with participants invited to attend either or both.

The morning session features:
  • Sandra Hess, Founder of DTC Wine Workshops
  • Steve Moriarty, Director, Wines of British Columbia Save-On-Foods
  • Geoff McIntyre, CPA, CA, Regional Leader, Food & Beverage Processing, MNP LLP
The afternoon session is a hands-on DTC shipments workshop with Sandra Hess on the use of technology, marketing your brand, and getting to know your customers.

The workshop is Thursday, November 3 at the Penticton Lakeside Resort. As seating is limited, for wineries with more than one participant, please contact Karen Graham
WINEBC.COM | IS YOUR LISTING CURRENT?
When was the last time you viewed your winery listing on WineBC.com (BCWI's site for wine consumers)? 

Does your listing include an up-to-date image representative of your winery? 

If not, send the image (JPEG 338 x 332) to  Tanya Cormier

You can choose to display your logo, an image of your wines or your winery.


BC VQA FALL RELEASE TASTINGS | REPORTING BACK
Each fall, the BC Wine Institute holds tasting events in Vancouver and Calgary to help its member wineries showcase their new releases to quality trade, media and influential buyers. Following these events, the BCWI surveys the participating wineries and attendees to measure the success of the event. 

VANCOUVER
The Colour BC VQA Fall Release Tasting held on September 15 was well attended with 462 trade, media and influential buyers attending. Seventy-nine wineries poured more than 300 BC VQA Wines. Here's what responding attendees told us:
  • More than half of the attendees listed a new BC VQA Wine as a result of attending the tasting, and 65% plan to do so in the near future.
  • 94% reported the overall event was excellent or very good.
  • 100% reported they will definitely or are very likely to attend next year's event.
Responding wineries reported:
  • 67% developed new business relationships as a result of attending the event.
  • 89% are likely to participate in next year's event.
  • 58% have had new products listed as a result of attending.
  • 100% rated the number of attendees as good, very good or excellent.
  • 89% rated the quality of attendees as good, very good or excellent.

CALGARY
The Discover BC VQA Fall Release Tasting was held on September 21 where 27  wineries showcased more than 100 BC VQA Wines to 88 trade, media and influential buyers. Here's what responding attendees told us about their experience:
  • 81% reported they developed new business relationships as a result of attending the tasting. 
  • 31% have already listed a new BC VQA Wine and 44% report they plan to do so in the near future.
  • 100% reported the overall event was excellent, very good, or good.
  • 100% reported they will definitely or are very likely to attend next year's event.
"[The tasting] gave me an opportunity to try some wines that I had not had a chance to before and found that they would be great additions to our offering. In fact, I've already brought in 3 different ones because of the event."
- Trade attendee respondent

Responding wineries reported:
  • 67% developed new business relationships and one-third have had new products listed as a result of attending the event.
  • Two-thirds rated the number of attendees as average, but also rated the quality of those attendees as very good.

 

 

" As an owner of a small family winery, it's a great opportunity to meet excited  buyers in a new market. I  have been able to achieve new sales and further strengthen current relationships. It was well worth the trip to Calgary."
- Bobby Gidda, Proprietor,  Volcanic Hills Estate Winery
BC LIQUOR STORES | BC VQA LEARNING EXPERIENCE
The BC Wine Institute worked with the BC Liquor Stores' marketing team to create and host the annual BC VQA Learning Experience in mid-October. The group consisted of 34 BC Liquor Stores' staff from around the province, including 21 BC VQA advocates and 10 BC Liquor Stores product consultants, Portfolio Manager Stephen Schiedel and two regional managers.

This year's venture through BC's Wine Country included the BCWI's Wines of British Columbia Ambassador Program Level 1 and a presentation by Dr. Pat Bowen of Agriculture and Agri-Foods Canada.

28 wineries contributed in hosting the group who were most impressed. 

"With the tour just over and back to business, we wanted to reach out and pass along our thanks and gratitude to the wineries, their staff and the BCWI team, for making this an extremely successful educational experience," says Stephen. "There were a number of highlights from this trip that the group has never before seen or experienced and it shows the evolution of this training exercise. Given the tour occurred during harvest, we appreciated the wineries sharing the action with us and having their winemaking and viticultural staff available. The enthused tour participants are now charged and recharged to promote and sell BC VQA Wines in BC Liquor Stores. Many thanks."
MEDIA REPORT | SEPTEMBER & OCTOBER
The BCWI welcomed four travel, wine and food writers from the USA, Alberta and Vancouver for a BC Harvest in Wine Country Media FAM tour in early October. 

Media guests got their hands dirty during a harvest experience at Noble Ridge Vineyard & Winery.

We also hosted three wine writers from Alberta, Vancouver and Quebec in partnership with the Okanagan Wine Festivals Society for a BCWI Winemakers' Dinner at Tantalus Vineyards. We look forward to seeing the media coverage that surfaces from these events, tastings and harvest experiences.

The BC grape harvest and our annual Chefmeets BCGrape consumer event dominated our media coverage in September, along with the opening of Wines of British Columbia  Save-On-Foods in Prince George.  

We also received a lot of media inquiries from journalists seeking information on the Wines of British Columbia and our premium wine region, resulting in coverage and top destination lists in international publications. This included a feature in Wine Enthusiast Magazine's article Wine Regions on the Rise.

In support of the launch of the BCWI's new Wine and Culinary Tourism campaign BC Wine Country: Your Urban Escape, the BCWI issued a media release in October promoting BC wine tourism in the shoulder seasons.   

WineBCdotcom IN SOCIAL MEDIA
September's most successful social media consumer engagement came from our Chefmeets BC Grape tweet promoting our rock star lineup of wine and culinary judges and awards for Best Dish and Best BC VQA Pairing. The tweet performed well with 3,246 impressions, and 62 total engagements.

SOCIAL MEDIA CHANNELS UPDATE
(Since September 29, 2016)
HOSTED MEDIA
- Kirsten Akens, USA (USA Today;  Adventuregirl.com)
- Gloria Chang, Vancouver (wineadventures.ca )
- Tom Firth, Alberta (Cowtown Wine; Avenue Culinaire ; City Palate )
- Gail Johnson, Vancouver (Georgia StraitGlobe & Mail)
Carrie MacPherson, Quebec ( Zurbaines Mercedes-Benz Magazine )
- Rookmin Maharaj, Alberta ( City Style & Living )
- Gregory McCluney, USA (Global TravelerUnderground Wine Letter

MEDIA COVERAGE
Media circulation in September reached more than 30.5 million readers, listeners and viewers, generating $100,645 in unpaid media coverage. 

LCLB | INDUSTRY UPDATES
LIQUOR POLICY REVIEW IMPLEMENTATION
The BC Liquor Control & Licensing Branch has released a number of policy changes that come into effect on January 23, 2017. Click here to view the BC LCLB's u pdated term and condition handbooks that reflect the upcoming policy changes. These handbooks replace the old licensee term and condition guides and also come into effect on January 23 , 2017.

Policy Directives

To see all of the BC LCLB's Policy Directives, click here.
LCBO | INDUSTRY UPDATES
Letters to Trade
October 19:    Use of LCBO's brand logos

To access an archive of the Liquor Control Board of Ontario's Letters to Trade, click here.
AWARDS REPORT | DECANTER ASIA WINE AWARDS
The 4th annual Decanter Asia Wine Awards competition was held September 6 through 9 in Hong Kong.  More than 2,850 wines were tasted blind and rated by Decanter's assembled experts. BCWI members' BC VQA Wines received 28 awards, including these silver medal winners:
  • Burrowing Owl Estate Winery Cabernet Franc 2013 BC VQA Okanagan Valley
  • C.C. Jentsch Cellars Cabernet Merlot 2014 BC VQA Okanagan Valley
  • C.C. Jentsch Cellars Syrah 2013 BC VQA Okanagan Valley  
  • Gold Hill Winery Cabernet Franc 2013 BC VQA Okanagan Valley
  • Gold Hill Winery Family Reserve Meritage 2013 BC VQA Okanagan Valley
IN OTHER AWARD NEWS
BCWI members' BC VQA Wines won 243 awards at the 2016 BC Wine Awards on September 29. The awards marked the official launch of the 36th annual Fall Okanagan Wine Festival. 

SpierHead Winery was recognized with the 2016 Premier's Award for its  Pinot Noir Cuv é e 2014 BC VQA Okanagan Valley. The Premier's Award is selected from all Platinum medals, and based on the judges' consensus, naming the Best Wine in British Columbia. 

Other Platinum award winners were:
  • CedarCreek Estate Winery The Last Word 2013 BC VQA Okanagan Valley
  • Deep Roots Winery Syrah 2014 BC VQA Okanagan Valley
  • Mission Hill Family Estate Winery Reserve Chardonnay 2014 BC VQA Okanagan Valley
  • Red Rooster Winery Riesling 2015 BC VQA Okanagan Valley
  • Summerhill Pyramid Winery Cipes Blanc de Blanc 2010 BC VQA Okanagan Valley
  • TIME Estate Winery Syrah 2013 BC VQA Okanagan Valley
We publish lists of our members' award-winning BC VQA Wines by competition on  WineBC.org .

British Columbia Wine Institute 
WineBC.org (member & media) Newsletter Archive
WineBC.com  (consumer) |#BCWine