Tariffs and Trade

As I write, Canada is in the middle of one of the most significant trade wars we have faced in decades. Key industries are under attack, our autos, steel and lumber, and most importantly, our sovereignty. But the story here for us is wine, and the province of Ontario’s decision to ban the sale of US products from LCBO stores and agencies like ours who sell to private clients and the hospitality industry. Pun intended, wine is the low hanging fruit in this trade war. No one who has been laid off from their manufacturing job in the industrial heartland will feel sorry for the wine lover who can’t buy his Napa Chardonnay or Oregon Pinot Noir. But, obviously the story is much deeper than that. Hundreds if not thousands in the wine trade and hospitality sector have built their businesses and earn their living from the international nature of the wine business. It’s a business that, up until now has transcended borders and brought people and cultures together for centuries. Think of the Romans planting grapes in their march across Europe, the Bordelaise and the Portugese trading with England or the monks who brought vines to California. Wine can and has always crossed borders - except now in Ontario.

‘Buy Canadian’ has become the crie de coeur, and indeed we should, except even to this day, the same bottle of wine from BC sells in Ontario for roughly double what it does in it’s province of origin thanks to the provincial monopolies that dominate and control our industry. If, in this moment we can’t pull together in this country to de-regulate our industry, when will we ever?

The bottom line is the wine industry is in trouble. We’ve been here before, but this moment is perhaps the most significant since Prohibition. Consumer trends tell us people are drinking less. Younger people are gravitating to ready to drink or ‘zero proof’ products and the cost to produce a good or great bottle of wine, continues to mount, not to mention the very real effects of climate change. On top of that, our government, in a misguided faux Quixotic attempt to take on the current US administration, is choking off our supply. The jobs and livelihoods of many hundreds of people in the wine and hospitality, from winemakers, agents, to chefs and servers are being threatened and once again put to the test.

So, what’s to be done. Let’s start by telling our lawmakers and policy makers that our industry matters. Certainly, the economics are at the top of the list. But let’s look at what our industry means for the culture and quality of life we hold dear in this country. Wine brings people from across the globe together, at it’s best it tells a great story rooted in our food, our agriculture and our shared histories. To care about wine is to care about the better parts of our shared experience, learning from other cultures and finding common ground. Let’s remember that the next time we open up something beautiful to share with friends and family. It will get us through these dark times and provide us with at least the certainty that what brings us together is more enduring than what pulls us apart.