With B.C.sa国际传媒檚 wine industry facing sa国际传媒榗atastrophicsa国际传媒� crop damage from Januarysa国际传媒檚 freeze, Alberta liquor branchsa国际传媒檚 threats to restrict wine could not be worse timing, say B.C. wine growers and local elected officials.

On Jan. 22, the Alberta Gaming and Liquor Commission issued a letter to numerous B.C. wineries informing them that, if they did not immediately stop shipping wines direct-to-consumers in Alberta, they would stop allowing those wines in their retail stores.

Wines of British Columbia estimates direct-to-consumer counts for less than three per cent of sales, with most involving high-end bottles that arensa国际传媒檛 even available through government channels.

The action by Alberta are baffling, said MLA Roly Russell, and the provincial government is working on this problem. He said B.C. officials have been in touch with Alberta counterparts and urged them to stop what they are doing.

sa国际传媒淭his move doesnsa国际传媒檛 only affect Albertanssa国际传媒� freedom to choose what wine they can enjoy, it has serious repercussions on grape growers and winemakers where I live and throughout our province,sa国际传媒� said Russell.

sa国际传媒淚 know that this action couldnsa国际传媒檛 come at a worse time for our growers, given recent climatic events, and itsa国际传媒檚 baffling that Alberta would decide to do this now.sa国际传媒�

Summerlandsa国际传媒檚 district council is sending a letter to the Alberta liquor branch to cease and desist.

Central Okanagan-Similkameen-Nicola MP Dan Albas said the timing of Albertasa国际传媒檚 letter is sa国际传媒榟ard-heartedsa国际传媒� considering the duress B.C. wineries have been under over the past few years getting through COVID, wildfires, and unprecedented crop damage due to freezing.

sa国际传媒淚tsa国际传媒檚 Albertasa国际传媒檚 big liquor monopoly picking on the little B.C. wineries,sa国际传媒� said Albas. sa国际传媒淲e allow Alberta breweries and distilleries to ship to B.C. but Alberta will not give the same reciprocity for our wines.sa国际传媒�

B.C., Manitoba and Nova Scotia have free trade but Alberta said No

In 2011, Albas put forward a private members bill dubbed sa国际传媒榝ree my grapessa国际传媒� that would have allowed free trade of wine from Coast to Coast. But the Trudeau government sa国际传媒榩unted it,sa国际传媒� he said.

sa国际传媒淚tsa国际传媒檚 easier to ship cannabis than it is wine in Canada,sa国际传媒� he added.

Along with B.C. wines suffering catastrophic vine damage, wildfires and loss of tourism, come April 1, 2024, the federal government is increasing the excise tax of domestic wine by 4.7 per cent.

sa国际传媒淚tsa国际传媒檚 hard for the smaller family-run businesses to survive. I talked to one winery this week and they told me theysa国际传媒檝e lost over 90 per cent of their crop,sa国际传媒� said Albas.

There are government supports in place for crop recovery but by the time funds reach a winery, it may be too late, he added.

B.C. wineries willing to pay tax to Alberta

Carl Boucher, founder of Carlsa国际传媒檚 Wine Club in the South Okanagan said Albertasa国际传媒檚 timing is sa国际传媒榙isgusting.sa国际传媒� Boucher spent 17 years living in Calgary and has hundreds of wine members there.

sa国际传媒淟ast yearsa国际传媒檚 crop damage from the freeze was dramatic. This year could be catastrophic with some worrying they will have zero crops for this yearsa国际传媒檚 harvest,sa国际传媒� said Boucher.

Damage from the December 2022 freeze was estimated at around 50 per cent of vines that needed replacing mainly in the Similkameen and South Okanagan. The freeze in January, 2023 caused widespread bud damage across the region, said Boucher.

Coupled with Albertasa国际传媒檚 new threats, it could cause some wineries to close.

sa国际传媒淏.C. wineries are willing to pay a tax to ship directly to consumers but Alberta didnsa国际传媒檛 even give that a chance,sa国际传媒� he said. sa国际传媒淚tsa国际传媒檚 easier to ship wine to the U.S. and Tokyo than it is to ship to Alberta.sa国际传媒�

sa国际传媒淚tsa国际传媒檚 pure insanity,sa国际传媒� he added.

Alberta club members not happy

Nancy Teghtmeyer, who lives in Calgary and regularly tours Okanagan wineries, is a wine club member at a few Okanagan wineries. She gets her wine shipped directly and doesnsa国际传媒檛 understand the motivation behind her governmentsa国际传媒檚 move.

sa国际传媒淚f B.C. wines shipping directly are only three per cent of sales, thatsa国际传媒檚 a drop in the bucket for Alberta liquor branch. The only ones getting hurt here are the little B.C. wineries,sa国际传媒� she asks. sa国际传媒淚f they want to go after someone, go after big guys like Amazon.sa国际传媒�

Teghtmeyer is a club member at Wine Makersa国际传媒檚 Cut and is a big fan of Fairviewsa国际传媒檚 Pinot Noir.

sa国际传媒淭hese are wines that arensa国际传媒檛 sold in our stores.sa国际传媒�

Teghtmeyer says she loves visiting the smaller tasting rooms in the Okanagan and hearing the winerysa国际传媒檚 story, often getting to meet the owners directly.

sa国际传媒淭hese wineries offer a unique experience,sa国际传媒� said Teghtmeyer. sa国际传媒淚 want to support them and I do that by becoming a club member and buying their wine.sa国际传媒�

Alberta retailers offer very little selection of Canadian wines in their liquor stores as it is, said Boucher. And what Canadian wines they do offer are marked way up.

Not the first time Alberta has banned B.C. wine

Pentictonsa国际传媒檚 TIME Winery general manager Christa-Lee McWatters, daughter of the late Harry McWatters, said the B.C. government is very aware of the issue and as board chair of the BC Wine Growers Association she is headed to Vancouver to meet with the Minister of Agriculture and Minister of Tourism on the issue.

sa国际传媒淭he last time this happened with Alberta [in 2018] it has nothing to do with wine, it was about pipelines. Itsa国际传媒檚 hard to say what itsa国际传媒檚 about this time around. Wesa国际传媒檝e talked to a lot of people in Alberta and they think this is ridiculous,sa国际传媒� said McWatters.

TIME Winery was one of the wineries that received the cease and desist letter from Alberta.

Alberta is the second biggest consumer of B.C. wines.

sa国际传媒淏.C. is a big supporter of B.C. wines and in these trying times the best way to support us is to buy direct from the wineries, online or become a club member. Your support does make all the difference.sa国际传媒�

sa国际传媒淚tsa国际传媒檚 a pretty scary time for wineries. Isa国际传媒檝e been doing this for 30 years and Isa国际传媒檝e never seen anything like this. Some will weather this, but not all will,sa国际传媒� she said, speaking to the difficult last few years B.C. wineries have endured.

Al Hudec is a Kelowna-based lawyer hired by winemakers to push back against the Alberta move.

Hudec said Albertasa国际传媒檚 letter could be a case for judicial review.

In 2018, the Alberta government stopped allowing B.C. wine after a spat over the Trans Mountain pipeline.

sa国际传媒淲hile we are still unclear of the political motivation behind the recent AGLC letter, it is disheartening for our local growers and producers, who have already suffered great financial hardships over this past year. We are concerned about being targeted once again for political gain that has nothing to do with our industry,sa国际传媒� said BC Wine Growers.