A 7,000-tonne surplus of grapes in Ontario following the fall harvest has growers here calling on the government to do something about domestic wine content regulations.

“It is almost criminal in our minds that these grapes are being dropped on the ground, not purchased, and imports still find their way into our marketplace,” said Debbie Zimmerman, executive director of the Grape Growers of Ontario.

A total of 71,000 tonnes of grapes were produced by growers in the province in 2024.

Of that, only 64,000 were purchased, said Zimmerman.

The culprit: Finished bulk wine, also known as juice, from foreign jurisdictions such as Australia, Chile and Argentina.

These products can be purchased on the open market at lower prices and blended with the domestic juice.

Ontario legislation requires that only 25 per cent of a bottle’s content be from this province — from places such as Niagara, Prince Edward County and Pelee Island — for it to still be branded as a domestic wine.

Zimmerman said her organization is actively lobbying government to change the rules.

“We’re working with the government of Ontario and we are speaking to them about … content,” she said.

“Right now, it allows the blenders to put 25 per cent in the bottle, right?”

“We’re saying that’s not good enough.”

She believes proof that this needs to be changed not only comes from the surplus in 2024, but also that since it became legal in Ontario earlier this year for private retail outlets to sell alcohol, nothing has changed in the minds of wine producers.

“We’re looking over our shoulder, saying, ‘We’re in a greenbelt. We have 8,500 new points of access in this province, yet we still can’t sell our domestic products to our domestic buyers.”

“Like, what is wrong here?’” she said.

Zimmerman said there should be co-operation on the part of buyers to give growers some certainty for the future, unlike what was experienced this year.

“A number of growers had their contracts cut in June and by the time you get to June you spent a lot of money on pruning, tying and then they got told they didn’t need their grapes and then they’re saying, ‘What the heck? I’m here at the end of June, I don’t have a buyer, so now where do I go?’”

That precarity has given growers a lot of anxiety, she added.

“Right now, growers are very uncertain about what it’s going to look like in 2025.”

VQA Canada standard

In the face of Ontario wines using foreign juice, a VQA standard is something that does exist in Canada.

VQA Ontario and B.C. are legal designations that let consumers know what they are buying has been produced solely using Canadian grapes.

There is now a conversation happening to revisit the idea of a VQA Canada designation, which would help growers in Ontario, B.C. and other provinces such as Quebec and Nova Scotia.

On Dec. 12, Senator Robert Black stood before the country’s upper house and outlined the need for wine and grapes to move freely across Canada.

This is currently hindered by interprovincial trade barriers.

Zimmerman is encouraged by these efforts to create a legal system where Canadian growers can collaborate with each other to help keep shelves full of domestic brands and to mandate a Canada-only VQA stamp of approval.

“We are working very closely, though, with all of our partners across the country,” she said.

“This is something we need for the future, that VQA Canada structure.”

Donald Ziraldo — co-founder of Inniskillin Winery and founding chairman of the VQA brand — wrote Black’s question to the Senate.

He has also been a longtime advocate of establishing a national VQA standard.

In order to do that, however, wine and grapes from individual provinces must be able to reach other jurisdictions.

In June, Ziraldo,and a delegation of wine industry members along with Niagara Centre MPP Vance Badawey, met with federal agriculture minister Lawrence MacAulay in Ottawa to urge the feds to hear his arguments.

At the same time, Ziraldo approached Vancouver Centre MP Joyce Murray to table a motion in the House of Commons.

That didn’t happen due to conflicting priorities for the House, said Ziraldo.

However, he still came away from his efforts over the last year feeling positive.

“I appreciate the fact that senator Black put it forward to the government/Senate, and I’m now happy that we can move forward hopefully with the province’s co-operation,” said Ziraldo.

By addressing the Senate with his question, Ziraldo feels Black has officially put the matter on public record and will hopefully begin a dialogue