Canada - National regulations for ice wine proposed

The regulations currently in force are of regional structure and only affect the provinces of Ontario, British Columbia and Nova Scotia which besides Quebec belong to the most important wine growing areas of Canada. Apart from harmonizing the regulations concerning the labeling, the new regulations demand an unequivocal marking to be the standard for Canadian ice wines. In the future, it is, in particular, only allowed to label “ice wine” when the grapes on the vines were frozen naturally and the must is still frozen when being put into the wine press.

“The problem of faked ice wines is very blatant in China”, Randy Dufour, export director at Inniskilin Wines, says. “I estimate that up to 50 percent of the ice wines on the Chinese market are faked. If we do not do something against it now, we damage our own markets and possibly as well the markets of other ice wine producing nations. However, I have to admit, that the repulsion of counterfeit products is not an easy venture on a global market. So, the problem cannot simply be swept away – it will be a permanent struggle and process.”

Louise Wilson, who is responsible for international marketing at the Peller Estates company, agrees: “The problem of faked ice wines does not only affect Canada but, too, some European wine nations, among them Germany. In fact, all wine nations that are exporting mass wines are affected. The importing traders often turn to faking the wines, just for profane economic reasons. So, the wines are mixed with sugared water, in order to be able to sell them as ice wines with a higher profit.”

Thus, the Canadian wine industry welcomes the current efforts to prohibit declarations like “iced wine” or “icy wine” on the labels. And the producers themselves are happy about a new regulation. “The new regulations proposed will help us to ensure a lasting and long-term export business just in China”, Paul-André Bosc, president of Château des Chamres and president of the CVA, says.

At the moment and still until February 14, the changes proposed by the CIFA, are undergoing a 30-day period of discussions and comments. The final regulations are to put into force as early as by the end of the year. The new regulations and controls in Canada – though they necessary and welcome at the same time – will, nonetheless, not be sufficient in the end because controls must be expanded to the export markets, too. But just in China, controls are hardly possible, so it is to be feared that in the medium term considerable profits will be achieved there with fakes ice wines (red.yoopress)