I Know the Value Wines: Can I Buy Them?

I just received my judge’s binder from the International Value Wine Awards, with my scores and the names of the wines that I tasted. Now it is time to go through it and find the wines that I liked, that I can actually buy. There aren't many, sadly.

Part of the problem with being a sommelier and wine writer on the "Right Coast,” the East Coast (which starts at the Quebec/New Brunswick border!) is the much smaller selection of wines. When I am in Alberta, Ontario, BC or Quebec, fellow sommeliers and writers are always talking about specific producers, famous wines and "best of appellation" producers, many of which I have never heard of and certainly have not tasted.

Oftentimes I know the appellation, because I learned about it in the Sommelier program and probably tasted one example, most likely brought in illegally from Quebec. Yay, dumbass Canadian booze rules! Having to get by with less selection is the reality for an Atlantic sommelier/writer. That being said, I am always able to hold my own in blind guessing games, as my education in tasting and identifying regional and varietal characteristics was excellent. Just don't expect me to be able to rattle off the ten best small domaines in Burgundy, because I can assure you that we don't get them.

We only recently started to get some interesting commune wines, mainly from Bouchard Pere ets Fils. I love them, because they actually support Atlantic Canada and their wines are great.

Here in New Brunswick, we have zero AOC Loire wines from anywhere except Muscadet. No Sancerre. No Pouilly Fume. No AOC Loire Sauvignon Blanc, period! Can you believe this? Also no Cabernet Franc or Pinot Noir from the Loire. No red at all, in fact. Either we are deprived, or the provinces west of us are spoiled. However you call it, it hardly seems fair.

Things have changed a lot since the Sommelier program started in 2000, as the region's restaurants are now populated with more wine savvy employees who demand more and better wines. The opening of private stores in Halifax spurred a movement towards more wine variety, and better-educated wine sales reps and liquor board employees have played a major part as well. Finally, consumers are much more knowledgeable and demanding about wine. But still, with all these improvements, we are in a veritable wine wasteland compared to the big Canadian wine markets.

How can we increase the availability of wines in Atlantic Canada? We can't expect our liquor boards to have the selection of the LCBO or Alberta's private stores. We are not a large enough market. Full privatization would help, but the unions and "the government needs to protect us from killing ourselves with drink" mentality is too strong down east.

We can special order in wines, but it takes months, and is far from easy and is not transparent. They tack on extra costs that shouldn't exist. If I pay the tax, why should I pay an additional mark-up on a wine that has already been marked up?

The easiest way to give me fair access to great wine selection is to open the provincial borders completely, so that I can buy wine online from anywhere in Canada and just pay the shipping. That is what free enterprise should have provided to me decades ago. What happened?

I urge all Canadians, including wineries, breweries, distilleries and booze retailers, to join the movement to give Canadians full access to wine, beer and spirits from across the country. It's the right thing to do, both on the "right" coast and the left.

Cheers!

Craig Pinhey is a writer and Sommelier, available for private tastings. Visit him at www.frogspad.ca and follow him on twitter (@frogspadca)