VQA Ontario Niagara Peninsula Lake Erie North Shore Prince Edward County

Ontario’s appellation system Sets and enforces standards, including labelling standards, for wines made from Ontario grapes Administered by VQA Ontario under the VQA Act and regulations Purpose is to verify origin and provide a quality assurance mechanism easily identifiable by consumers VQAO is a consumer protection agency not a marketing collective

VQA Regulations Protects certain terms by restricting their use Label integrity for consumers Protects/enhances reputation of regions and industry-at-large Level playing field for wineries

Winery Obligations Making good quality wines Knowing and following the regulations Internal process control Record keeping Fees

Regulated terms What terms do we regulate? Niagara Peninsula Prince Edward County Lake Erie North Shore Ontario Sub-appellation terms Blanc De Noirs Meritage Late Harvest Wine Select/ Special Select Late Harvest Wine Vin Du Cure Icewine Icewine Dosage Dosage of Icewine Sparkling Icewine Estate Bottled Vineyard Botrytized Botrytis Affected (B.A.) Totally Botrytized Totally Botrytis Affected (T.B.A) What does this mean in practice? No use without approval, no variations, passing off

Labelling Rules

Scope of regulations The “labelling” rules apply to all use of descriptors in association with the wine This includes your shelf talker, neck tag, signage, advertising and website descriptions – that refer to a specific wine or wines Allows a general “we sell Icewine here” sticker at your cash but definitely not an Icewine sign in front of a display shelf with only table wines on it

Mandatory Content Federal information: VQA information: alc./vol. - net contents - wine - Product of Canada - legal name, address of dealer – allergens (sulphites) VQA information: Name of appellation with VQA letters Vintage (except Sparkling, Fortified) Others depend on wine category

Optional Content (category dependent) Grape varieties Wine category (Late Harvest, Meritage, Blanc de Noirs, Nouveau) Proprietary Name (your brand) Estate Bottled Vineyard Name Method of Production (Mandatory for Trad/Charmat, prohibited for others) VQA Logo (font size conditions next slide)

Principal Display Panel and Single Field of Vision Appellation must appear on principal display panel at least 2 mm OR 3.2 mm if you leave the VQA logo off Other info can appear anywhere (except top/bottom of container) Federal rules require alc/vol, wine, product of Canada and net contents all in a “single field of vision” VQA decides which panel is the PDP, the winery cannot choose to make the back label the PDP

Labelling - Origin The appellation on the front label must appear as: VQA appellation name VQA (same font, colour, typeface) No unregulated claim of origin can be made (e.g. you can’t create your own appellation) No appellation terms can be used in back label copy or elsewhere unless the wine qualifies NOT AT ALL - no matter what the context No reference to location of winery using appellation name unless wine qualifies – postal address only in the form of an address Component appellations can be described if exact percentage content is included – eg. 55% Lake Erie North Shore, 45% Prince Edward County

Labelling - Origin Content rules for appellation declaration: Ontario (100% Ontario) Viticultural areas – Niagara Peninsula, Lake Erie North Shore, Prince Edward County (85% from stated area, rest from anywhere in Ontario) Niagara on the Lake, Niagara Escarpment (85% from stated area, rest from Niagara) Sub-appellations (100%) Vineyard designation (100%) Estate Bottled (100% grown, made, bottled)

Labelling - origin Certain wines are not entitled to any origin claim except Ontario Wines made from grapes grown outside of defined viticultural areas Wines containing hybrid grapes (Vidal Icewine exception) Charmat or Cuve Close sparkling wines Wines that do not meet required Brix Do not refer to appellations on the labels of these wines Do not use brand names that contain restricted terms

Varietal wines If a grape variety is mentioned anywhere on the label, it is considered a varietal wine Varieties must be listed in order of descending content If it does not meet single, dual, triple or multi rules, percentages are required Acceptable variety names are specified No abbreviations, number descriptors Descriptors generally allowed if they are not confusing (oaked, reserve etc)

Icewine Icewine must appear on the label Vinifera or Vidal only Cannot blend Vidal into vinifera unless declared (eg. must be > 15% and labelled as a varietal wine) Cannot mention Icewine on label of table wines if it is used as a blending component

The Approval Process

Wine Approvals 3 components: blind taste test, laboratory analysis and packaging review Approx 2000 applications annually, overall success rate approximately 96%

Process Approvals – online application, samples to LCBO, payment to VQAO, 2 – 3 weeks turnaround Wine is approved only when entire process is complete and you see a checkmark under final status (Don’t release or sell if it is not approved) Approval will not be processed without fee and label, mock ups and/or proofs are acceptable If the labels are changed post approval, it is the wineries responsibility to ensure they comply No need for two approvals for same wine with two labels (but all labels should be uploaded) Virtual wineries need to be registered with VQAO as an additional brand (they are your responsibility under your manuf. licence and your VQA membership)

VQA Services - Wine Approvals /Transfers Icewine /Membership application and renewal Key services accessed from the home page To update your company information: Address/emails Create/delete users Annual renewal News and reference information

VQA Services - Wine Approvals System “WAS” Filters – normally check all Use filters and rows per page to manage what is displayed to you Start a new application

Wine Approval Application - adding varietal components Entering the components of your final blend Confirm total quantity is correct

Wine Approval Application Upload your labels PDF or JPEG formats acceptable Get the proofs electronically from your designer/printer Store them on your computer. Follow the easy wizard instructions. Because of the volume – we do not upload labels for you. If you can email them to us then you have an electronic version to upload! You can upload your labels later if they are not ready when you make the application.

Wine Approval Applications – checking status Status information Active applications – not approved Approved Waiting for winery to upload corrected labels Not approved – needs to be resubmitted with corrected labels This is the wine ID

More information about your application Taste and lab results added when completed Label review usually last to be completed just before approval result finalized Can edit only up to shipment received date (call VQAO if changes needed after) Forms&Reports: Reprint shipping form/invoice Cert of analysis once approved Cert of origin

Application in progress - check tasting result If the wine did not pass, the reason for failure will be stated here.

Application in progress - check lab result Typically only 3 tests are reported – alcohol, Free SO2, RS If the wine did not pass, the failing analyte will be reported.

Application - label review result Federal violations are noted but do not cause a failure. Routine conditions are noted but do not cause a failure No scale (font size not verified) VQA logo not submitted or shown in a black and white scan THESE STILL NEED TO BE COMPLIANT on the final label. This label failed. In this case this is the reason.

Everything is done - Why is my application not complete? Not yet approved Usually because payment not received If all 3 stages complete and the wine is not approved – please call us to find out why!

Wine is now approved The winery (primary contact) will get an email notification telling you to logon and view completed application results It is the same email pass or fail so don’t assume the wine is approved Don’t forget to look at the label review page to see if there are any comments

Pre approval label review VQAO will review labels before the wine is submitted as advice only Labels will not be “approved” before wine is approved since this is contingent upon the label matching the wine, the alcohol, sweetness descriptors being correct, etc.

Common approval delays and label problems No labels have been uploaded or fee is not paid Samples sent to LCBO are not properly labelled and have been sent to another department Label does not match application or wine eg. Alcohol inaccurate Appellation on label different than on application Varieties not in descending order Back label text refers to different appellation or to a foreign appellation

Tips for approvals Make sure applications include: Uploaded labels Payment Complete and correct information “Rush” lab service can be arranged ($) Plan with VQAO in advance if there is time pressure (such as Nouveau) or a large number of samples Tastings are twice weekly, none in December or on statutory holidays (dates posted on VQA Services) Lab lineup is set weekly (no later than Wed pm) so have your samples delivered by noon Wednesday If your wine arrives Thursday it will not have lab results until two weeks following

Other things to know Applications are purged after 12 months if not completed Approvals expire after 12 months if not bottled Independent brix test and e-grape record required for all content in VQA wines Transfer and supplementary rules for finished wine that is purchased from another winery Late Harvest registration by Nov 15 You must get at least one VQA approval every 18 month or your membership will lapse

Questions? Call us If in doubt - call or email the VQA Ontario office Do not rely on label designers or others in industry – they may be mistaken or the rules may have changed Best practice – don’t print your labels before approval Read over the VQA regulations (reg. 406) www.vqaontario.ca

Failure to Comply

Inspection and Compliance VQA Ontario is required to enforce compliance with the regulations Compliance issues typically related to label issues, selling without approval Infractions noted through inspections conducted by VQAO, through audit or by complaint VQAO has police powers - right to enter, right to collect and compel information

Penalties Approval suspension/revocation Product removal from all channels (LCBO acts on our removal orders – this can be very expensive) Compliance orders Charges (fines up to $100,000 per count) Membership suspension/revocation It is far easier and cheaper to comply

Avoid Violations Don’t sell before approval -check the website Check advertising, website, store signage using VQA terms to make sure they are compliant and not misleading File your reports and be prepared for your audit Use a checklist to check label compliance Read the comments offered on labels – check the website!

Where to look it up Website www.vqaontario.ca/regulations/standards Contact us 416-367-2002 barbara.dodds@vqaontario.ca susan.piovesan@vqaontario.ca katherina.radcliffe@vqaontario.ca laurie.macdonald@vqaontario.ca