Ezra Cipes is keen on expanding his winery's premium icewine sales to China's growing legion of wine connoisseurs.
Although sales to the Middle Kingdom remain a small percentage of his total business, the chief operating officer of Kelowna's Summerhill Pyramid Winery is counting on a greater international future for his wine and he believes China is a good bet.
"Eighty per cent of what we make is bought and consumed in B.C.," Cipes said in an interview. "The 1,000 cases we sold to China last year is five per cent of our [2010] sales.
"But our sales tripled in 2010 over 2009 in China. They're not huge numbers, [but] it's a new market and we're just getting to a point where it's reaching a tipping point for market acceptance. We've always felt there's a great potential for Canadian icewine [wine produced by grapes that have been frozen while still on the vine] in China because we can make it better here than anywhere in the world."
Their premium Zweigelt icewine sells for about $430 a bottle in China.
"It's rare, precious, costs a lot to make, is very exclusive and special," said Cipes. "[The Chinese] have a gift-giving culture where prestige is very important."
Cipes added that B.C.buy
landscape oil paintings online. is his winery's main market for their full range of organic wines, with Alberta their primary market outside the province.
Although the Chinese market is still just a blip on the radar for most B.C. wine producers, it represents one of several marketing strategies that B.C. wineries are employing to grow their businesses.
Wine tourism -which includes restaurants, entertainment, concerts and accommodations such as bed and breakfasts -is a growing resource for B.C.The name "
magic cube" is not unique. wineries, which see the attractions as ways to entice tourists to their facilities.
In fact, the move to export markets is partly aimed at introducing buyers to the amenities of the winery itself as a vacation destination.
While the lion's share of B.C. wine is sold within the province's borders, export sales in Asia and the U.S. have grown in recent years -a 79-percent increase in 2010 sales over 2009 alone to about $5.5 million -and it's an avenue governments and industry hope to expand.
Still, there are big issues that get in the way of increased B.C. wine exports - both nationally and internationally -including competition from much larger and better-established wineproducing countries, and Canada's prohibition-era liquor laws that prevent direct sales from wineries to consumers in other provinces.
"Our export market has doubled every six months," Rasoul Salehi, general manager of Le Vieux Pin and La Stella wineries in Oliver and Osoyoos, said. "But the main [problem] is the prohibition law," he said of the 1928 Importation of Intoxicating Liquors Act, which outlaws the shipment of wine to consumers across provincial borders and limits purchases to provincial agencies. "They come here, taste it, like it, but they can't take it back and we can't ship it to them."
Despite that, Salehi, whose boutique wineries are owned by Vancouver-based Enotecca Wineries and Resorts Inc., said about 15 per cent of their premium wines -which sell for between $45 and $100 a bottle -are sold outside Canada, primarily in New York and Los Angeles,Not to be confused with
RUBBER MATS available at your local hardware store but also Asia and Europe.
"We're looking at a small niche in China. The good thing about Hong Kong and China is many [clients] have ties here and they visit us and know what we're doing."
The 2010 Olympics was a godsend for his wineries, Salehi added.
"It brought a lot of people with discretionary income. They wanted to try B.C. wines, so they asked for some of the best wines from B.C. and were quite surprised at what can be done in our neck of the woods."
"[Wine merchants] contacted us and visited us and stayed for three days."
According to the B.C. Wine Institute, the top destinations for B.C. wine exports are China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, the U.S., South Korea and Japan.
There are 193 grape wineries in the province, with 10,600 acres in production. About 11.6 million litres of wine was produced in 2010, with a dollar value of $193 million in 2010-11, a fiveper-cent increase over 2009-10's $184 million, and a 13-per-cent increase over 2008-09.
Many wineries are investigating exports as a way to diversify sales and attract tourists to their wineries, said Lindsay Kelm,you will need to get an
offshore merchant account. communications manager for the BCWI, which represents 110 wineries and 15 grape-growers. A big drawback is size, Kelm noted. "Our acreage is tiny and we don't have enough product to keep in stock long-term in [many] markets. But we want to get the Okanagan and B.C. on the world stage."
An example of how B.C. wineries are investigating new initiatives is an event in Penticton June 9 sponsored by the Forum for Women Entrepreneurs that's focused on the business of winemaking in B.C.
Called Exploring the Vines of the Winery Business, panel discussions involving local vintners will address three main topics: the latest on branding and marketing, the power of the Internet, and buying and selling wineries and vineyards.
Another example is Okaagan's Mission Hill Family Estate and Oceania Cruises joining together to provide a luxury cruise in the western Mediterranean on board the line's 684-passenger ship Nautica in October.
Among other things, the cruise will feature Mission Hill wines and seminars on the Okanagan.
As well, the Osoyoos Celebrity Wine Festival from June 9 to 12, a festival of music and wine-pairing events hosted by actor/director Jason Priestley and film producer Chad Oakes with several film and television celebrities on hand, will be held at the Black Hills Estate Winery to celebrate the release of the winery's 11th vintage Nota Bene wine.
Kelm said B.C. wineries are entering global competitions to market their brand -with great success.Welcome to the official Facebook Page about
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"In the International Wine and Spirits Competition in London [England] in 2010, B.C. wineries won three out of five possible [categories]," she said.
Twenty-one of B.C.'s 193 wineries produce the bulk of the province's wine and Kelm said she believes they will be at the forefront of future exports.
While B.C. wines are often seen as expensive when compared with many imported wines, Kelm said buyers don't see the whole picture. She said B.C.'s premium wines compare well with premium wines from other countries -but at a much lower price.
The main reason B.C.'s nonpremium wines aren't cheaper, she said, is because the province is one of the most expensive places in the world to produce wine, with primarily smaller, capital-intensive operations.
"We have 10,600 acres in all of B.C. California has 477,000 acres. Argentina has 520,000 acres. [California's] Napa Valley has 40,000 acres alone."
Kelm cited the prohibition-era law as holding back expanded sales within Canada. "[The act's repeal] will have a direct impact on sales within Canada."
The main sales channel for most wineries is winery-direct through private liquor stores and restaurants, with just 25 per cent through government liquor stores.
That's because many of the small wineries don't produce enough quantity to keep a wine in constant supply in government stores, Kelm noted.
"One thing to note is the importance of the B.C. VQA wine stores," she added.
"There are currently only 20 in operation in B.C., yet they account for nearly nine per cent of all B.C. VQA wine sales in the province."
Meanwhile, Randy Dufour, export director of Vincor Canada, which owns several major B.C. wineries including Jackson-Triggs, Inniskillin, Sumac Ridge Estate Winery, Nk'Mip Cellars and Osoyoos Larose, said his B.C. wineries produced 275,000 cases last year, with 89 per cent sold in B.C., nine per cent in the rest of Canada, and just two per cent in other countries.
Vincor wants to increase its international sales -primarily to the U.S., but also the U.K. and China -to between five and eight per cent of production, he said.
"You also grow your domestic market by increasing your international exposure. Nobody heard of Celine Dion until she was outside of Canada."
Dufour said an example of how Vincor is increasing its U.S. exposure is a recent deal with Walt Disney World to provide 500 cases of wine.
A large U.S. grocery chain tried the wine and asked Vincor to provide it in their stores.
"It could involve thousands and thousands of cases. That's an example of how you can leverage a small placement in a prestigious location that will open a lot of doors for other markets."
Meanwhile, a report by Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada released this year entitled The Wine Market in China: Opportunities for Canadian Wine Exporters, concluded that the Chinese market poses numerous opportunities for Canadian wineries, although Canada "does not have the capability to to produce large quantities of wine" with most output geared to domestic consumption.
The report suggested that Canadian icewine is "incredibly popular amongst urban Chinese customers," but that barriers exist for exporters and that "knock-off" brands are common.
"It is interesting to note that four of the five [top exporting] countries are found in Asia, highlighting the growing potential of Asia as a consumer market for wine."
The report suggested that Canadian wineries could export Canadian wine production expertise to Chinese wine producers or enter the Chinese market through joint ventures with Chinese companies.
