Penticton, B.C. -- A makeover of British Columbia’s wine evaluation facilities is another step toward stiffer regulation of wine quality in the province.

A grant of CA$62,000 in federal funds announced at the end of December will help establish offices and a sensory evaluation lab for the B.C. Wine Authority, which assumed oversight of B.C. wine quality standards in 2008. Its jurisdiction includes both the government-legislated B.C. Wine Standard as well as the B.C. Vintners' Quality Alliance standard established by industry in 1990.

“It’s an important step in the maturation of the authority,” Jeffrey Thomas, a Vancouver lawyer who serves as BCWA chair, said of the new facility. “It does increase the credibility and promote the independence of the authority among the B.C. wine industry, and as a result I think, assist in improving the overall quality of the industry.”

Thomas told Wines & Vines the funding will cover more than half the cost of improvements to a 1,700-square-foot space the BCWA recently leased at the former B.C. Wine Information Centre premises on Westminster Avenue in Penticton. Work underway includes office construction and outfitting an on-site wine evaluation facility. The final cost is expected to exceed CA$120,000.

A cold storage room, refrigerators, shelving materials and tasting booths will be part of the renovations, set to be complete by the end of this month. An official opening will likely follow during the authority’s annual general meeting in May.

BCWA currently operates out of offices in Richmond, a city just south of Vancouver on the province’s south coast (a five-hour drive from the Okanagan), while tastings occur at the federally run Pacific Agrifood Research Centre (PARC) in Summerland.

Thomas said a decision by the federal government that the authority’s use of PARC facilities was not consistent with the research station’s mandate ended the long-standing arrangement between PARC and the wine industry regarding use of the tasting lab.

“Our relationship with PARC has been friendly and remains friendly ... but they’ve indicated to us that a determination’s been made that our use of their facility is not consistent with the research mandate of the facility. So we’ve had to find alternative facilities,” Thomas said. “We hadn’t anticipated being required to move out of PARC.” Tastings will continue at PARC until renovations at the new, city-owned location are completed.

Thomas said the move will probably benefit industry in the long-run.
Whatever value there was in the relationship with PARC, which continues to collaborate with the industry on various research projects, Thomas feels an independent lab for quality assurance lends credibility to B.C. wine both overseas and at home.

“It’s important for the authority and its development, and the perception of the authority in the industry, to have its own credible facility that’s independent of government and independent of PARC,” he said. “So in some respects it’s really worked out quite well for us.”

An independent lab could also facilitate the development of standards for fruit wine, a long-standing demand of some producers who have wanted to see a quality assurance program for these similar to what exists for grape wines.

BCWA oversees the quality of wines from 126 grape wineries. Approximately 17 other wineries, representing 2% to 5% of wine produced in B.C., are not members of the authority. Wineries that aren’t members largely produce wines that are beyond the authority’s jurisdiction, such as wine made with foreign juice and marketed as “Cellared in Canada.”
All wineries producing wine labelled as “product of B.C.” or using regulated geographic indicators are required to be members of the authority, although it is a voluntary body.