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Walter Huber of Hainle Vineyard family estate winery announced the appellation system for his new wines.
By Kathy Michaels
Walter Huber prides himself in being an innovator in the wine industry.
The feather most proudly placed in his cap is that his Hainle Vineyard Estate Winery was the first in the Valley to go organic, utilizing what he refers to as the “wine purity laws.” The winery can also boast being the first in North America to produce Ice Wine, carrying vintages of the sweet beverage that are now worth about $1,000 a bottle —although Huber hasn’t honed his craft for the money.
“I just love making wine, when I’m not drinking wine,” said the wine maker and vineyard proprietor at a Tuesday afternoon tasting at SOPA Square, noting the value of Hainle wines increase from 20 to 25 per cent a year.
His love hasn’t gone unnoticed or without praise, either. Huber’s vintages graced the palates of Hollywood’s glitterati at the 2008 Oscars, following a best in show win at the Los Angeles Wine and Spirits Competition.
While some might rest on their laurels after reaching such levels, Huber unveiled a new innovation yesterday, proving that he’s still got a few tricks up his sleeve.
Starting April 1, his wines will display the Appellation Region. Said plainly, appellation in winemaking refers to a legally defined geographical indication used to identify where grapes for a wine are grown and Hainle is the first winery in the Okanagan to take such a step.
“We felt it necessary to ensure our core value of old style winemaking was made known in the Okanagan Valley; part of that style resides in clearly stating the Appellation Region on our labels,” Huber said.
The rules that govern appellations are dependent on the country in which the wine was produced. In Canada, there are currently no rules to govern the system and Huber said he is aware of the potential consequences of such a move, due in part to the Cellared in Canada debate that emerged in late 2009 to much local and international criticism.
That debate centred around large scale wine producers like Mark Anthony’s Mission Hill, Peller Estates and Vincor. Their bottles bearing the Cellared in Canada label — under names like Jackson Triggs white label, Mission Ridge and Naked Grape — contain bulk wine bought from cheap sources outside Canada, bottled locally and sold in the B.C. wines section of government liquor stores.
While many said it was fraudulent practice, wineries argued the cost of producing wine in B.C. is more expensive because of labour costs and taxes — and to be profitable as Canadian wine makers, they need to bottle some imported wine and sell it as Cellared in Canada. They use the CIC label to denote the difference, though it’s a small lettered notice to consumers. BC Liquor Store signage has also helped define the difference between the vintages, though concerns that it’s not enough still exist.
This new development from Hainle, will offer some further clarity and comfort to the consumer.
“Both sides of the Cellared in Canada debate hold their merits,” explained Hainle Vineyards Wine Advisor and Sommelier Francois Verreault.
“It is not our intent with our new Appellation System to fall on one side or other of that debate; our intent is to simply be true to our old style traditions of winemaking and to be transparent in what our winery provides our customers.”
kathy@kelowna.com
One Response to “Okanagan winery offers up its answer to the Cellared in Canada confusion”
Tags: Appellation Region, Cic, Hainle VIneyard Estate Winery, SOPA Square
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Congratulations to Hainle for doing it’s part to address confusion over the ‘Cellared in Canada’ wine issue that resulted in unnecessary, bad publicity for the Okanagan wine industry. However, the next step for the Okanagan’s wineries is to more heavily market the unique ‘winery experience’ that each has to offer. The increasing number of foreign wines on BC liquor/wine store shelves requires a shift in marketing focus from ‘product’ to ‘destination’. International wineries can’t compete with the types of unique experiences that our wineries have to offer.
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