Time to say No…

Time to say No…

There are many good things that I miss about Victoria B.C. where we lived for three years. The one related to wine is the small store on upper Church Street. I forget the name and don’t even know if it’s still there but it was a special place.
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Ordering wine by the bottle or the case I could depend on the proprietor’s recommendations. Owned by a roughly hewn retiree who recounted trips to vineyards close by and far off, living the terroirs in his nostrils and 'buds, working first with the young shoots stripping away sucklings to nurture stronger growth of luscious fruit he’d later sample as he hand harvested on contract. He no longer travelled the tilled ruts but left with many personal relationships of winemakers and wineries later needed for his niche in the wine trade. His shelves were of consistently reliable labels vintage after vintage. I miss the occasion to chat, to swirl and sip, as I stocked my cellar without conscious concern.
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Fast forward to Ontario. Buying cautiously has become the norm. Try a bottle, try another and yet another. Not quite like buying a Lotto 649 ticket but close. And I’m confident layers of executive dine sumptuously on my monthly wine tab - and yet another bureaucracy returning unearned taxes to the government of the day. Don’t get me wrong - this rant separates the ‘outlet staff’ from the echelon driving the LCBO marketing policy. The service is always courteous. The LCBO publications are slick with ideas. Their seminar coordinators eagerly offer excellent food and drink tips. However, the marketing principle lubricates a mythology of one commercial brand on top of another without distinction for quality or value. Sell, sell, sell. Buy, buy, buy.
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The LCBO has and will continue to have a major role in Ontario’s winescape. It’s time though to introduce private enterprise into the equation. Expand the LCBO to serve locations where private retailers would not survive - a welcomed government intervention. But lift the restraints to private initiative. Allow wine merchants a license to procure and sell wines of their choosing. If the corner mom and pop wants to sell nonVQA, Yellow Tail, French Cross or whatever license them too. Provide an infrastructure to introduce wine stores that specialize not only in wines but also accessories: glasses, coolers, cellar space, picnic accessories - whatever. Allow the craft wineries of Niagara to sell product through these merchants without bureaucratic encumbrances. Imagine wines of the world coming to a store near you!
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What prompted this rant? Marcus Gee’s column (G&M, August 29) states its “Time to say No to the LCBO”. I say it’s past time. Relying on a profit and tax motivated business to source ’value’ wines doesn’t serve the customer. It’s just not acceptable.
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I miss my old friend… and the integrity and truthfulness for each label on his time worn shelves.
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A melancholy Ww