3S - North Shore News — Wednesday, April 5, 2009 FOOD Sumac Sale a bombshell tt Tim Pawsey Contributing Writer SUMAC Ridge’s Harry McWatters rarely miss- es the opportunity to pop the cork on a bor- tle of bubbly. But when he raised his glass of Prestige Cuvée 2000 last week it was for a muted toast to a deal that is a bombshell for B.C.’s wine industry. McWatters has sold the winery he founded 20 years ago to former arch-rival and Ontario-based wine products giant VinCor. Under VinCor's steward- ship, Sumac Ridge will still Operate as an autonomous ‘entity, with McWatters at its helm for at least five years and possibly longer. However, there’s little question that to relinquish ownership of what has arguably been the Okanagan’s most successful 100% VQA winery and its related companies must have been difficult for McWatters, who says he’s “tired of talk- ing to bankers.” Included in the deal are Suma2c’s 21,000 sy. ft. tem- perature controlled distribu- . tion centre and mobile bot- thing line. Hawthorne Mountain Vineyards is under separate exclusive offer to « VinCor, pending sharehold- er's approval. McWatters and his business partner Bob Wareham retain controlling : interest in their covered “+: Black Sage Vineyard i in™ Oliver. ’ considerable resources, . | Sumac will no doubt contin- = ue to, thrive. It remains to be seen: whether the winery’s - individuality in the borde.. _will be allowed to endure or — if; ultimately, the Sumac. - brand will be re-harnessed in :a stable that includes Jackson , Triggs, Sawmill Creek ad “President Canadian “Champagne” among its - score of alcoholic beverages: Harry McWatters (now by ~ “marriage VinCor’s western Canadian point man) insists it won’s happen that way. ‘ “We | e believe it’s a good ft The North Shore’s best winemaker brings you the world’s finest wine kits. . ,Make’em here or take’em home. Your wine-making supplies scurce on the Nerth Shore. Underpinned by VinCor’ a for both companies. It will give us the opportunity to grow the products we've started,” he says and says that Sumac Ridge will con- tinue to produce 100% VQA wines. “I don’t think I’ve compromised my integrity in the fast 30 years and I’m not about to start now,” says McWatters. VinCor CEO Don Triggs agrees. He says he’s “delight- ed that Sumac is already 100% VQA” because it fits with the company’s overall strategy. “We got involved because we were planting 200 to 300 acres a year (in the Okanagan) and Harry's sales growth had maxed out .in terms of vineyard develop- ment,” says Triggs. “He saw us with a very high quality vineyard coming on stream, so here was an opportunity _{for VinCor) to have wo highly regarded brands in western Canada,” he adds. As North America’s sixth largest wine producer, VinCor markets a wide range of products that spans U-Vin wine kits, imported bulk wine, riders and coolers as “well as both VQA and non- VQA wines under Jackson Triggs and Sawmill Creek brands. The company also _fecently entered into a joint “venture with France’s 5 ~ respected Boisset family to * grow premium Pinot Noir and Chardonnay at Jordan, . Niagara. VinCor also cwns Inniskillin Niagera, the coun- ors oldest estate winery, ich it acquired from -founders Donald Ziraldo and ~ Karl Kaiser. Triggs stresses ’ that when the company ahoto Tim Pawsey - VINCOR CEO don Triggs says he is delighted that Sumac Ridye produces 100% VGA wines because it fits : acquired inniskillin the win- ery was only 40% VOA “We gave priority to giving them the fruit so they could become 100% VQA,” says Triggs. -VinCor’s massive south Okanagan plantings amount to a $12-million investment over the last three years, with another $4 million to still be spent in the next two or three, The transition from the °89 hybrid pull-out to a pian tc.eventually put (almost) only Canadian grown vinifera in the borile has not been easy, says, Triggs. “Tt took us a few years to start paying down our debt so we could start aggressively investing in the industry,” he says. In wearing so many wine- related hats, VinCor can find ~ itself at odds with the many Hobby winemaking at its best... McWines “The Winemaker” 1470 Pemberton, N. Van 987- 4464 _ with the company’s strategy. divergent interests within the grape growing and estate winery communities, particu- larly over its “Product of Canada” wines which often contain only small percent- ages of Canadian grapes, although that, says Triggs, is changing just as fast as they can get the grapes in the ground. “Our objective is to have a minimum of 75% Canadian content (in non-VQA wines) to support growth of VQA 100% Canadian wines,” says Triggs. “We're spending a pile of money on viney: ards, so we wanted to do a ‘con- version’ that makes sense for the consumer,” says Triggs. It makes a whole lot more sense for VinCor. Has the message that con- . sumers_have finally cortoned = onto deceptive labeling and - advertising practices as embodied by the “Product of Canada” fiasco finally seeped into VinCor’s brand- driven psyche? Apparently it has. Triggs says VinCor has “started the process” of putting ‘Cellared in Canada’ cn wines made from less than 75% Canadian grown ” grapes and that a year from now the program will be well in place. Still, the bottom line for consumers is this: if you want to buy a wine made * entirely from Canadian grown grapes, buy VQA or “Estate Bottled,” and not one labeled “Product of Canada” or “Cellared in Canada.” There’s no arguing that 3 player of VinCor’s size exerts tremendous influence and - leverage in. the Okanagan and elsewhere. Asn new Plant: ings come on stream, there'll ; be more of those VQA bot-: tles around, tinder Sumac, - Jackson Triggs VQA and » Inniskillin labels. And, as.” -. time goes on, there'll be need for still more grapes.» ’ The unfortunate part is that, despite an improvement in” . quality, what’s in the bottle ma have’a lot more to do brand awareness than ~ rerroir-individual vineyard characteristic. Perhaps McWatters’ most - : telling comment of the week:..” came when he said that Sumac, “can’t afford to y keep a ’ paying $2,600 per ton.” In. the face of 22 anticipated world-wide oversupply of wine that will bring consider: able pressure to. beay on: *: Canadian-grown: Wine Bi ducers and grap grave the Sumac VinCox c+ well not be the last: CHOCOLATE. BUNNIES Superior chocolate at far less than regular. Store prices. Lots of different shapes & sizes, Available in’ milk, dark. chocolate & white chocolate, ~~... examples: HEDGEHOGS sox of 209 in fancy Easter box individually wrapped sg” (50¢ each!) many more instore savings! - Enter to Win a 6b.