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Updates have been made to wine regulations in B.C. that will help provide consumers with more information about where their wine is produced.
The B.C. government has updated the Wines of Marked Quality Regulation so B.C. wineries can more easily promote details of the wine that are specific to where it’s produced.
With the new regulations in place, it will be easier to indicate sub-geographical regions like the Okanagan Valley, which is one of seven officially recognized geographical and sub-geographical regions in the province.
Geographic indications are a standard element of the labeling systems that exist in B.C. and around the world, which provides shoppers with assurance about the origin and quality of the wine.
“As more people discover and enjoy B.C. wines locally and around the world, the demand for trusted information about our wines’ origins and makers grows,” said Norm Letnick, Minister of Agriculture. “The regulatory changes support the maturity of B.C. wines in the marketplace, offer expanded opportunities for winemakers and wine tourism throughout B.C. and clearly reflect the feedback and opinions received during the extensive industry-led review and consultation process.”
The B.C. Wine Authority will continue to oversee the establishment of new sub-geographical indication and they’ll require the approval of the provincial government. Currently, there is only one official wine sub-geographical indication in B.C., which is the Golden Mile Bench.
The changes will require wineries that use a sub-geographic indication on a label to include the geographic indication it’s within as well, and the updated regulation also remove the requirement that all wines from the same geographic indicator must demonstrate the same distinctive characteristics.
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