NIAGARA REGION, ON – Wines in Niagara reports that upcoming legislation to allow the sale of wine in Ontario grocery stores is set to include Ontario-produced craft ciders as well.
According to information obtained by blog author Rick VanSickle, the provincial government will soon auction off 70 licenses that will give winning stores the right to sell wine, with half of them mandated to sell 100% VQA wines, and other half to sell a 50/50 split of VQA and foreign brands. A further 80 licenses will be available at a future date.
In addition, these stores will be allowed to sell Ontario ciders, and cider makers will be given several other perks including:
- Selling cider at farmers’ markets, similar to what is currently allowed for wineries.
- Dedicated shelf space at LCBO locations.
- Changes to distribution rules that will now allow cider to be shipped and delivered alongside beer from the same region.
Wine and cider is expected to be on the shelves at the selected grocery stores this autumn.
For more details, see the full post on Wines in Niagara.