It appears not all wine growing regions shared our stellar growing season this year; while most areas of North America have enjoyed fair crops and good returns for their product, mega producing countries such as France, Italy, Australia and Argentina have been hit hard by poor weather while South Africa’s growing season is being hampered by labour unrest that has seen 123 acres of vineyard burned to date. The net result of this is that wine prices are expected to jump by as much as 20% of finished product in some areas.

This levels the playing field for Canadian and American wines to make inroads into new areas where logistics and other economic factors have limited expansion before and also levels the playing field at home, allowing local wines to compete with low cost bulk importation. Many cost conscience consumers polled by CBC stated that they would happily purchase domestic product if the pricing came to par with the competition.

For more info visit:
www.cbc.ca
www.bloomberg.com
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