Someone at Wine Australia appears to be falling down on the job.
And someone at the Liquor Control Board of Ontario in Canada is doing their customers a disservice.
On a recent visit to Kingston and Toronto in Ontario I visited several different restaurants and there was hardly any Australian wine to be found on any of the wine lists.
And visits to monopoly LCOB stores showed that while mass market brands like Yellow Tail and 19 Crimes are available in abundance there are hardly any upmarket, or boutique, Australian wines on display.
This is at a time when all US wines and spirits have been removed from the shelves, creating what should be a huge opportunity for Australian producers with a lake of quality red wine to offload.
New Zealand, is contrast, has its sauvignon blanc well represented on wine lists. Thee are also plenty of choices from Italy, Spain, France, Argentina and Portugal, among others.
I purchased a decent Wakefield (Taylor's) Promised Land shiraz an LCBO store to share with family. but there were precious few other enticing options from Australia.
The question has to be asked: Why is Wine Australia not leaping in to fill the gap caused by the absence of US wines? Particularly as Canadians are comfortable with wines sold under screw cap and have a positive relationship with Australians.
Friends living in Toronto tell me promotions of Australian wine in the fourth-biggest city in North America are non-existent.
And why is the LCBO offering only mass market Australian options to local consumers? Would they not like to try something different?
Something, somewhere is very wrong.
Image: Filotero Venturo, Scopio
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