BRIAN PRESTON

Well it finally happened. The Ontario government is keeping an election promise to widen the availability of certain alcoholic beverages to various retail stores across the province. The expected response from LCBO workers and their Union because of the effects that this will have on their jobs and the sales volumes through the provincial monopoly of LCBO is understandable. What do you think about this situation? Let me know by email and if there is sufficient response, I will add your comments (pro and con) in an upcoming column. I think it is important to let Ontarians be heard too.

I followed the Alberta de-regulation of provincially controlled sales years ago. To date it has been a general success with greater convenient accessibility, hours of service and range of product availability. There has been a greater range of prices due to competition and while some liquor products are marginally more expensive than here in Ontario, there are great deals to be had in stores such as Costco.

While the LCBO remains closed, Beer Store locations are open and wines are available at the two retail store chains allowed in Ontario: The Wine Shop and the Wine Rack, usually located in conjunction with certain grocery store locations. The Wine Shop, by Andrew Peller, carries Trius Winery, Peller Estates, Wayne Gretzky Estates and Thirty Bench products. The Wine Rack, by Jackson-Triggs, carries Jackson-Triggs, Inniskillin, Sandbanks, BASK and Bodacious. They also carry a range of ciders and spritzers. And don’t forget Magnotta wines and beers available in Kingston off Division street at Hwy 401, very good products at reasonable prices. How can these 3 companies exist outside of the LCBO monopoly, you might ask. Well, the short story is that they all carried licenses before Ontario changed the rules giving LCBO total monopoly over retail sales across Ontario, and thus were ‘grandfathered’ and excluded from the then new legislation. In fact, LCBO took Magnotta to court and years later Magnotta won getting a multi-million dollar settlement: Good for David over Goliath!

The Ford government has also just released an interactive map showing all retail locations in Ontario where you can still get alcoholic beverages: https://www.ontario.ca/page/where-buy-alcoholic-beverages: 

This is the perfect opportunity to plan a day-trip to Prince Edward County (PEC) to wine and dine in the vineyards, do tastings along the wine route, and don’t forget to stop and get some Black River Cheese (I tried their Maple Cheddar recently and it is very good – try it with a New World Pinot Noir). Here is a handy map to plan your wine tasting route: https://southeasternontario.ca/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/PEC_Wine_Tour_Map_2012_low.pdf. Or let someone else do the driving and take a wine route tour: https://pecwinetours.com/. 

Whatever your preferences, this is a good time of year to enjoy a short road trip and take in the bounty of Eastern Ontario. Give yourself lots of time to make unplanned stops at places of interest along the way and truly discover ‘your own backyard’. Don’t forget to write me an email on your thoughts about the LCBO strike and how you think alcoholic beverages should be sold across Ontario and what role the Ontario government should play in the regulation and licensing of alcohol.

Brian Preston – The Travelling Sommelier
brianpreston@hotmail.com
613.272.3129