BREAKING NEWS: VANOC to go after "collectible" discontinued Cellared in Canada wines.

TRAWNA – (GOSH Wine News Services) – VANOC is continuing its assault against the widespread re-sale of high-in-demand Cellared in Canada wines bearing the Olympic logo.

 

Top wine investigative reporter Brett Grimsby has been on the scene for weeks now, and he files this story based on several interviews with Miffed Mole, the collective name for our sources who are familiar with the situation, and who spoke to him on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to divulge details while they were very close to the centre of discussions and while the matter under consideration had not yet been finalized nor announced to the public. While the decisions may or may not have been finalized internally, and while an announcement on the matter may or may not be imminent, possibly within the next week or two, that specific timeline is not really known.

 

Grimsby reported: the Olympic officials are not pleased with the re-sale of "collectible" Cellared in Canada wines. They claim, now that the official Esprit VQA label bears the Olympic logo, that all previous non-VQA CIC wines should be trashed. Brights has complied, but of course the winery has no control over the vast re-sale market of quality and collectible wines.

 

Scalping of wines is not unheard of, and the underground economy of Cellared in Canada re-sales is thriving. Said an LCBO, A Crown Corporation of a Have-Not Province, official: "We wish we could get into some of the action. We knew this would happen as soon as the Olympic VQA wines came on-stream. But there was nothing we could do to prevent it, except our normal technique of delaying deliveries and payments."

 

VANOC feels that the whole scenario is "false, deceptive and misleading" and the re-sellers are "unjustly [enriching]" themselves at VANOC's expense. VANOC would not be eligible for the $1.25 contribution that should come whenever the Esprit CIC is sold and re-sold.

 

Grimsby further reported that all aggrieved parties felt that this scenario was just plain "scalping". Phone calls and emails for comment to Ticketmaster and Tickets Now have not been returned.

 

More on this story as it develops…

 

Chimo!  www.deantudor.com

 

 

So How Bad is the Wine and Food Economy? (PART TWO)

(PART TWO) -- The hospitality sector in these economic downturn days is in terrible shape. So, how bad is the wine and food economy?

 

It's so bad – that Jim Warren is now president of EIGHT different Ontario and Nova Scotia wineries.

 

It's so bad – that the Ontario Wine Awards now covers only Pelee Island.

 

It's so bad – that wine bloggers pay YOU for visiting their blogs.

 

It's so bad – that all the European wine trade associations will merge into one group called "EU Wines" [pronounce it]

 

It's so bad – that VQA now means "Very Quaffable Assessment".

 

It's so bad – that CIC wines are now known as "Cellared in China" wines.

 

It's so bad – that OVA has laid an egg.

 

It's so bad – that 20Bees has been renamed 12Bees.

 

It's so bad – that Fruit Wines of Ontario is selling its "QC" designation back to the Canadian Bar Association.

 

It's so bad – that the Canadian Wine Awards and the All Canadian Wine Awards have merged and relocated to Quebec.

 

It's so bad – that the LCBO FLOOR price is now the CELLAR price.

 

It's so bad – that the Wine Council of Ontario has renamed itself Wine Council of Niagara.

 

It's so bad – that the Grape Growers of Ontario have taken over the Tender Fruit Association.

 

It's so bad – that emotional grapes don't get crushed anymore, they just quietly drop and rot.

 

It's so bad – that "auto and jewellery" ads are appearing on wine labels.

 

It's so bad – that restaurant buffets now have a time limit of 25 minutes.

 

It's so bad – that Diamond Estates has been re-branded as Silver Farms.

 

It's so bad – that "happy hours" are now "pleasant minutes".

 

It's so bad – that the Martini is now the Martinus (as Wayne and Schuster predicted).

 

Chimo!  www.deantudor.com

 

 

GOSH: Dolly McRooney accepts money to create Canadian wine label; instead, creates CIC product.

OTTAWA – (GOSH Wine News Services) – In a stunning disclosure today, Dolly McRooney teared up when she confessed to a House of Commons sub-committee (also known as the Elephant in the House Inquiry) that she took $225 to help create a Cellared In Canada wine for the Canadian public to consume.

 

She was responding to allegations that she had actually received $300.

 

"I deny that I received more than $225. I've since used that money to help support my needy family."

 

Top wine investigative reporter Brett Grimsby has been on the scene for days now, and he files this story based on several interviews with Miffed Mole, the collective name for our sources who are familiar with the situation, and who spoke to him on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to divulge details while they were very close to the centre of discussions and while the matter under consideration had not yet been finalized nor announced to the public. While the decisions may or may not have been finalized internally, and while an announcement on the matter may or may not be imminent, possibly within the next week or two, that specific timeline is not really known.

 

Apparently, Mole says, Dolly was supposed to create a Canadian wine, but was unable to secure the necessary volumes -- apparently it was all tied up in Olympic stocks. The best she could do was 30% Canadian content, with 70% imported wines added, and for that job she claimed $225 on her taxes for her efforts. A fully Canadian wine would be 100%, and that would be the $300 figure. For the innumerate, $225 is about 70% of $300, and that was all she was eligible to obtain for lobbying – if she had been correct all along. The source said that while she was paid $300, she claimed to be entitled to $225, and never did return the balance to the winery. She also lost her bottle deposits.

 

The disputed figures came about because she managed to reverse the proportions of sourced-wines required, a not uncommon mistake. Her accountant, KH Schreibery, guided her in this lobby process and with the mathematical calculations. He has since been recalled to Germany.

 

Dolly McRooney was instrumental in creating the CIC wine label "Nanny's Night Off", meant especially for those economically-depressed workers looking for a little buzz in their lives when they get off work at 11:30 PM each day, er, night, of the week.

 

Dolly McRooney had hotel-lobbied intensely for a supply of Asiatic grape wines, proclaiming that she was serving a market that would consume wines that they were familiar with. The 30% Canadian content reflects both the legal requirements for such a wine to be marketed in Canada, and the going declared pay-rate for economically-depressed workers who end their shifts at 11:30 PM.

 

More on this story as it develops…Stay buzzed..

 

Chimo!  www.deantudor.com

 

 

Olympic Winter Games to be used to promote Canadian wines, motion passed by House of Commons

 

TRAWNA – (GOSH Wine News Services) – In a stunning and rare move, a motion to use the Olympic Games to promote Canadian wines passed unanimously in the House of Commons on Friday.

 

The MPs had responded to last week's lopsided vote by the European Parliament to ban the import of vaunted Canadian Icewines in retaliation for the controversial annual seal hunt.

 

The motion calls for real grape skins from the great 2007 vintage to be part of the official wine labels pasted onto every bottle of Canadian wine. Such skins from the venerated "greatest vintage of the past two centuries" have been kept in cold storage, waiting for just such a moment.

 

The proposal was quickly terminated by the Canadian Olympic Committee (COC) which stated that the Olympics were not to be used as a platform for special causes. Besides, official wines have already been chosen as exclusive to the Games. These are the new Brights series of Esprit VQA to be launched in the new Olympic stores in British Columbia.

 

Said a spokesperson for the Canadian Olympic Committee, "We cannot have competition for our previously announced exclusive wines, even if they were CIC product at one time. Too many people have confused CIC wines with COC games. With the new VQA designation, there could be no confusion. COC bears no resemblance to VQA; VQA bears no resemblance to COC."

 

Rumours persist that CIC wines want to be in on the action, having lost out on the initial COC account. Apparently, they have put in a bid to paste 30% of one grape skin below the bottom line of the back label.

 

When questioned about the Canadian wines, the Canadian Opera Company (COC) said that, unlike the COC, they would be more than willing to accept promotion by the Canadian wine industry. A COC Board member who is familiar with the situation, and who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to divulge details while they were very close to the centre of discussions and while the matter under consideration had not yet been finalized nor announced to the public, said: "Canadian wines deserve to be praised, and we welcome the opportunity to be a part of any promotion that would enhance the financial situation of the COC. Besides, the entire Canadian wine industry plays out like a tragic opera."

 

While the decisions may or may not have been finalized internally, and while an announcement on the matter may or may not be imminent, possibly within the next week or two, the specific timeline is not really known.

 

More on this lyrical story when the fat lady sings…Stay tuned…

 

Chimo!  www.deantudor.com