There’s a new kid in town and you should get to know its
initials --- ICWA.
That’s the Independent Consignment Wine Agents.
They’re a
co-operative venture-sharing bunch of people bringing you beautiful artisan
wines that are quite simply off the grid as far as regular LCBO store-buying
goes.
This important new group offers portfolios of wines and spirits via the Consignment
and Private Ordering warehouse of the LCBO.
By joining together, they hope to
get more TLC, service and information from the LCBO than they could hope for as
small individual players.
Drinks Ontario is the grouping of large Ontario agents
and is seen as getting the lion’s share of the LCBO’s attention. As small independents,
the new group feel they don’t always hear about everything going on in the
industry even though these little guys and gals are actually a majority, some
70%, of wine agents in the province.
It’s very difficult for everybody to get
your wine listed in Vintages and you have to be a different animal again to get
into the General List, wines carried in all the Board’s 872 stores.
However, the
LCBO isn’t the only game in town.
If you want off the grid wines and spirits from
France, the Douro or the Duero, call Laura Dijana Higgins at 416 919 9994 (Amethyst
Wine Agency, www.amethystwine.ca); for
the best of Italy, France and Germany, Mark Jacoby, markjohnjacoby@gmail.com; indigenous
Italian wines are a specialty of Mondo Vino, Danny Castricone, 647 525 8466;
Violet Hill Wine Imports has a great range of Loire, Jura, Alsace and northern
Italy, dee@violethill.com; Wharton Fine
Wines offers old world classics and exciting new world vintages, www.whartonfinewines.com.
This
collaboration of small independent agents has already moved things forward and
benefited everyone within the first six months.
It’s all about communications,
at store level and with the LCBO’s head office operations, and getting things
to work more smoothly for everyone.
“We’re the liaison between the stores and
the admin level implementation, giving them feedback so they can actually fix
any flaws in the system. They’re not shutting us out. They’re embracing it as
well," says Laura Dijana Higgins.
Down the road, look for more e-commerce online emphasis and more direct
selling. Stay tuned!
What am I drinking right now? Tancredi 2012, gorgeous bold autumnal
red blend from the fine Donnafugata estate in Sicily, one of my favorite wineries and one of
the very best on this fascinating island.
It’s a very polished savoury blend of Cabernet
Sauvignon and local hero Nero d’Avola and it’s a full 90-pointer. From
Lifford Wines at $44.95 and worth the effort: 416 779 4101. Black plums, mocha,
garrigue herbs, pencil lead and black currants. Gorgeous. Age-worthy and lovely
now with a fine rare steak. Yum!
The LCBO is offering two other fine Donnafugatas: a mellow Nero
d'Avola red, Sedàra, showing black cherry, cassis and plum, white almonds and hazelnut, $16.95, as well as a crisp white SurSur made from the ancient indigenous Grillo grape, $22.
