Stats tell the story of the state of wine sales in Manitoba

Every year on the Friday morning of the Winnipeg Wine Festival, the Manitoba Liquor Control Commission (MLCC -- soon to be the MLLC once the merger with Manitoba Lotteries takes place) puts on an industry breakfast. It's an event typically attended by sales reps, agents, Liquor Mart product consultants and visiting winery principals interested in learning about the state of wine in Manitoba.

This year was the first time I had been invited, and while the food was serviceable breakfast buffet fare, the presentations offered a lot to chew on. Most interesting to me were the numbers provided by Tracy Crawford, director of purchasing and logistics for the MLCC.

In the last 12 months there has been over $128 million in wine sales -- a four per cent increase over the previous year but still far less than beer (more than $292 million) or spirits (more than $211 million). When it comes to actual volume of product moved, wine jumps ahead of spirits but still sits well behind beer.

In terms of Liquor Marts' wine sales by category, the "Bottled and Blended in Canada" wines retain a massive margin over everything else -- as I mentioned last week, these cheap wines made from domestic and imported juice make up 35 per cent of Liquor Mart sales. Next closest is Australia (12 per cent) followed by the United States (10 per cent), Chile (eight per cent), Italy (six per cent), and Argentina (five per cent). Everything else is three per cent or lower.

On the rise over the past 12 months are wines from the U.S., New Zealand and Spain -- I've had a sense Spanish wine is set to make a big move here, and Crawford's report certainly seemed to confirm that. Unfortunately, many people over the course of the Winnipeg Wine Festival told me that Wines from Spain Canada, the government organization that promotes Spanish wines, doesn't have much money to sink into promotions right now.

The massive growth by American and New Zealand wines in dollar sales (32 and 28.9 per cent, respectively) and by volume (29.8 and 23 per cent, respectively) certainly caught me off guard. I suppose the bump in American wines can probably in part be attributed to California being the Winnipeg Wine Festival's 2011 theme region, but I'm still scratching my head over New Zealand.

Kiwi wine sales should continue to grow, what with the announcement that New Zealand and Argentina will be the theme regions for the 2013 Winnipeg Wine Festival. It's an interesting combination of regions, as New Zealand sales are soaring and Argentine wine sales are down -- they slid 3.9 per cent in dollar sales and 8.2 per cent in volume over the past 12 months.

Also on the skids these days are wine sales from Chile and South Africa, whose wines both posted less dollar and volume sales than the previous year. French and Australian wine sales are essentially flat at Liquor Marts, while Bottled and Blended in Canada wines only saw modest growth over the past 12 months, perhaps an indication that Manitoba wine drinkers are moving toward better wines from specific regions.

It's important to note that these numbers likely won't reflect the sales trends of Manitoba's eight private wine stores. Many of these stores tend to specialize in wines from a certain country or region, and/or focus on selling wines not available at Liquor Marts.

LUIGI BOSCA 2008 RESERVA MALBEC

(Mendoza, Argentina -- $15.95, Liquor Marts and beyond)

Blackberry, raspberry, herbal, earth and cherry aromas do well on the nose of this inky black Argentine red wine. It's full-bodied and chewy, with raspberry, black cherry, espresso and dark chocolate notes, light tannin and just a hint of acidity. Crack this open with some burgers on the patio and enjoy. 88/100

CADARETTA 2010 SBS

(Columbia Valley, Wash. -- $24.99, Liquor Marts and beyond)

This white Bordeaux-style blend of Sauvignon Blanc and Semillon (a 75/25 split) highlights the former grape (grapefruit, mineral, gooseberry) on the nose while delivering subtler hints of the latter (honey, red apple). An unoaked white, the SBS lets the bright citrus, herbal, gooseberry and green apple flavours shine through with great intensity and length, with light acidity providing vibrancy. 90/100

CIGNOMORO 2007 PRIMITIVO

(Manduria, Italy -- around $23, private wine stores)

Primitivo is thought to be a cousin, at the very least, of the Zinfandel grape -- no surprise, then, that this wine brings raisin, plum, blueberry, spice and licorice notes on the nose. It's a juicy, full-bodied red, with ripe plum, raisin, spice and caramel notes on the palate with some light tannin. It's a bit hot on the finish, thanks to higher alcohol content (15.5 per cent), but is another great wine for backyard burgers, ribs or pizza. I got this at The Winehouse. 89/100

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Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition May 19, 2012 E4