Return of U.S. booze a case of ‘get it while it lasts’

Don’t be surprised if the bourbon lover in your life has a little extra spring in his/her step this holiday season.

On Dec. 4, the Manitoba government announced that $1 million of the $3.4 million worth of U.S. alcohol currently on hand will be made available for sale between Wednesday and Christmas Eve, with up to $500,000 of revenue from these products going to five different local charities.

It’s a move that echoes the one taken recently by the Nova Scotia government — one that has generally drawn favourable responses.

The backstory is well known: in February, the Manitoba government announced Liquor Marts would pull all American alcohol from store shelves after trade relations with the U.S. took a nosedive (to put it lightly). The government’s move echoed similar actions by other provinces; in Manitoba, products made in the U.S. have since been unavailable at Liquor Marts and rural private vendors ever since.

Savvy shoppers know that some American products have in fact still been available for purchase, depending on where you look. Winnipeg’s eight private wine stores, for example, were not forbidden from selling American wines they had on hand — products purchased before the government’s directive. Some stores chose to keep selling American Chardonnays, Cabernet Sauvignons and the like, while others followed the lead of Liquor Marts, taking more of an “elbows up” approach and pulling American wines from shelves.

Not all U.S. wines would have been available to the private wine stores — American wines listed at Liquor Marts, for example, became unavailable for reorder, meaning once a private store ran out of stock on that product, it was gone indefinitely. Private stores that continued to sell American wines have instead focused on products not available at Liquor Marts — if you were after a bottle of Apothic, for example, you might have to settle for a different jammy red blend from the U.S. that you’d not normally find at Liquor Marts.

The details of this latest move by Liquor Marts are worth a look. American alcohol will only be available at 12 Liquor Marts as of Wednesday, for example, and only seven of said stores are in Winnipeg (Crestview, Eastwinds, St. Vital, Garden City, Fort Richmond, Grant Park and Madison Square). So if you want your bourbon or California Zinfandel, you’ll have to make sure you’re stopping at the right store.

Which products these select stores will stock remains unknown, and unless Liquor Marts publish some sort of list of available products, likely won’t be known until the products are actually on shelves. The Liquor Marts website notes inventory of American alcohol won’t be updated on the site, and that “quantity and brands will vary” — meaning you might not be able to see which store has what products before leaving the house.

That said, it’s safe to assume wildly popular brands — Jack Daniels, Maker’s Mark, Apothic, J. Lohr and the like — will once again be available for purchase. However, with only one-third of inventory on hand being made available, don’t hold your breath hoping to find that small-batch Sonoma County Pinot Noir or single-barrel bourbon.

It’s also worth noting that all sales of U.S. liquor will be final, and that new inventory will not be restocked or reordered — once it’s gone, it’s gone, at least for the foreseeable future.

Premier Wab Kinew hinted that if response to this initiative was deemed a success, it could potentially be extended into 2026. Spoiler alert: once those products are back on shelves, pulling them from stores and returning them to a warehouse to sit and languish would likely be wildly unpopular. In other words, don’t expect to see American liquor going anywhere anytime soon — until stock dries up.

As for this column, don’t expect a rash of reviews of American products — there won’t be any new wines, beers or spirits to explore, and those that will be back on sale at Liquor Marts as part of this initiative will have been sitting around for the better part of a year.

Plus, I’ve still got to keep my elbows up a little bit, eh?

 

Wines of the week

Sister’s Run 2023 Sunday Slippers Chardonnay (McLaren Vale, Australia — $17.99, Liquor Marts and beyond)

Pale straw in appearance, this Aussie Chardonnay brings fresh red apple, pear, peach and subtle toasted wood and vanilla notes from some time in oak barrels.

It’s light-plus bodied and dry, offering up-front apple and peach notes, hints of lemon and pear as well as a very subtle wood influence — almost Burgundian in style.

The 12.5 per cent alcohol is unobtrusive — drink this very well-priced white now. 4.5/5

Piccini 2022 Toscana Rosso (Tuscany, Italy — around $17, Kenaston Wine Market)

A blend of Sangiovese and Malvasia Nera grapes, this Tuscan red is brickish red in appearance and aromatically delivers raspberry, blackberry, red licorice, black cherry and anise notes.

It’s medium-plus-bodied and dry, with brambly blackberry and herbal flavours coming with secondary tart raspberry notes, light but grippy tannins and, at 13 per cent alcohol, a medium-length finish.

If there’s oak aging here, it’s very subtle. A solid pizza wine. 3.5/5

Bordón 2020 Crianza (Rioja, Spain — $19.99, Liquor Marts and beyond)

Aged in French and American oak barrels for 12 months before bottling, and then spending more time in the bottle before release, this Spanish red made from the Tempranillo grape offers plum, violet, lacquer and slightly stewed cherries aromatically.

It’s dry and full-bodied, with plum, dark berry, red licorice and cherry flavours wound up in grippy, peppery tannins, a meaty undercurrent that adds rustic charm and, at 14 per cent alcohol, a finish that brings warmth and length.

Drink now with hard/sharp cheeses, moderately spicy stews or steak. 4/5

 

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