Vintners Quality Alliance

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Vintners Quality Alliance, or VQA, is a complex regulatory and appellation system which guarantees the quality and source of Canadian wines made under that system. VQA wines may be made from vinifera grape varieties and those hybrid grape varieties that have been approved by the Vintners Quality Alliance. They should be made with limited agricultural yields (which increases quality), meet specific sugar (Brix) levels at harvest, and use only specific additives during wine production.

Wines which qualify usually have the VQA symbol on the bottle's neck capsule or label. In addition, the appellation system allows for higher-quality wines to be labeled with sub-appellations such as "Okanagan Valley" or "Niagara Peninsula".

At its simplest level for average consumers, this means that a "B.C. VQA" wine is produced from 100% British Columbian grapes, and an "Ontario VQA" wine is produced from 100% Ontario grapes. Very occasionally, a wine is produced with a blend of British Columbian and Ontario grapes, and would not qualify for the VQA designation.

The development of the VQA system has not been without controversy, as large companies have successfully lobbied for the right to make inexpensive “international blends”, using bulk juice from other countries. These wines are labeled with terminology such as “Product of Canada”, “Cellared in Canada”, or “Vinted in Canada”.

Currently, British Columbia wine which is not labeled as VQA contains 100% foreign content. Ontario wine which is not labeled as VQA now contains as much as 99% foreign content and as little as 1% Ontario content. It may be claimed that these “temporary measures” are the result of short crops. Despite the existence of separate sections in stores, consumers frequently find the VQA wines and “international blends” inappropriately shelved.

Several highly-respected wine writers, both in Canada and abroad, have expressed serious concerns regarding the marketing practices of the Canadian wine industry’s large players. Recently in both B.C. and Ontario, we have seen the development of new organizations, namely The Association of B.C. Winegrowers and the Ontario Wine Producers Association. They represent the interests of smaller independent wineries which are committed to the production of local quality wines.

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