Three main markets for wine production have been identified. First, there is the direct market for seasonal tourists. The local population of the County is 25,000, many of them sophisticated oenophiles who can be expected to form a faithful following, especially as the local LCBO is obliged to stock at least fifty percent local product. However, in the peak summer season, this market is augmented by 540,000 visitors from other parts of Canada, the United States and the rest of the world.

The Waupoos Estates Winery has a tasting room, gourmet restaurant, and reception facility to enchant both the casual visitor and the County family preparing for a significant event. The Merrill Inn in Picton has a wine bar that serves County wines, and most of the fine restaurants in the area stock the County’s best wines.

Grant Howes’ County Cider Company began by offering fine ciders from his heirloom apple orchards, but has since branched out into wines, all available to be savored in his tasting room, the most beautiful pig barn in the County. Chris and Nora Rogers of Waring House Inn and Restaurant have similarly established a vineyard that visitors can tour, to acquaint them with the process as well as the product. Thus, this primary market is not only available but also accessible in terms of all stages of the production of County wines.

A secondary market is estate wineries along the model of Henry of Pelham or Cave Springs. This option would develop a branding strategy and then sell VQA wines directly to licensees. Grant Howes has already blazed a trail in this direction with his hard cider, which is licensed and sold worldwide, and it may be the future path of some of the established wineries in the County. By the end of 2004, there will be six wineries, led by Waupoos Estate Wineries and Huff Estates, who will be actively pursuing the estate winery market.

The third option is extraordinarily exciting, and deserves a page of its own: A Promising Future!

- top -