Screw Caps for VQA Wines

Toronto, Ontario - March 3, 2004 --- Vintners Quality Alliance Ontario (VQA Ontario) today announced that it will permit Ontario's premium wines to be packaged with screw cap closures. The VQA regulatory body has decided that the decision to use screw caps should be left in the hands of each winery.

Screw cap closures are growing in popularity and are becoming more common among New World wine producers.

"We recognize that screw cap technology is now proven to be an effective closure for preserving quality wines," said Len Pennachetti, President and Chair of VQA Ontario. "Both consumers and the wine trade are more readily accepting screw caps as a quality closure and we don't want to restrict wineries from seeking alternatives to the traditional closures as long as wine quality isn't jeopardized."

Screw caps have been accepted in virtually all New World wine-producing countries as a way to ensure product quality and a way to battle cork taint.

"It will now be up to Ontario's winemakers and consumers to choose between the tradition of a cork and the convenience of a screw cap," says Jim Watson, Minister of Consumer and Business Services, the provincial ministry responsible for beverage alcohol regulation. "Around the world, top producers in Australia, New Zealand, California and France have adopted this technology for some of their best wines."

Consumer acceptance of screw caps in the quality wine sector remains largely untested but VQA Ontario believes that many consumers will be happy to have the choice of an alternate closure for some of Ontario's best wines.

It is expected that the introduction of screw caps on VQA wines will be gradual as individual wineries make their own packaging decisions.

VQA Ontario is an independent regulatory authority that has been delegated the responsibility for administering the Vintners Quality Alliance Act, 1999 by the Ontario government.

VQA Ontario establishes, monitors and enforces a system of quality standards and verification of product origin for Ontario wines. Only those wines approved by VQA Ontario may use appellation terms and descriptions. These include geographical terms such as "Niagara Peninsula", "Pelee Island", "Lake Erie North Shore", and "Estate Bottled" as well as terms that are linked to regulated production processes such as "Icewine" and, of course, the term "VQA."