Monday 19 October 2015

Bottling Up Canada’s Love For Australian Shiraz




McGUIGAN Wines Black Label Shiraz from
the NSW Hunter Valley, is now the most-popular wine in the
Canadian Province of Nova Scotia, outselling all others
from Europe, America, South Africa,
South America and even Canada itself.
IN his continuing search for the more weird and wondrous in this world, David Ellis says that with its French connections from the past, you'd think the biggest selling wine in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia would be French.

But you'd be wrong, and when you switch your bet to Nova Scotian's favourite drop coming from across the border in the good ol' US of A, you'd be wrong again… even though California, that produces something like 2.65-billion bottles annually, is the 4th biggest wine-maker in the world after the countries of France, Italy and Spain and is right on Canada's doorstep.

Because in truth, the biggest-selling wine in Nova Scotia hails not from Europe, America, South Africa, South America nor even Canada itself, but from Australia's Hunter Valley – McGuigan Wines' Black Label Shiraz now outselling at C$10.99 a bottle, any other wine sold in the Province.

And in another province, Saskatchewan, enthusiasm amongst the locals there for a McGuigan export-only Heritage Road Bloodstone Shiraz, has made it the second-biggest selling wine in that province.

McGuigan Wines' Chief Winemaker, Neil McGuigan was uncharacteristically coy when we asked him what this meant in bottle-sales and didn't want to talk numbers. But he did tell us that his Black Label Pinot Grigio and Sauvignon Blanc are on a nice roll too – so much so in fact, that they're now in the Top 5 of all Australian wine sales not only in Nova Scotia and Saskatchewan, but right across most of Canada.
                                                           

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