The British Columbia wine industry has taken swift action to address confusion over the marketing of wines blended and bottled here but produced elsewhere.

All three of Canada's largest wine producers are working on new labels for some of their best-selling wines after complaints that consumers were being hoodwinked into thinking they were made from Canadian grapes.

Wines made from foreign grapes will be moved out of the B.C. products section in government-run liquor stores, Agriculture Minister Steve Thomson says.

One would think that all wineries are involved in the "deception" of importing wine and marketing it as having been produced in B.C. In fact, only a small percentage of B.C. wineries are allowed to buy imported bulk wine - those that hold a commercial winery licence, such as Mission Hill, Jackson-Triggs and Vincor.

MPs and senators intend to sidestep a law that prevents other citizens from ordering wine out of province when they sip wines from the country's top producers at a special tasting in the House of Commons dining room later this year.

Mother Nature can't deliver Canadian grape farmers from a drop in prices

Read the fine print on the labels of some of the lower-priced B.C. wines and you'll find they are "cellared" here from domestic and imported sources. In fact, a B.C. wine need not contain a single drop of Canadian wine and lower-priced products probably don't.

Former fruit wine specialist Southbrook takes the honor, and LEED certification

Low-cost bulk wines from California to South Africa are being sold in Canadian liquor stores as B.C. wines, uncorking howls of protest from wine lovers at home and abroad.

This week, the Wine Council of Ontario and LCBO launched goLOCAL, the largest-ever promotion of Ontario-produced wines, with a focus on Vintners Quality Alliance products.

Canada kicked off its harvest Tuesday morning with Jackson-Triggs Okanagan Estates Winery in British Columbia picking Sauvignon Blanc at 6am Pacific Time. Other wineries in the region will follow suit within days.

Sales of Vintners Quality Alliance wines in Ontario are stronger than ever, and the Liquor Control Board of Ontario (LCBO) is taking some of the credit.

British Columbia's Tinhorn Creek opts for added efficiency, eschews buying credits

Ontario grapegrowers claim their fruit is rotting while big producers import bulk juice

Anticipated surplus forces prices down in negotiation process

Grape grower David Wiley says he has $500,000 worth of grapes on his vines that may not find a home because Ontario law allows wine to be labelled as "cellared in Canada" if it contains up to 70 per cent foreign grapes or grape product.

Winter damage in British Columbia's Okanagan Valley is serious, but may not be quite as dire as early estimates forecast. Speaking to growers attending the B.C. Wine Grape Council meeting on July 20, Frank Hellwig of Vincor Canada said a clearer picture has emerged of the kind of damage its Okanagan properties experienced last winter, and plans are in place to manage their recovery.

Fruit wines are shedding their pop-cooler image.

Relationship with local wineries cited

The increase averaged 30% across all classes of liquor, and added 75 cents to the wholesale price of a bottle of wine, but following retail markup and taxes, the increase added at least $1 to every bottle's price.