What Does VQA Mean?

From the BC Wine Institute Website
www.winebc.com

Early in its existence, the BC Wine Institute adopted the Vintners Quality Alliance (VQA) program as a cornerstone of its wine certification and marketing strategy. Also utilized in Ontario, VQA defines and mandates standards for wine and certification, and provides market development support for premium wines produced by participating wineries.

Highlights of the VQA Standards:

	Wines bearing the label designation "Product of British Columbia must be produced from 100% BC grown grapes.
	Optimum growing standards are encouraged.
	Wines bearing the name of a viticultural area are derived from a minimum 85% of the grapes grown in the named area.
	Where a vintage date is stated on the label, at least 95% of the wine is obtained from the designated year of harvest.
	Wines labeled as "estate bottled" are produced from grapes grown in a vineyard owned or controlled by the winery, and all processing steps from crushing to bottling are performed by the winery.
	As a final check on quality, the wine-tasting panel tests and approves each wnine.

The VQA standards monitor the following areas of production:

	Geographical Indication - only wines made from grapes grown exclusively in a specific region, such as Okanagan Valley or Fraser Valley, can display the name of the region on the bottls.
	Vineyard Designation - only grapes grown exclusively from a designated vineyard may be named on a wine.
	Estate Bottled - only wines made exclusively from grapes grown on an estate may be labeled as "estate bottled".
	Wine Categories - determines if a wine is to be labeled single varietal, dual varietal or blended wine; also regulated vintage dating, sugar content and sweetness descriptors.
	Quality Standards - controls minimum brix levels at harvest, states acceptable oenological practices, prohibits the addition of water, limits the level of chaplalization, controls the use of sweet reserve, and prohibits the practice of fortification other than in wines labeled as such.

Certification Process

	Winery Audits - wineries must keep production records for each wine and make them available to the BCWI upon request.
	Laboratory Analysis - wineries must submit a laboratory analysis with each submission to the VQA panel.
	Label Approval - a label, which is reviewed for accurate information, must accompany each wine application.
	Tasting/Evaluation Panel - all wines are tasted blind by a trained six-person panel. The wines are screened for defects and character.
	Packaging - VQA wines must be packaged with a cork closure, or reasonable facsimile. VQA wines must bear the VQA logo on the principal body panel.
	Wine Audits - at the discretion of the BCWI, wines bearing the VQA logo are independently audited to ensure that the quality of the wine is sound.
	Although the VQA program is voluntary, many wineries will not release a wine into the marketplace unless it has achieved VQA status. The success of this program has been tremendous: sales of VQA wine in BC have grown from 600,000 litres in 1990/91 to over 2.8 million litres in 2000/01.

British Columbia Viticultural Areas

	Fraser Valley The land within the watershed of the Fraser River basin, south and west of the town of Hope and north of the 49th parallel.
	Okanagan Valley The land within the watershed of the Okanagan water basin.
	Similkameen Valley The land within the watershed of the Similkameen River.
	Vancouver Island The land within the geographical limits of Vancouver Island and neighbouring islands, bounded by the waters of the Pacific Ocean, west of British Columbia's mainland coast, north of the Canada/US border and south of the 50th parallel.

Icewine

Icewine must be made exclusively from British Columbia grapes of authorized grape varieties that have been harvested, naturally frozen on the vine, and pressed in a continuous process while the air temperature is minus 8 degrees Celcuis or lower. Artificial refrigeration of the grapes, or artificial refrigeration of the juice, must, or whine for the purpose of increasing must weight, is prohibited at any point in the manufacturing process except for tank cooling during fermentation and/or during cold stabilization prior to bottling.

Labelling Regulations

All VQA approved wines shall meet the packaging and labeling requirements for alcoholic beverages and other relevant requirements under the Food and Drugs Act and Regulations and the Consumer Packaging and Labeling Act and Regulations. In the case of single varietal wines, where the variety is indicated on the principal display panel, not less than 85% of the wine shall be made from the named individual grape variety. In the case of dual varietal wines, where the varieties are indicated on the principal display panel, not less than 95% of the wine shall be made from the two varieties named, with he second being not less than15% of the total. In every case, the declared varieties shall be listed on the principal display panel in descending order of quantity, in identical type and identically displayed.

Vintage Dating

Vintage dating is to be mandatory for all VQA wines, with the exception of sparkling, fortified, liqueur and private label wines, beginning with the 1996 vintage. Not less than 95% of the wine must be derived from grapes grown in the designated vintage year.

VQA Symbol

A wine that meets the minimum production and geographical indication standards set out herein, which is also passed by a VQA tasting/evaluation panel shall display either the letters VQA or the VQA medallion as part of its package.

For more information on VQA and where to find VQA wines, please visit the BCWI website.
www.winebc.com