Cover Story: Sour grapes in wine country

Straighten out the industry or we’ll do it for you, says the province. Some growers say government policies make marketing wine harder than it needs to be

by DON STONEMAN

Thirty five years into his grape farming career, John Neufeld faces a triple challenge this year at Palatine Hills Estate Winery, established with his wife Barbara 10 years ago in Niagara on-the-Lake.

The Neufelds’ 80-plus acres of vineyards produce the equivalent of 100,000 cases of wines of all kinds, but not nearly all of that goes into their own bottles. Some grapes are sold to other wine makers and that’s a rub. Other wineries cite a surplus last fall and aren’t buying grapes like they used to.

Better Farming - March 2009