Location claim brings dispute for Ontario winery

The location of a winery can be a big part of its appeal. For various reasons, it might not be appropriate for a company to list its real place of origin. We can see one example of this with Old Third Vineyard, which has faced some difficulties over naming its location. The dispute comes from conflict between the business’ wine labels and its website materials.

According to CTV, Old Third wanted to declare that it was a Prince Edward County producer online, not on the bottles themselves. This was met with opposition from the Vintners Quality Alliance Ontario, but the source said the VQAO was defeated at an Ontario License Appeal Tribunal.

While the organization may not be completely done in this case, the Tribunal critiqued its position within the official decision.

“The Appellant is describing, factually, the location of its vineyard,” it said, as CTV noted. “If one accepts the VQAO’s position, the Appellant could not say Hillier in Prince Edward County, nor even Hillier, Ontario, because ‘Ontario’ too is a controlled term.”

In a piece for Palate Press published five years ago, Old Third’s co-owner, Bruno François expressed optimism over the future of Prince Edward County’s wine sector. He particularly singled out Pinot Noir as a way for the area to distinguish itself internationally.

Designing food and beverage labels can be a difficult process that demands attention to detail. Companies need to know both what is best from a business perspective and what will fall within legal boundaries.

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