Lakeshore Living Magazine - Fall 2011

Page 41

NAPA TO ONTARIO Ryan Waugh // Wines from Napa Valley

Co-ops are intended to provide goods, services, or employment to their members on the most favourable terms possible. The Wine Co-op was formed to supply the highest quality, artisanal Napa Valley wines to its members at a cost that reflects only the actual direct costs of winemaking. The Co-op can do this by making its own wine in the Caves At Soda Canyon in Napa. The Co-op has appointed Waugh as the winemaker for the Co-op wines. He will select premium grapes from prime vineyard sources in the Napa Valley and will oversee every step of the winemaking process in the Caves At Soda Canyon. The result will be superb Napa wines that will match some of the most expensive wines in the Napa Valley. Best of all, these wines will be available exclusively to members of the Co-op. The difference for Co-op members is that instead of paying the usual sky high prices for Napa wine, they will be able to enjoy it at a price that is 90 percent below what would otherwise be paid for wines of this stature. This is possible only through the Co-op structure where the wine is made exclusively for

members without the indirect costs of overheads, distribution and importation costs that can represent up to 90 percent of the cost of a premium bottle of Napa Wine. Traditionally, the main roadblock to the enjoyment of Napa wines here in Ontario is in the form of the taxes and markups imposed by the LCBO and the federal government. If you attempt to import a case of Waugh’s Six Degrees Cabernet Sauvignon into Ontario, you would be saddled with paying upwards of $100 per bottle in taxes and LCBO markups, on top of the $80 retail cost of the wine at the winery. A member of the Napa Valley Crush Co-op will be able to import their custom wine into Ontario by paying the applicable taxes based upon the Co-op’s “winery cost.” This means that the taxes to bring the wine into Ontario will amount to only a few dollars a bottle. The Co-op will take care of all of the paperwork for each member and the wine can be shipped either directly to the member’s home

or office, or to a warehouse facility in Buffalo at the Canadian border for even greater cost savings. By joining the Wine Co-op, a member is granted the opportunity to enter into a WineShare Agreement. This provides that, for a one-time payment, a member will receive a five-case allocation of Napa wine every year for 25 years. Co-op members are assured their allocation of Napa wine each year regardless of how high the retail wine prices may go in the future. At the present time, the Wine Co-op is accepting a limited number of applications for membership. Because these wines will be limited production, membership is being closed at a total of 450 members. Fur ther information about the Wine C o - o p c an b e o b t aine d by v i si t in g www.napawinecoop.com or contacting Michael Freeman, Business Development L Manager michael@napawinecoop.com. L

www.napawinecoop.com

Exclusive Wine Tasting

Join us in 2012 to taste some of Napa’s finest offerings and learn how you can get in on the CRUSH! Our next tasting will be hosted by Budd’s BMW on Wednesday January 11th. Please call our VIP event line 905-634-5237 or email michael@napawinecoop.com to reserve as space is limited for this exclusive tasting event and you will require tickets to attend. To find out about additional events taking place visit napawinecoop.com for updated event listings.

HOSTED BY:

BUDD’S

OAKVILLE

FALL 2011 | LAKESHORE LIVING

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