As part of my Advanced Vocational Diploma of International Trade course, I did a two month-internship in Montreal, in a company called Groupe Résistance which imports clothes from the United-States and Europe and redistributes them on the Canadian territory.
I chose the topic of the Canadian wine market because of the increase in wine consumption, the development of new sorts of wine and the fact that the Canadian wine industry employs 15,000 people.
The first wine amphora was found in the east of the Black Sea. Researchers discovered the oldest grape seeds which were dated 7,000 years BC and a press-wine which was dated 6,000 years BC. So it shows that wine has existed for several centuries and was appreciated by many civilizations such as the Egyptian, Roman or Greek civilizations.
With the introduction of vine plants in France in 600 BC, wine production and consumption have increased in the following centuries.
Nowadays, for ten years, Canadian vintners produce different wines. With the development of the quality and taste of their products, they make good quality red wines, white wines or icewines which are awarded several medals, at international wine competitions.
The particularity of the icewine is that it’s a scarce wine because it results from iced bunches of grapes, harvested at night, in winter, sometimes at minus ten degrees.
The Canadian wine area represents 8,000 hectares. The largest Canadian wine-farms are situated in Ontario and British Columbia which both produce 98% of the Canadian wines. But, the Nova Scotia and the Quebec regions develop their wine areas too.
The sales of wines are divided into two categories : the imported wines and the domestic ones. In 2002-2003, the sales of wines grew by about 8% which represented ¤ 2,26 billion. In the past ten years, the sales of imported wines have always been higher than the sales of wines produced locally. But, both categories have been increasing since 1997.