What does "BC VQA" mean?

BC Vintners Quality Alliance (VQA) Facts:
  · The VQA program began in Ontario in 1988 and was adopted in British Columbia a year later.
  · VQA incorporates an appellation of origin system that allows consumers to identify Canadian   wines made from grapes grown in designated viticultural areas (DVA). In British Columbia, there are several DVAs including Vancouver Island.
  · A BC VQA seal ensures that you are buying a wine that is made from 100% BC grown grapes.
  · A trained six-person panel conducts a blind-taste test on each wine, to ensure the wines present varietal character and have no obvious winemaking faults.

Highlights of the BC Vintners Quality Alliance (VQA) standard

  · Wines bearing the label designation “Product of British Columbia” must be produced from 100% British Columbia grown grapes.
  · Wines bearing the name of a viticultural area are derived from a minimum of 95% 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 at the winery.
  · As a final check on quality, the wine-tasting panel tests and approves each wine.

Are beaufort wines BC VQA approved?

All beaufort wines crafted from wine grapes, are guaranteed to be from 100% BC grown grapes. Each year we send our wines to the BC VQA panel for their approval, and after receiving approval, proudly display the VQA seal on our bottles. This means that you have assurance that these wines are 100% BC grown and produced, and they also meet the standards of the VQA wine tasting panel of experts.

When we indicate that a beaufort wine is from "Vancouver Island", this means that the wine was crafted from at least 95% Vancouver Island grapes -- and in most cases is crafted from 100% Vancouver Island grown grapes!    

The only wines that beaufort does not send to to the BC VQA panel for their approval are those crafted from fruit other than wine grapes. For example our beaufort "Black" is a fruit-based wine, from blackberries and black currants, and is therefore not eligible for certification under the BC VQA.