No regulations, I doubt that has anything to do with it. The US dollar
has been falling compared to Canada for a few years, I bet it's on the
order of 15% right now. I used to travel a lot to Toronto and the rate
was 1.47 for a long time, now it's around $1.30.

As to California, they are big into home winemaking from Modesto to
Lodi, not to mention Brehm. The Central Valley grows and sells a lot
of wine grapes; they are used throughout California and elsewhere as an
adjunct to local grapes and in jug wines.

They do sell a lot of wine and kits. Most of the stuff that is
available from the Central Valley is sold fresh to home winemakers in
boxes or 6 gallon pails. California Concentrate owns Alexanders Sun
Country and Home Wines, they are a concentrator. If grapes did not
ripen in California it is illegal to use sugar so they would add a
concentrate. (It doesn't happen much, it's not hard to get grapes to
cooperate in California.)

Pailed juice is pretty economical too, we get 6 gallon pails in
Pittsburgh for $30 to $40 here because so much comes our way. That's
really cheap considering pailing costs. It makes good wine too. If
well made it's comparable to most $10 bottles.

Canada is big on the 'brew on premises' process too and it really makes
it easy for someone to get into making wine. You have a built in
expert at your side the whole time. That lends itself to winemaking
year round.

I'm not saying your price increases are justified, just that it makes
some sense to me. When I traveled in Canada the thing that struck me
was that only food was a little more costly, compared to home, a dollar
in Canada got me about the same as a dollar in the US. That made it go
way further at $1.47. It's not like I was buying houses or cars though,
just stuff you buy in a week or so.


Joe

> Our friendly neighborhood brewer's supplier has raised its prices,
> supposedly because the weak dollar is making it more expensive to buy
> wine kits from Canada. That got me wondering why the wine kit
industry
> seems to be almost entirely based in Canada. Wine is one of the
larger
> industries in California. You'd think that some of the vineyards in
> Napa or the central valley would try marketing grapes in the form of
> wine kits. (Sounds like a natural for Bronco - How do you follow two
> buck chuck?)
>
> Is there some regulation that makes it difficult for American
vineyards
> to produce wine kits?