Monthly Newsletter
Posted: March 6, 2026
VQA IS 100% ONTARIO AND 100% CANADIAN. EVERY TIME. GUARANTEED.
Now more than ever, it’s time to share this message with every consumer in Ontario. VQA is the only guarantee that a wine is 100% Ontario. Look for the VQA letters or the logo for authentic, local wine. Every time. Guaranteed.
NEW HIRE! – WELCOME SABINA
OWAA recently welcomed Sabina Mostacci as our new Office Supervisor and Tasting Panel Coordinator. Sabina can be reached at sabina.mostacci@vqaontario.ca.
MEMBERSHIP RENEWAL DUE FOR 2026-27
As a result of continued strong VQA sales, the Board of Directors has authorized a full rebate of membership fees due on March 31, 2026 for the coming year, 2026-27.
You must however, complete the membership renewal process not later than March 31 and upload a copy of your valid manufacturer’s license. The invoice will show the rebate and net out to $0. Please login to VQA Services and renew your membership under the “Renewal” tab in your Organization Profile.
STAKEHOLDER CONSULTATION – RESPOND BY MARCH 15
The Board of Directors is seeking feedback on a proposed change to the VQA Regulations to revise labelling requirements for Skin Fermented White (SFW) wines. The changes would remove some restrictive requirements on placement and size of the terms “Skin Fermented” and “Orange” or “Amber”.
Please submit your comments in writing no later than March 16, 2026 to Laurie Macdonald laurie.macdonald@vqaontario.ca .
FOR WINERIES THAT HAVE APPLIED FOR THE AGRICORP ONTARIO GRAPE SUPPORT PROGRAM (OGSP)
OWAA has entered into an agreement with Agricorp to provide an independent verification service for the OGSP. If you applied for this program, you will have received an email from Agricorp directing you to contact OWAA to register for the Ontario Grape Support Program (OGSP) verification process. If you are already a member of the Ontario Wine Appellation Authority – it is a simple add-on to your online account:
- On the member services site, VQA Services, click on “edit profile”
- Under Organization Profile go to the “OGSP (New 2026)” and click on the Sign Up button
- Complete the confirmation page with your name and phone number and click on Submit
Once registered, we will contact you within a few weeks to schedule the OGSP audit.
If you are a non-VQA winery reading this, you will need to contact OWAA and will be provided with a secure login ID to register. It is a no-cost 5-minute process – please have your manufacturing licence and GGO# handy.
As always, please reach out with any questions you may have!
BUSY SEASON FOR WINE APPROVALS
Please note that high in volume periods (March and August), an increase in wine application submissions may result in longer than normal turnaround times for tastings and lab processing. Samples are generally handled on a first come first serve basis, however we reserve the right to limit the number of wines from any one winery to six samples per tasting. If you submit more than six samples, the remaining wines will be redistributed and tasted in a future session. As always, if you need help navigating the system, please call or email katherina.radcliffe@vqaontaio.ca.
Here are some important things to know:
- Please send two bottles per wine sample, to the OWAA office in North York, with the ID clearly marked on each bottle and the shipping form in the package.
- Wines are assessed by the Tasting Panel weekly on Wednesday, with additional tastings (Friday) added as needed.
- Wines are shipped to the LCBO for lab testing weekly on Wednesday at noon for inclusion in the lab the following week.
- Wines are shipped to CCOVI on an as-needed basis, but typically on Friday for testing the following week.
- Labels are reviewed when the lab results are returned and the application is paid.
As always, we greatly appreciate screw-capped bottles, labelled with only the VQA ID#. Also please check your wine approval applications to make sure that they are complete and approved before releasing the wine. If we are waiting for labels or payment, that wine is not approved.
CREDIT BALANCES – PLEASE USE THEM!
Almost half of our winery members have outstanding credits in our invoicing system. Please tell your bookkeeper about this.
Login to VQA Services to check your balances (make sure to change the filter to 12 months to make sure it appears). To use a credit, you must owe more than the amount on the credit. Wine approvals season is here, so this may be the time you have enough owing. Feel free to save up a few approvals or monthly fees – we will not delay your results as long as there is a balancing credit on your account. Call us if you need assistance.
How to use the credit: wait until you have multiple invoices that you can combine (aggregate) and apply the credit to the aggregate. In the meantime, OWAA staff will continue to process your wine approval applications as if they were paid.
IMPORTANT! Please help us by forwarding this newsletter to your winery accountant or finance department.
ICEWINE TESTING INVOICES
Icewine and Late Harvest invoices have been issued on VQA Services, to cover the cost of conducting monitoring and testing of grapes that are seeking eligibility for use in Icewine and Late Harvest Wines. It is billed on a cost recovery basis proportional to the number of tests that were conducted for grapes you registered.
If you have not yet entered harvest details for your Icewine juice, please note that the final deadline is April 30, 2026. No further pressing volumes can be registered after that date and non-registered juice cannot be used to produce Icewine.
Growers/Wineries, please login to VQA Services and visit the Invoices & Payments page to find and pay your invoice. Payments can be made by cheque, credit card or e-transfer.
Payment is due no later than 30 days from invoice date. Late payments will be subject to an interest charge of 1% per month. Growers/Wineries who do not remit full payment will not be permitted to participate in the VQA Icewine and Late Harvest Program for the 2025 vintage.
For details of your Icewine and Late Harvest registration activity, please login to the VQA Services secure website or contact us at the Ontario Wine Appellation Authority office, 416-367-2002.