Wines available from Toronto wine agencies fall into two categories. The first is wines that are also available at the LCBO and the second is wines that can only be acquired directly from the agency.
If you order from an agency, you will have to buy a minimum of a case (usually twelve bottles but sometimes six) unless the wine is produced in Ontario. You can now obtain mixed cases from Agencies but they do the mixing.
Wines that can only be acquired directly from an agency have been brought in under the LCBO’s consignment program to service corporate customers, particularly higher end restaurants, that prefer to list non-LCBO products so as to have relative exclusivity. Other agency customers include hotels, casinos and private clubs, and individuals may order these non-listed products also.
Agencies can have excellent wines which never reach the LCBO either because the producer doesn’t make enough or the wine is very specialized or it does not meet the criteria laid down by the LCBO for new wines. So if you have particular tastes in wine and/or you like the idea of getting a more exclusive product, it is well worth your while to build a relationship with one or more agencies. They also might be able to help you order a particular wine that you discovered overseas if you know exactly what you want.
The LCBO regulates the pricing of all wines so even if you buy a wine directly from the agency, you are technically buying it from the LCBO at their price with the agent getting a commission. So it’s not a way of saving money and depending on the agency and the size of the order, you may have to pay shipping costs also. Most agencies now have well developed e-commerce functionality on their website so online ordering is very straightforward.
You can obtain comprehensive information on all Ontario agencies from Drinks Ontario, formerly the Ontario Imported Wines Spirits and Beers Association.
Some agencies specialize in lesser known Canadian wines and act as a middle man for small agencies and small wineries. See Ontario Wineries for two examples.
WineWire employs another model with a particular focus on non LCBO wines. Whereas a conventional agency deals directly with the producers, WineWire acts as a marketing representative for smaller wine agencies by listing their products on the WineWire site. It does not directly handle any part of the actual buyer-seller transaction. For now, they only promotes wines carried by Ontario wine agents.
Agency Newsletters
A number of agencies offer a free e-newsletter to keep their readers up to date on new product offerings. See below for links to the relevant page. Some also hold an annual tasting to showcase their products.
- John Hanna & Sons Ltd
- Lifford Wine & Spirits
- Profile Wine Group
- Rogers & Company
- The Vine Agency
- WineWire
- Woodman Wine & Spirits
If you are interested in starting up your own agency in order to import wine, spirits and beer into the Ontario marketplace, I highly recommend Steven Trenholme’s course entitled “Importing Wine, Beer & Spirits For Pleasure & Profit”. Steven is a thirty-year + veteran of the beverage alcohol industry. Refer to his website for further details and the date of the next seminar. You also might want to read this article to find out some of the challenges involved. It was written in 2011 but I doubt that there has been much change since then.