'Wine on tap' program in jeopardy in Ontario
Joanne Oliver and Brent Hillier built their restaurant and wine bar on the premise of serving wine on tap instead of bottles, their wine comes in kegs.
“It has a longer shelf life, you don’t have to open bottles and have it go bad. Each keg holds about 29 bottles in it and the keg maintains its freshness better than opened bottles,” said Oliver.
But the wine taps at ‘Olio Too’ in Bayfield, may soon run dry. Oliver has been told by her wine keg suppliers, that the Liquor Control Board of Ontario (LCBO) is ending its four year pilot project to carry and distribute wine kegs.
“They’ve told us it just doesn’t belong in the LCBO, and we don’t really understand what that means, or where it can go, because the LCBO is a monopoly in Ontario,” said Melanie Kobelka, managing partner with Vinolution, a Canadian wine keg distributor.
Oliver says ending the wine keg program in Ontario, while it’s flourishing in other parts of the country, is frustrating. She says a return to bottles would hurt her business and other wine on tap restaurants, greatly.
“For us, the wine keg program is really important. It’s the model we built ourselves around. So if it goes away and the LCBO decided they don’t want to provide this program there will be a lot of small businesses that will probably have to do some big pivoting, and that’s expensive,” said Oliver.
CTV News London reached out to the LCBO for comment but they’ve not yet provided any information on the fate of the program.
“We’ve had the opportunity to show growth with the opening of the market in Ontario and we’re hopeful that we can find a solution quickly so that we can communicate to our customers, so they can maintain and continue to grow their businesses, like Olio Too,” said Kobelka.
“We’ve invested in the wine taps, we’ve invested in the technology and we’d like to keep it going,” expressed Oliver.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
CFIA monitoring for avian flu in Canadian dairy cattle after U.S. discoveries
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency is encouraging veterinarians to keep an eye out for signs of avian influenza in dairy cattle following recent discoveries of cases of the disease in U.S. cow herds.
Mandisa, Grammy award-winning 'American Idol' alum, dead at 47
Soulful gospel artist Mandisa, a Grammy-winning singer who got her start as a contestant on 'American Idol' in 2006, has died, according to a statement on her verified social media. She was 47.
Senators reject field trip to African Lion Safari amid elephant bill study
The Senate legal affairs committee has rejected a motion calling for members to take a $50,000 field trip to the African Lion Safari in southern Ontario to see the zoo's elephant exhibit.
DEVELOPING G7 warns of new sanctions against Iran as world reacts to apparent Israeli drone attack
Group of Seven foreign ministers warned of new sanctions against Iran on Friday for its drone and missile attack on Israel, and urged both sides to avoid an escalation of the conflict.
'It could be catastrophic': Woman says natural supplement contained hidden painkiller drug
A Manitoba woman thought she found a miracle natural supplement, but said a hidden ingredient wreaked havoc on her health.
After hearing thousands of last words, this hospital chaplain has advice for the living
Hospital chaplain J.S. Park opens up about death, grief and hearing thousands of last words, and shares his advice for the living.
Vancouver firefighter in rehab at home after losing leg to flesh-eating infection overseas
A family trip took a frightening turn for Christopher Won when he was diagnosed with flesh-eating disease while in Hong Kong and now, after weeks of treatment overseas, the Vancouver firefighter is back home recovering.
WATCH Video shows dramatic police takedown of carjacking suspects chased through parking lot north of Toronto
Police have released video footage of a dramatic takedown of a group of teens wanted in connection with an attempted carjacking in Markham earlier this month.
WHO likely to issue wider alert on contaminated cough syrup
The World Health Organization is likely to issue a wider warning about contaminated Johnson and Johnson-made children's cough syrup found in Nigeria last week, it said in an email.