Ontario's wine producers, frustrated with limited shelf space in government-run liquor stores, say it's time for change. They are calling on consumers to beat the drum for new private stores, which they say should be allowed to compete with existing Liquor Control Board of Ontario outlets

Ontario winemakers have started to wait patiently for temperatures to reach a minimum of minus 8? Celsius; just right for the winter harvest of one of Canada's most cherished products, Ontario Icewine.

Conditions included the mild winter, spring frost that didn't damage buds nearly as much as its devastation of Ontario apples. The hot, dry summer that concentrates prized sugars and a fall harvest yielding such high-quality grapes.

First, March brought record-shattering heat, which fooled ornamental and fruit trees into blossoming early and when frost cruelly came back in April, the end result was lots of lost peaches, pears and apples. But then we had summer drought and a prolonged heat wave.

The Niagara-on-the-Lake Public Library has teamed up with the Wineries of Niagara-on-the-Lake to present Wine & Words, a new author series featuring celebrated Canadian authors paired up with Niagara wines.

'Tidal Bay reflects the unique terroir we have'

A record 2012 grape harvest and a global wine shortage have Ontario grape growers optimistic that 2013 will see more wine lovers than ever from Ontario and around the world enjoying award-winning Ontario wines.

The report recommends hiking minimum prices for booze in some provinces and implementing minimums where there are none, like in Alberta liquor stores. The author of the report hopes that government uses liquor prices to affect social factors, like health and crime.

Vancouver Urban Winery officially has launched their first wine label: Roaring Twenties Wine Co.. Currently available throughout the BC market, the label will initially release a Sauvignon Blanc from Marlborough, New Zealand and a Malbec from Mendoza, Argentina, both with suggested retail of $14.99

The Ontario wine industry is projecting soaring demand for its product next year, on the strength of a record output and European shortfall.

With the British Columbia Wine Institute estimating the province's grape crop reaching 35,000 tons this year, some observers are talking about the potential for a surplus.

"The success of our region is making wines that show elegance and finesse, and not power." The Niagara Peninsula is a cool climate region and the wines will always be more about fresh acidities and bright fruit than the creamier textured, more dark-fruited wines of warmer climates.

The Canadian Vintners Association's has received $160,000 in federal funding to support its ongoing international market development and trade efforts.

Nova Scotia is amending legislation to allow individuals to directly import 100 percent certified locally grown and produced Canadian wine for personal use.

"It's a lot to do with weather," said Debbie Zimmerman, CEO, Grape Growers of Ontario which is proclaiming the 2012 harvest one of the "highest valued crops" in the organization's 65-year monitoring history.

Visits to B.C. by U.S. tourists are down by more than a third over the past several years, according to a report from a Vancouver research group. Nearly 2.5 million American tourists came to B.C. in 2011, but that's 36 percent lower than the number that came 14 years earlier, according to the report from Urban Futures, a Vancouver research company.

Manitoba liquor commission workers feel the government agency is being a Grinch this Christmas by cancelling a long-standing tradition - the annual employee sale of discount liquor deemed unfit to sell in stores.

Ontario's laws remain staid silent on the inter-provincial importation of wine and according to lawyer Mark Hicken, that silence indicates a soon to be opening door.

Agri Marketing Program grant encouraging wine associations to cultivate interest in Asia, the U.S. and U.K.

Canadians are increasingly reaching for a glass of Beaujolais instead of beer and they're also drinking more domestic wines, says a new study on Canadian drinking habits.