Feds pump $500,000 into wine industry

Big news for the wine industry came out of Naramata on the weekend. Federal Agriculture Minister, Gerry Ritz, made a funding announcement at Red Rooster Winery. "The government is helping the grape industry with an investment of almost $500,000 to the Canadian Vintners Association," says Ritz.

"Roughly half of this investment will help vintners get the word out about the variety of premium quality wines it's marketing in Canada and to enhance the competitiveness of our VQA wines in global markets. The balance will help the association upgrade food safety material.

Ritz was joined by Okanagan-Coquihalla MP Stockwell Day who says people may not realize just how much of our wine is enjoyed around the world. "Some people may think that the exports all go to the U.S. but in fact it's about half that," says Day.

"About nine million litres goes to the U.S. and about 10 million around the world."The money will be used to put together a long-term strategy to continue marketing wine internationally and set higher safety standards. In 2009, Canadian exports of wine exceeded $19 million with more than 10.7 million litres of wine going internationally.