Ontario wine producers are hopeful as the Niagara Region enters stage three of the province’s reopening plan, visitors will return in droves.
The industry, like so many others, has been hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic. Sales of wine to restaurants and bars stopped altogether when COVID-19 first hit and are now slowly returning, but at a fraction of what they use to be.
Murray Souter runs Diamond Estates and the company’s brands include popular names like Dan Aykroyd Wines, Twenty Bees and Eastdell Wines. “When the pandemic arrived, of course, the LCBO and grocery stores were very much still alive, but all of our retail sales at our stores and through the bars and restaurants disappeared.