COVA Meeting Minutes April 25, 2004
Venue: Willow Springs Winery, 5572 Bethesda Rd.,
Stouffville, Ontario
COVA Meeting Attendees: Irwin Smith, Bert Dunn, Carl
Kimmett, Larry Paterson, Bert Andrews, John Rufa,
Neil Lamont, Rick Wagner, Kathryn Palmer, and Mike
Trayner, Trish Dougherty, Ken Tuccoli, Mario Testa,
Bill Dowson, Simon Chum and his professor.
Membership dues (and lunch money) were collected by Rick
Wagner (Acting Secretary -Treasurer for Paul Ward).
VP- Carl Kimmett called the meeting to order at 10:25
First order of business was
A motion to amend the constitution that the AGM is to be held
before the end of April presented by Bert A. and seconded by
Rick W. and was passed unanimously.
A motion to eliminate Membership cards was presented by Larry P.
and seconded by Bert Dunn and subsequently passed unanimously.
Discussion on LOGO to stay as is.
Slate of officers as prepared by executive is as follows:
President – Bryan Pell
Vice President – Carl Kimmett
Secretary – Paul Ward
Treasurer – Liang Liu
Directors –
Bert Dunn Tottenham
Irwin Smith Ocala
Neil Lamont Owen Sound
Larry Paterson Winemaker
B.Andrews Andrews Scenic Acres
Mike Traynor Wineries
Called by Kathyrn and seconded by Trish and carried unanimously.
Discussed previous meeting and Fiesta Buckhorn.
Discussion on Plaque for COVA Wines:
-Proposed $50 for the highest scoring wine made from
grapes grown in COVA geographical area.
-Two COVA area wines from our clubs are being judged at
the provincial competition.
COVA is planning a fall tour, perhaps of:
1/ Quebec no date set
2/ PEC in September by bus – 8 wineries open by June /04
3/ A vote of interest was taken to establish whether to travel
to PEC by bus in midweek (7 votes) or weekend, and whether the
trip should be for one (3 votes) or two days (5 votes).
11:00 AM motion to adjourn the business meeting by Neil Lamont
seconded by Bert Andrews, motion carried.
Washroom break
1st Speaker – Ken Tuccoli “ Marketing the Small Winery” (essay
notes on growwine website)- a brief summary follows:
Background:
Ken lives in Niagara with a background in Wine sales and
management originally from California in Livermore Valley.
His father worked on wine machinery repair for Estate Farm
wineries. Ken knows the rules of merchandising and how to
apply on a small scale. In Ontario, the business is government
controlled by LCBO using their model and a Library model.You
need to make winery customers come back by keeping the sales
dynamic. You need to structure your wine portfolio to appeal to
the broadest number of consumers. The winery visit should
build to a crescendo to encourage people to act on their
enthusiasm!
Tasting Bar Program
-Use to increase sales.
-Pour the wines that you can sell.
Retail Store
Realize your ability.
Encourage food stuffs.
Locate wine related items like cork screws near cash
register
Tour Program
To realize your ambition.
Depends on space and cross merchandising.
With Gallo/ Mondavi
Organize the wines by marketing groups – RED ,WHITE, PINK
$10-$15 your comfort range.
Put on similar labels and packaging to make them explicitly
a group of wines readily identifiable. Offer a selection of wines
with color and food matching opportunities that they are
comfortable with. Offer consumers an empty case to put two bottles
in, the remaining space often will be filled or package wine in
groups of three.
Traffic flow within the winery shop
Display shelves – permanent space for products – keep as part of
room structure.
Inventory space –Wines laying down.
Shelving space –routes people thru.
If 100 people - have this setup to tasting bar so people can grab
wine, to get merchandise into consumer hands easily.
Default wines – pick two or three if very busy- display close to
tasting bar periodically change the default wines.
Wine List – High quality paper and print for all wines show the
sugar code etc.
Where possible don’t charge – Wineries should not use the bar as a
profit center, it is a costly sales and promotion tool. If you
don’t charge for tasting, give people ways for their enthusiasm for
the wine they’re tasting to be turned into wine sales. Have wines
available adjacent to tasting bar.
Customer Profile – All are different – some day trips, some locals
and some wine snobs.
2nd Speaker - Simon Chum – presented his “Climate Study at Trent
University”
Six areas –Trent, PTBO Airport, Lindsay, Bowmanville and Cobourg
- lowest temp for the last 30 years
- important for knowing which grapes may survive in winter
- Near Lake Ontario - mean temp -25’C to –27’C
- Inland mean temp –28’C to –30’C
In 1998 highest minimum temp.
First Frost Days Mean Typical 1971-2001
Trent U Oct 5 /03 Oct 2-8
PTBO Airport Sept 28 /03 Sept 25-30
Lindsay Oct 4 /03
Cobourg Oct 13 /03 Oct 8-18
Bowmanville Oct 1-6 /03
Last Frost Day Mean Typical 1971-2001
PTBO Trent May 2 /03 April 30 – May 6
PTBO Airport May 6 /03 May 1-9
Lindsay May 10/03 May 9-11
Cobourg May2 /03 May 1-5
Bowmanville May3 /03 May 2-5
Frost free days 145 – 160 up to 190 in some years lowest is 120
days in wet years.
Growing Degree Days – Max Heat Accumulation – late 1998 volcanic
eruption caused poor heat in 1999 after the ash traveled and
blocked sunlight.
Ptbo./Trent 1333 Max to 800 min,
Airport 1000 max. to 700 min
Others all 1000 to 1050 max to 800 min.
Microclimate – enhance climate and reduce risk
Final Speaker - Bill Dowson- “Insurance Needs For Small Wineries”
Bill Dowson is an insurance broker. Bill discussed insurance needs
for small wineries.
What do you want to look for in a Business? Suit insurance to
business needs.
Building –co-insurance to 90% value or 100% if you can
afford.
Machinery – charge premium based on blanket value stated.
You will have to provide a list of contents. Also include
borrowed and rented equipment.
Shop
Liability
Some businesses that are large are self –insured.
Transferring risk ( more coverage, therefore more cost)
Your financial strength to cover loss, so find a happy medium to
cover risk
Co-Insurance Clause= ($ Did insure amount) X
(loss)
($ Should have insured
amount)
Rebuilding clause – if decide to not rebuild, then only get
half of insured $.
if want all of insured dollars must
rebuild to same level.
Actual Cash Value Determination –ACD
Guaranteed Replacement Cost Endorsement –Replacement value of
loss – $0.25-0.50 per $100 of coverage is recommended.
Business Interruption Insurance – Calculated from Income vs
Expenses.
Liability Insurance – Bodily injury insurance, protect yourself,
keep property clear, so issues don’t happen. Neglect may cause
you to be sued. Sometimes lump sum payments ($10K) can be
settled out of court and prevent costly litigation.
Event organizer may buy liability insurance.
PAL – Party Alcohol Liability – To rent a Public Room and Liquor
License, this is policy in Scugog Township.
Product Liability – Products and completed operation and finished
for consumption.
- Customer sues winery, etc.
- Sues everyone, weed it out in court, until finds someone who
is willing to pay.
Registration with OMAFRA - John Rufa to discuss at next meeting.
Meeting adjourned.
