Connecting Wine with Tourism – Inniskillin has been the ‘Ice Breaker’. Inniskillin is one of the industry’s original pioneers, producing distinctive estate wines that rank among the world’s finest. But it is Inniskillin’s constant dedication to innovation that recognises it as being one of the best among its peers and it has become a leader in wider industry focus on education and research. Inniskillin was established in 1975 and has become famous for its Icewine due to its unique microclimate on the , only twenty minutes from the famous Niagara Falls. The 1980s saw Ontario take its place at the table of the world’s cool climate wine regions. The 1990s saw to create a Canadian character. Ziraldo believes this is it finesse its style, identify its most privileged sites and one of the major brand images for Inniskillin and planned build its reputation beyond regional interest into the future expansion and renovation (which will include a wine mainstream of the world’s acknowledged fine wines. The education centre focusing on the Icewine Experience) will evolution of wines in Canada has been nothing short of be in keeping with this style of architecture. phenomenal. Inniskillin Icewine is a global brand that is positioned as the luxury wine from Canada taking The philosophy has always been about connecting wine advantage of the strong association between Canada, ice with tourism as Ziraldo believes ‘it’s not what you say and snow. Red wine development has accelerated rapidly about yourself, but letting others have their say about and Pinot Noir is finding a very quality-focused niche in you’. A success in the coveted Grand Prix d’Honneur at Niagara. Canada is one of the rising stars in the quiet Vinexpo in Bordeaux for their 1989 Icewine created a revolution of New World wines. That is what makes this reputation for this unique wine and customers who visit an important study as a comparison for New Zealand food the winery become ambassadors for the Inniskillin ‘Icewine and wine tourism, the parallels are obvious. experience’. Nobody will deny that, in all this, Inniskillin winery has A point of difference for Inniskillin is the separate Icewine been the ‘ice breaker’. They use education as their stealth tour and Icewine tasting bar. A feature of the tasting is weapon of mass market penetration and realise that the specially designed Riedel Icewine glass, designed as education is the key to get people to try Canadian wines. a result of a workshop at Inniskillin. Founders Donald Ziraldo and Karl Kaiser say that on 31 July 1975 Inniskillin was granted the first winery licence in Ontario since prohibition in 1929, but these days they prefer to take a more low-key approach to being industry leaders. The historic Brae Burn Barn which houses the retail wine boutique and tour centre was constructed in the 1920’s. Thought to be designed or influenced by legendary American architect Frank Lloyd Wright, the barn blends with the new winery at Brae Burn and harmonises architecturally with the natural and historic surroundings Inniskillin is famous the world over for its the winter, fall, summer and spring with differentiated Icewine and it uses this to good effect to bring visitors events. ‘Taste the Season’ is a touring passport in during the low season. Icewine was first made in programme, developed by the Niagara-On-The-Lake Germany in the mid-1700’s. The grapes are left on the wineries marketing body to highlight seasonal food and vine well into December and January. The ripe berries wine matching and wines for seasonal entertaining. An are dehydrated through the constant freezing and thawing example of differentiation is ‘Taste the Season’ for Fall on the vine. This creates a unique character, with more 2005 - various wineries will each develop a signature dish mineral enrichment and distinctive and intensive aromas. around a different herb. The grapes are painstakingly picked by hand at -8 to -13 The various attractions of the surrounding picturesque degrees and pressed in the extreme cold. region of historic Niagara-On-The-Lake make it an ideal A series of events have been developed that weekend getaway for residents from Toronto only 1.5 take advantage of this. Niagara-On-The-Lake wineries hours drive away. The touring passport programme aims (including Inniskillin) celebrate this distinctive wine style to encourage this weekend visitation throughout the year with their Icewine Festival in January each year. Over ten as well as key events in each calendar year including; days, the wineries of the Niagara-On-The-Lake combine • Niagara Food & Wine Classic (September) to create a unique festival of wintry wonderland in celebration of one of Canada’s most cherished products. • 54th Niagara Wine & Harvest Festival (September) A highlight of the celebration is the Niagara Icewine Bar • Days of Wine and Roses (November) a 7 metre long, 7000 pound block of ice carved with ornate scenes of Canadiana. A feature of the 4th Annual festival • Wine & Herb Tour (November) in 2006 will be over 35 Ontario wineries, allowing customers • Christmas in Wine Country (December) to taste over 100 different Icewines. Icewine cuisine will be featured at individual winery gala dinners. Amateur and professional ice carvers from across Ontario compete Inniskillin use of a snowy winter image in place in the Icewine Sculpture competition and provide live of the expected harvest photo in their promotional demonstrations. brochure. Inniskillin appreciate that customers will want to The combination of seasonal marketing by all 16 wineries visit in Summer anyway, but it’s the winter months that they of Niagara-On-The-Lake, under the ìFour Seasons, Five are keen to promote more intensively along with seasonal Sensesî banner, encourages visitation equally throughout difference to repeat visitors. The Japanese market is of particular interest to Inniskillin.Icewine tastes intensely rich and well- balanced, its aroma is reminiscent of lychee nuts with flavours resembling peach nectar, mango and other tropical flavours. Japanese have a strong preference for this type of wine and Inniskillin has recognised that the Japanese market has specific needs. A large number of Japanese tour groups are also attracted to the area by Niagara Falls and, as Inniskillin winery is right on the Niagara Parkway, it is within striking distance of a number of these tours. Inniskillin have gone out of their way to cater for Japanese tour groups. This has included: • Translation of winery signage into Japanese • dedicated Japanese tasting area with Japanese- speaking staff. • A Japanese tour that lasts a total of 23 minutes for tasting and cellar sales. One of the main wholesaler companies that Inniskillin deals with is JTB (Japan Travel Bureau), who have built significant Japanese business (up to 35,000 p.a. prior to SARS and now building back to this level). The Inniskillin website has also been translated into Japanese to make it more accessible to Japanese visitors before and after their visit.

Inniskillin and Wine Routes Inniskillin receives 300,000 visitors a year and this is in no small way due to their involvement in several wine routes. The Inniskillin Winery is promoted variously on the North East Wine Route, by the New York Wine and Grape Foundation and the Wine Council of Ontario. The Wines of Ontario ‘Wine Route’ is recognised as being scenically beautiful, with unique microclimates and fertile soils that create some of the world’s finest wines. Following the ‘Wine Route’ along the Niagara Parkway you arrive at Niagara Falls – one of the greatest natural wonders of the world. Inniskillin pay particular attention to the the industry will deliver a more authentic message. challenge of exceeding all their customer Inniskillin staff are encouraged to meet monthly budgets needs. The creation of a unique winery experience and are rewarded with incentives. However the incentive with specific focus on education and well trained staff is not a cash one. It might be their attendance fee paid is the informal but underlying highly organised service for at a wine educator’s conference or supplementing ethic. Donald Ziraldo puts a lot of personal attention into staff private visits to other wine regions, for exposure knowing his customer and leaves nothing to chance. to wider industry ideas that they can bring back and Donald has been known to grab customers in the car share with other staff. As a result incentives serve two park ‘cold turkey’ but, he says; ‘I only talk to the ones purposes: rewarding the staff member and improving who have bought my wine’. He believes that ‘in-the- the corporate knowledge of Inniskillin. moment’ you can discover a lot about your customer satisfaction and they are impressed that someone cares Communication between staff and management is enough to ask their opinion, best of all the founder and practiced on a daily basis. Every morning there is a owner of the winery! briefing on what is happening in the winery and what Training for Inniskillin staff is not your usual challenges there may be that day. At the end of each day, staff analyse 2-3 questions that customers have 1 day induction or basic off-site customer service asked (recorded in the winery ‘Daybook’) to see if there skills training programme. Trainers have been brought are any issues that can be discussed and resolved: in to deliver a ‘fun and entertainment’ focus, including “there are no bad customers, only bad situations”. improvisational acting so that staff were given the opportunity to practice hypothetical situations in order One of the regular issues that customers need to to be able to act more confidently with visitors. understand is the tasting charge and managing customer expectations is key. Staff are expected to be attentive Ziraldo insists that staff have to have an above average to customers and listen to what they like. understanding of the history and operations of Inniskillin winery. Credibility of the information that staff impart to Sources within the winery say that within 2 seconds of his customers is key. Donald insists on overseeing meeting any new staff Donald Ziraldo will inevitably training and personally ìjumping inî on the guided tours have asked them: “have you read ‘the book’ [Anatomy training, to ensure that fundamental information about of a Winery]?” Once again Ziraldo has left nothing to terroir is delivered. He believes a wider perspective on chance. Not many businesses can say they wrote the celebration of regional terroir. The complex factors that book - this one can. Donald Ziraldo wrote Anatomy determine a fine wine – soil, climate, viticulture, grape of a Winery – The Art of Wine at Inniskilin in 1995 and varieties, pressing, cork quality, ageing and more this is used as a training resource at Inniskillin and other are all colourfully presented. Other relevant subjects wineries in the area. such as; Icewine, Niagara Peninsula climate, ‘how to read an Inniskillin wine label’, explanation of the Vintners’ An updated 25th Anniversary (1975-2000) ‘Millennium Quality Alliance (VQA) and regional cuisine are detailed. Edition’ includes expanded specific information on Icewine, involvement in the development of the The hard-back glossy cover, 56 page book is at once region and Brock University’s Cool Climate Oenology both a souvenir and reference of a visit to the Inniskillin and Viticulture Institute (CCOVI), which is called Inniskillin winery and all author royalties from the proceeds of sale Hall. of each book go to the CCOVI. Inniskillin has prided itself on being a leader in the industry and have made a commitment to support Brock Self Guided Tour University’s CCOVI future generations of winemakers Inniskillin drew on self-guided tour of Sterling Vineyards and viticulturalists with advanced research and education (Napa Valley) as a tool to educate visitors to have a to invest in the future of high quality Canadian wine. But greater appreciation of Niagara wine. Inniskillin has the education of the new generations of Canadian’s in devised its own very user-friendly self-guided tour, cutting the hope that they will better understand and appreciate viewing windows into the old and new buildings to provide their own wines is the primary focus of the book and is sight lines to various aspects of the winery and vineyards. itself an extension of the Inniskillin self-guided winery Commentary, illustrations and photography set up at tour. each viewing station explain the process of winemaking Hugh Johnson (Author, World Atlas of Wine) says “It at each step. Visitors walk past the self-guided tour area compresses, graphically and ingeniously, the essentials prior to entering the main tasting areas, so they can of wine-knowledge into an evening’s study”. He continues decide then if they'd like a free self guided tour or wait that it is “a rich gallery of beautiful photographs, detailed until the designated times for a guided tour (one morning illustrations and interesting facts”. Ziraldo draws on his and one afternoon guided tour is offered daily). Anatomy own insights and experiences at Inniskillin to bring to of a Winery is used as the basis for the self-guided tour life an exacting science, an expressive art and an earthly of the winery. Donald Ziraldo is highly conscious about matters of conduct (modeled on Australia/NZ) and research into environmental sustainability. “You have to live with what wetlands waste water treatment. Ziraldo has been you do with the soil” he says. Inniskillin is dedicated to instrumental in establishing a "green belt" in the remaining biological control and has trialled pheromone traps around agricultural areas of the Niagara Peninsula / Escarpment. their vineyards to significantly reduce the dependency on So the area is now zoned agricultural only effectively halting pesticide spraying to eradicate the berry moth. They are the urban and industrial sprawl of the major population currently working on an industry environmental code of centres to the North West (i.e. Toronto and Hamilton)

Challenged by the need to compete on the world stage, was appointed to the Order of Ontario, which honours Donald Ziraldo and Karl Kaiser pioneered the estate service of the greatest distinction of singular excellence winery movement in Canada. As part of his ongoing which benefits society in Ontario and elsewhere. In 1998 efforts to promote quality wines produced in Canada, Donald was awarded the Order of Canada – the country’s Donald is founding Chairman of the Vintners Quality highest honour for lifetime achievement. In November Alliance (VQA) an organisation responsible for maintaining 1999 he was acknowledged as one of Canada’s Top 25 the highest standards in viticulture and winemaking. CEO’s of the Century by the National Post Magazine. Ziraldo’s leadership has earned him numerous awards Inniskillin positions itself as ‘Canada’s premier estate from the business and wine communities. In 1993 he winery producing truly distinctive estate wines that rank among the worlds finest’. Inniskillin co-founder Karl Kaiser and Icewine maker has consistently achieved recognition internationally for his Icewine. In 2004 Inniskillin won an International Wine Challenge Gold medal for their 2002 Oak-aged Vidal Icewine, as well as the International Sweet Wine Trophy and Canadian Icewine Trophy. Deborah Pratt, Communications Manager Inniskillin says; “the first barrier is in establishing credibility – always!” International success and articles written by wine media continue to bring worldwide recognition to Canadian wine and Icewine in particular and has generated a demand at the Inniskillin Winery Boutique. Inniskillin has been careful to ensure they offer a unique product at their Winery Boutique that has limited availability, often with some personalisation by the Inniskillin owners. “The key is to look at our winery retail for secondary sale opportunities, educating our customers and creating a customer loyalty this will make them life-time customers even after they’ve gone home to their own countries”, says Deborah Pratt.

Cultivating Canadian Champions Nowhere is it more evident that Inniskillin has a dedicated commitment to excellence, teamwork and wider sense of community purpose than with their Canadian Olympic Team 2004 official supporter status. Inniskillin supported Canada’s quest for sporting excellence in two ways, by developing a Canadian Olympic Team Vine Planting Fundraiser and a customized Canadian Olympic Label line of specialty wines. The specially labeled wines included; 2002 Icewine, 2002 Pinot Noir and 2003 in six specially designed labels. The vineyard fundraiser enabled purchase of 950 vines for $500 each. Inniskillin Winery is located near Niagara-on-the-Lake 6. Self-Guided Tour (Ontario): the small cousin of Niagara Falls, receiving In order to educate visitors (i.e. provide more visitors 3 million visitors per annum (less than 25% of Niagara with a greater appreciation for wine from this region) Falls). Inniskillin itself receives around 300,000 visitors Inniskillin has developed a very user friendly self guided a year and 20% of their revenue comes from sales at tour of the winery and vineyard. Visitors walk past the the winery. self guided tour area prior to entering the main wine boutique and tasting areas so they can decide then if 1. Off-Peak Events they'd like a free self guided tour or wait until the Promoting off-peak events including the Icewine Festival designated times for a guided tour (one morning and in January - traditionally slowest month of the year. one afternoon guided tour is offered daily) . The above Working together with other wineries to build off-peak book is also used as the base for the self guided tour business (i.e. no body comes to visit just one winery). of the winery.

2. Promoting Winter 7. Environmental Efforts Developing marketing collateral that promotes winter Donald Ziraldo, co-founder of the Inniskillin, has been only i.e. a snowy image on their brochure. Visitors want instrumental in establishing a "green belt" in the to come in summer anyway - so why promote this remaining agricultural areas of the Niagara Peninsula season further? / Escarpment. So the area is now zoned agricultural only effectively halting the urban and industrial sprawl 3. Japanese Market of the major population centres to the North West (i.e. Building significant Japanese business (up to 35,000 Toronto and Hamilton). p.a prior to SARS and now building back to this level) with JTB who now have tours stopping for 23 minutes 8. Commitment to the Canadian Wine maximum! A separate tasting area has been established Industry with Japanese speaking staff. Japanese visitors often In November 1999 Inniskillin co-founder Donald Ziraldo stock up on lots of Icewine! was acknowledged as one of Canada’s Top 25 CEO’s of the Century by the National Post Magazine. 4. Informal but structured experience Challenged by the need to compete on the world stage, Staff training is designed to reinforce the informal but Ziraldo pioneered the estate winery movement in highly organised service ethic. Recent training including Canada. As part of his ongoing efforts to promote quality improvisational acting so that staff were given the wines produced in Canada, Donald is founding Chairman opportunity to practice hypothetical situations in order of the Vintners Quality Alliance (VQA) an organisation to be able to act more confidently with visitors. responsible for maintaining the highest standards in viticulture and winemaking. Inniskillin has prided itself 5. They Wrote the Book on being a leader in the industry and has made a Not many businesses can say they wrote the book - commitment to Brock University’s Cool Climate Oenology this one can (Donald Ziraldo wrote "Anatomy of a and Viticulture Institute (CCOVI). In recognition of this Winery" which is sold at the winery and used as a commitment the facility is called Inniskillin Hall. It will training resource at Inniskillin and other wineries in the support future generations of winemakers and area). viticulturists with advanced research and education. Tourism in Niagara-on-the-Lake

Our search for world’s best practice in food and wine 600,000 visitors per annum is that visitors come to the tourism took us to the historic town of Niagara-on-the-lake area for three reasons: in Ontario, Canada. The wider region is most famous for • The tranquil location and relaxed atmosphere. Niagara Falls only 20-30 minutes to the south, but Niagara- • The area’s heritage including the Shaw Festival on-the-Lake is a welcome change of pace and style from (plays/musicals). the heavily developed Falls area that receives over 14 • The wine/wineries. million visitors each year. Like most tourism destinations, Niagara-on-the Lake faces The peaceful village of Niagara-on-the-Lake has a rich the challenge of being located away from the main visitor history. It was the first capital of Ontario and was a hotly flows (although only 20 minutes away from the 6 lane contested battleground in the War of 1812 between Canada highway that is the main route connecting Canada with and the USA. Heritage buildings, including Fort George, the USA) and dealing with a virtual close down in January horse drawn carriage rides and perhaps the largest and February. attraction in the town, The Shaw Festival (i.e. George Tourism Ontario is about to roll out a new initiative in Bernard Shaw), provide many reasons for visitors to spend Niagara-on-the-lake to support the development of a time there. ‘Community of Service Excellence.’ This programme will see all key service staff in Niagara-on-the-Lake (including Niagara-on-the-Lake could be seen as the small cousin staff from all hotels, retail, attractions and even including to Niagara Falls, as it receives only 3 million visitors a year local council staff) attend a customer service training staying on average one night. Visitors are mainly from course. (See www.tourismontario.com) for more Greater Toronto (1.5 hours away) which has a population information.) of around 5 million, however a one hour flight radius Niagara-on-the-Lake is working to attract small conference includes major population centres such as New York and groups to the area outside the peak season and is represents a total population of around 60 million. coordinating B&B accommodation with coach business in The Chamber of Commerce runs the local visitor centre order to be able to handle more visitors and to provide in Niagara-on-the-lake. Their experience in dealing with visitors with a different experience. Background These case studies have been prepared by the New calls, so this also limited the scope of the search. The Zealand Food and Wine Tourism Network and the search was also limited by resources and therefore University of Otago, with funding from New Zealand locations with high concentrations of possible cases Trade & Enterprise. became the focus of the investigation in later stages. Victoria (Australia), New Zealand, Niagara-on-the-Lake The newly established New Zealand Food and Wine (Canada) and California were the areas with the greatest Tourism Network (NZFWTN) has as its vision that: concentration of possible cases. California was later “The New Zealand food and wine tourism experience eliminated, because all of the companies identified were is world class and that these experiences become significantly larger than anything currently in New Zealand a key driver in attracting visitors.” and therefore they were considered to be of little relevance to the New Zealand situation. The aim of this project is to encourage New Zealand food and wine businesses who are selling directly to visitors to better understand the potential to significantly increase their revenue and profit via this direct and influential channel.

Method The identification of best practice is always fraught with difficulties, as such the process of identifying the final four case studies has been multi-layered, involving, surveys of NZFWTN members and National/State tourism offices, web searches, telephone interviews and on-site interviews (See diagram at right). In all cases of best practice, it is not suggested here that this is the only case that could have been used and it is acknowledged that there are undoubtedly others that would have been worthy. However due to a number of limitations not all possible cases could have been identified. Despite this, the cases presented are clearly examples of best practice in food and wine tourism and they all present different lessons for the New Zealand industry. It should be noted that the search was limited to Engl ish speaking countries, including Scandinavia and Western Europe. Only a few of the NTOs replied to both an email survey and where possible follow-up telephone Acknowledgements For More information: The New Zealand Food and Wine Tourism Network would like to thank New Zealand Trade & Enterprise for their Inniskillin Winery: funding - making the development of these case studies www.inniskillin.com possible. North East Wine Route: The Department of Tourism at the University of Otago www.WineRoute.com have provided invaluable research to uncover those food New York Wine and Grape Foundation: and wine tourism businesses in relevant countries that have www.nywine.com ‘risen to the top’ to be included as a best practice case study. Wine Council of Ontario/The Wines of Ontario: www.winesofontario.ca Air New Zealand has contributed international flights to enable face to face interviews and filming of selected cases. Niagara-on-the-Lake under “four seasons five senses”: www.wineriesofniagaraonthelake.com Qualmark New Zealand has also provided its endorsement criteria to ensure elements of best practice being researched Tourism in Ontario: internationally follow the same framework for assessing www.tourismontario.com quality used here in New Zealand. Tourism in New Zealand: www.trcnz.govt.nz www.tourisminfo.co.nz

Wine and Food tourism market: Contact Dr Richard Mitchell: [email protected] date of publication: June 2005