I have decided to interview a friend who imports Italian wines for the Canadian market.
He is Canadian with Italian origins and he studied wines and gastronomy in Italy.
He sells to specialty shops and to Italian restaurants so I asked him some questions and recorded our conversation with his permission. Here is the result of my interview to my friend Domenic Cassidi:
Patrick: Please tell me: what is the perception of Italian wines in Canada and what people look for when they drink them?
Domenic: We could say that there are two types of customers: the first type they look for very traditional wines from the Langhe region and Tuscany for example because of the charm of these lands and the desire to sample the authenticity of these areas without traveling that far. Then we find people who are looking for wines produced according to the spirit of organic agriculture but faithful to their terroir, without the intervention of carbonic vinification, which standardizes the wines without highlighting the characteristics of their origins. At the market level, I am in the middle, importing wines that use practices that respect nature but which, at the same time, keep intact the link with tradition, especially in terms of territorial identity.

Patrick: When traveling around Canada, what are the places where we can generally find your wines?
Domenic: They are sold in specialty shops or served in Italian high-end restaurants a bit throughout Canada but mostly in big cities such as Toronto and Ottawa, where the culture of buying wine in a wine shop is deeply rooted. Now also in Canada we can find specialized wine shops with highly trained staff. Sometimes we also find wine bars specialized in tastings where the sommelier can recommend wines to your taste or to the food you are eating.
Patrick: What is a specialized wine shop?
Domenic: It is not a Canadian liqueur shop but a wine shop with a beautiful selection of International and domestic wines and an excellent selection of natural wines with a strong territorial character.
The growth in the consumption of Made in Italy wines is happening almost in all Canadian provinces, giving rise to the so-called phenomenon of "specialized imports" which is changing according to the preferences of the various provinces.
However, the area that experienced the greatest growth was the province of Ontario, especially in the city of Toronto.
The growth was helped by a large Italian community present in the Ontario area, as well as by a large distribution of Italian restaurants.
Patrick: Has this growing trend seen a preference for any particular type of wine?
Domenic: This particularly interesting trend has seen an increase in the consumption of sparkling wines, especially Prosecco, much loved by Canadians. The Prosecco brand has created a culture and a trend that has led Canadian consumers to consume more and more regularly sparkling wines, previously consumed only during special occasions.
The trend, which began thanks to the widespread distribution and the considerable success that Prosecco has achieved on the Canadian market, has made it possible to encourage the consumption of Italian sparkling wines in general. The umbrella effect, however, stood out especially on well-known big brands, causing various difficulties for entry level sparkling Italian wines, which suffered a great deal of competition in price.
Another aspect that characterized the Canadian wine market during the pandemic was the growth in the consumption of organic and low sugar wines. A trend that has been consolidated in almost all global wine markets and which has also found fertile ground in Canada.
Also certified organic and vegan wines are experiencing a considerable success and are increasingly appreciated by consumers who are getting more and more environmentally conscious.