Supplier to NHL’s Calgary Flames breathes again as B.C. wine ban suspended
VICTORIA — The operators of a small British Columbia winery that landed a big contract to be the official wine of the National Hockey League’s Calgary Flames are relieved their Cabernet Merlot and Pinot Gris are no longer caught in a face off between two provinces.
Christa-Lee McWatters said wine from her Encore Vineyards in Summerland started shipping to Alberta moments after Premier Rachel Notley suspended a more than two-week ban on wine imports from B.C.
“We knew that we had enough inventory in the province to last for at least a month, so it would have obviously been critical had the ban gone on longer,” she said Friday from Penticton.
“Literally today we’re able to deliver more wine into the province.”