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François said having a full listed address is important, so people can find the vineyard to buy wine or take part in tastings.

“How would they find us? I have no idea,” he said. “We couldn’t even use Ontario according to them. And that was just outrageous.”

The vineyard took VQA to the Licence Appeal Tribunal and presented its case in July. Last week, the tribunal ruled in favour of the winemakers.

“The Appellant is not using the controlled term ‘Prince Edward County’ to describe its wines generally, nor is it using the words to describe a wine produced by the Appellant,” the ruling stated. “Rather, in its banner, the Appellant is describing, factually, the location of its vineyard.”

François and his business partner, Jens Korberg, have been selling wine outside of the VQA for years. Membership is voluntary, and François said he never joined because he doesn’t agree with its policies.

I don’t have anything against bodies that regulate wine, because it’s done around the world. I don’t like the way it’s done in Ontario

“I don’t have anything against bodies that regulate wine, because it’s done around the world,” he said. “I don’t like the way it’s done in Ontario. And specifically, I don’t like that they have tasting panels on wines that haven’t even been released yet.”

The VQA has a set of standards that all wines must meet. If a wine is approved by an “expert taste panel” and passes a “laboratory analysis,” as the policy states, it can be labelled as VQA-approved.

François said despite the fact he won’t join the VQA, he still abides by its labelling rules.

“We don’t put Prince Edward County on our label,” François said. “And even though every drop of wine that I make is from my vineyard, which is located right smack dab in the middle of the county … I can’t publicly say that on the label.”