Article content

The provincial booze monopoly has broken $5 billion in net sales for the first time, hitting $5.2 billion in the 2014 fiscal year. That means Ontarians spent approximately $522 for each of the 9.98 million residents over the age of 19 (according to 2011 census figures).

We apologize, but this video has failed to load.

tap here to see other videos from our team. Try refreshing your browser, or Ontarians spent about $522 per legal-drinking aged person on booze last year: LCBO report Back to video

But drinkers aren’t just guzzling more, they are also paying for more expensive vintages.

Wine sales grew four per cent, hitting almost $1.4 billion; of that, $475 million when to sales from the LCBO’s pricier Vintages section, a spike of almost 8 per cent.

The new “Vintages Essentials,” a selection of higher-quality wines that are always kept in stock in some stores, as opposed to most vintages which rotate throughout the year, likely helped that growth, a spokesperson said.

Local cider sales grew an eye-popping 93 per cent to $4 million

The local food movement in Ontario is also extending to its beverage choices.

Just this week the Ontario Craft Cider Association visited Queen’s Park to lobby for inclusion in the Liberals’ plans to extend beer sales to grocery stores and review wine and spirit sales as well. The group noted hard cider is in a regulatory limbo in which it is classified as fruit wine but sold alongside beer.