Over the last couple of months, I have been exploring Calgary’s specialty wine shops, highlighting some of the unique finds synonymous with our market. A couple of weeks ago I stopped by Richmond Hill Wines, one of a small group of stores that represented the first tier of privatization that began in 1985 when the Wine Cellar opened its doors in Edmonton. It was effectively an experiment for the Alberta government, allowing another small handful of stores to open between 1985 and 1990 (when Richmond Hill opened). One of the advantages the original group had was that they were allowed to operate as both importer and retailer, an allowance that was dropped when the market fully privatized in 1993.
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