Wine Access magazine, including awards programs, shut down by RedPoint Media

The February/March issue of Wine Access magazine of Calgary will be its last. The closure of the magazine, its digital properties and associated awards programs was announced on Friday by the publisher RedPoint Media Group Inc. 

It also announced that the 2013 Canadian Wine Annual would not be released and the decision effectively means the end of the Canadian Wine Awards which Wine Access ran.
RedPoint Media Group Inc. President Pete Graves said in a release that the decision would allow refocussing on areas of greater potential growth.

"I would personally like to thank everyone who has contributed over the years to Wine Access, whether in its pages, website or newsletters, for their hard work and commitment,” Graves said. “I'd also like to take this opportunity to thank our loyal readers and subscribers for their support. While it’s always difficult to say goodbye to a brand, our goal is to focus on our top-performing brands, which are very healthy, and on other strategic endeavours."

RedPoint has owned and operated Wine Access since 2004. The magazine was founded in 1991. The magazine published 6 issues a year. It had a circulation of 14,000 copies per issue, including 6,000 paid individual subscriptions and 1,500 digital copies. 5,000 of each issue were distributed to newsstands. The magazine's media kit claimed a readership of more than 70,000 per issue. 53% of its circulation was in British Columbia and Alberta, 28% in Ontario.

The publishing group will now apparently focus on its other properties, including  Avenue Calgary and Avenue Edmonton, WestJet’s inflight magazine up!, and a number of custom publications.