Canadian Wine Awards Winners 2010

I’ve always thought of the Wine Access Canadian Wine Awards as the ultimate snapshot of what is happening in the Canadian wine industry. Wine competitions are never a perfect science, but they are a useful window — if you have an open mind — to understanding where the business is headed.

In September 2009, nearly 1,000 Canadian wines were assembled in Toronto and assessed by 16 talented tasters from all across the country, many of whom work with our sister publication, Wine Access. The results were as fascinating as ever, but it is in the trends that the real story lies.

Get a sneak peak behind the scenes of the Canadian Wine Awards at the Wine Access Website with this video narrated by Anthony Gismondi. 

The sparkling wine category gave Canada its first gold medal in nine years in Hillebrand’s Trius Brut ($25). It’s been around for years, but the styling and texture has pushed it to the next level, where it can easily compete with any equally delicious sparkling Spanish cava.

Among the many whites entered, sauvignon blanc, unoaked chardonnay and a category labelled “single white varieties” soared to new heights. Semillon viognier, siegerrebe, pinot blanc, chenin blanc and even trebbiano speak to the diversity of flavours and style that caught the imagination of all the judges. My favourite: the delicious, vibrant crisp flavours of the Lake Breeze 2008 Semillon ($19) from B.C.’s Naramata Bench.

The quality of pinot gris spiked upward in 2009, adding layers of minerality and fresh fruit that made it infinitely more appealing than many of its European counterparts. The wines you need to track down are Thornhaven Estates 2008 Pinot Gris ($19) from B.C., the clean and fresh Peller Estates 2008 Private Reserve Pinot Gris ($18) or the slightly richer south Okanagan Burrowing Owl 2008 Pinot Gris ($30).

Among the medal winning aromatics, Thornhaven Estates 2008 Gewurztraminer ($18) and Pentâge 2008 Gewurztraminer ($18) battled it out with some delicious Ontario rieslings: the Hidden Bench 2007 Rosomel Vineyard Riesling ($26) and the Tawse 2008 Sketches of Niagara Riesling ($18). The latter two are as good as it gets for this variety in Canada. These are head-turning wines made for pan-Asian dishes.

One of the highest medal ratios for a category occurred with all the “white blends.” Most featured two or three grapes and often more in their mix. Road 13 2008 Viognier Roussanne Marsanne ($24) flashed the Rhône card and impressed the judges, while further up the valley in Naramata, the Stag’s Hollow 2008 Sauvignon Blanc-Semillon ($23) reminds one of white Bordeaux country.

Fewer chardonnay entries but more medals were the story with the world’s most popular white grape. Standout efforts included the Quails’ Gate 2007 Stewart Family Reserve Chardonnay ($30), equally matched by Thirty Bench 2007 Small Lot Chardonnay ($30). It’s exciting to see this category reach for a level that puts us on the world map.

So what about the reds, you ask? The best I can say is progress among the great Canadian reds is slow and slower. Many wineries appear to treat their reds in the same manner they treat their whites, which is hardly a recipe for success. Phenolic ripeness, or the ripening of tannins that occur in grape skins, seeds and stems, is the problem, and in cool climates with short growing seasons, cutting-edge viticulture and maceration techniques are the key to success. An emphasis on earlier-ripening varieties would help; in other words, less cabernet sauvignon and more merlot, syrah and pinot noir, and, please, less new oak.

Speaking of pinot noir, the classy Church & State 2007 Hollenbach Family Vineyard Pinot Noir ($26) looks to be an important step in the right direction with its smooth, round, juicy fruit, with a touch of restraint.

Cabernet franc remains a bit of an enigma, with its throng of followers, but few impressively ripe examples. That said, the best we tasted were super, including the Tawse 2007 Wismer Vineyard Cabernet Franc ($38) and Burrowing Owl’s 2007 Cabernet Franc ($23), which is big, dark and ripe, with great depth.

It wasn’t a great year for merlot, the aforementioned cabernet sauvignon, and even the red blends that, while interesting, are wallowing under far too many heavy-handed oak treatments. If there is a bright red light, it is syrah. As my fellow chief judge David Lawrason commented, “Syrah has arrived as a major, and very successful variety in Canada, west and east.” The entries garnered the most medals and comments from the judges and earned the highest medal percentage of the competition, with 25 percent of the wines grabbing gold and silver. Best bets here are Sandhill 2007 Small Lots Syrah Phantom Creek Vineyard, Okanagan Valley, B.C. ($35), and See Ya Later Ranch 2007 Rover, Okanagan Falls, B.C. ($25), and Nk’Mip Cellars 2006 Quam Qwmt Syrah, Okanagan Valley B.C. ($35).

Medals aside, 2009 was a watershed year in some ways for many Canadian wineries now firmly set upon the path that will begin a lifelong pursuit of growing grapes and making wine that reflects where they come from. The closer they get to the land, the better the results. We can hardly wait for the 10th annual CWA competition in Penticton next August.

Anthony Gismondi is a globetrotting wine writer and the editor-in-chief of Calgary-based Wine Access magazine.