Another successful All-Canadian Wine Championships. Congratulations to all the medal winners including TIME Family of Wines for Best Sparkling Wine of the Year and Wild Goose Winery for Best White and Red Wines of the Year. Here is the link to all the winners.
BC wineries represented 53% of the wines entered and won 5 Trophies/25 Double Gold/75 Gold/73 Silver /66 Bronze.
With 612 BC wines entered I wasn’t able to try all the wines! However, here are a few of the Gold and Silver medal winners I have tried, along with their tasting notes!
Gold Medal Winners
Hester Creek Syrah 2020 ($29.99)
Crafted in the Côte-Rôtie style, co-fermented with 15% Viognier to highlight the beautifully fresh floral and spice notes. Aged in 60% American oak and 40% French oak barrels (2/3 were neutral barrels) for 14 months.
14.1% Alcohol / pH 3.85 / TA 6.23 / RS 0.17
A gorgeous Syrah with vibrant aromas of black fruit and a hint of violets and white pepper. The full-bodied wine has ripe smooth tannins with flavours of black cherry and blueberry, smoked meat, and more pepper. 92 Points
Silver Medal Winners
Four Shadows Classic Riesling 2022
Alcohol 9.7% / pH 2.97 / TA 8.475 / RS 32.03 528 cases produced.
A lovely pale straw colour. Aromas of white peach and stone fruit. Flavours of pineapple, mango, ripe apple, honeycomb, and Meyer lemon. The wine has a vibrant mouthfeel. The perfect iconic classic Riesling with high acidity and sweetness in natural balance. 92 Points.
Gold Medal winner at the 2023 British Columbia Lieutenant Governor’s Wine Awards.
Noble Ridge Rosé 2022 ($24.99)
100% Merlot from vines planted in 2008. Destemmed and crushed with 2 hours of skin contact. Only the free run portion was used and went through a cool fermentation in stainless steel tanks.
Alcohol 13.0% | pH: 3.48 | TA: 6.5 | RS: 2.6
Beautiful aromas of fresh rhubarb and wild strawberries. An easy-drinking dry Rosé with refreshing flavours of strawberry, Asian pear and dried herbs. The perfect patio sipper for those hot summer days! 90 Point.
Dirty Laundry Pinot Noir 2021 ($28.99)
“With this years vintage of Pinot Noir we did very minimal amounts of cap management as we wanted to gently extract tannin, colour and flavour from the delicate Summerland fruit. What this means is that we turn the cap with forced air rather than doing punch downs during fermentation. Juice was pressed off skins after 2 weeks of initial fermentation.
We aged this Pinot Noir for 13 months in 25% new French oak and 75% neutral French oak. We then racked it out of barrel and finished it off in tank.”
Mason Spink, Winemaker
Alcohol 13.21% / pH 3.68 / TA 5.8 gm/L / RS 2.43 gm/ L
An easy drinking and fruit-forward pinot noir. Medium garnet in colour. Aromas of cherries, raspberries and a hint of clove and cedar. On the palate, black cherries, ripe raspberries, and plums with a hint of herbs. Silky smooth tannins lead to a lingering finish. 91 Points.