British Columbia Wine Awards results

KELOWNA – The Okanagan Wine Festivals Society announced the results of the British Columbia Wine Awards, marking the official launch of the 36th annual Fall Okanagan Wine Festival.

The competition featured a record 624 wine entries from over 90 British Columbia wineries. Ten well respected wine judges worked for 4 days to determine which wines were worthy of recognition for bronze, silver, gold, and platinum medals as well as the overall best wine of 2016 named the Premier’s Award.

The oldest B.C. wine competition, the British Columbia Wine Awards is also the province’s largest. Open to all B.C. wineries that use 100% fruit grown in the province, this year’s judging was held on September 15th through 18th at the Sensory Lab at Okanagan College and featured the following judges:

Gurvinder Bhatia – Edmonton – Wine judge, columnist, and wine editor for Quench Magazine
Sid Cross – Vancouver – Wine educator and columnist, President, The International Wine & Food Society
DJ Kearney – Vancouver – Wine educator, wine judge, instructor, presenter
Sebastien Le Goff – Vancouver – Sommelier & Service Director, Cactus Club Canada
Ben MacPhee-Sigurdson – Winnipeg – Wine columnist & literary editor, Winnipeg Free Press
Brent Muller – Victoria – Manager, Vessel Liquor
Tim Pawsey – Vancouver – Food & Wine critic and writer, Hired Belly.com; writer – the Vancouver Courier
Barb Phillip – Vancouver – Master of Wine, presenter, journalist and judge
Rick Van Sickle – Niagara – Publisher – Wines in Niagara
Paul Zitarelli – Seattle, WA – Editor-in-chief, Full Pull Wines, writer, Seattle Magazine

Amongst the winners, the judges singled out from the Gold honourees, six Platinum medals determined to be the top 1% of the entries. The Platinum medals help showcase the varietals and blends that distinguish British Columbia’s wine region. This year’s platinum winners are:

CedarCreek Estate Winery – The Last Word, Red Meritage Blend 2013
Deep Roots Winery – Syrah 2014
Mission Hill Family Estate – Reserve Chardonnay, Chardonnay 2014
Red Rooster Winery – Riesling 2015
Road 13 Vineyards – Sparkling Chenin Blanc 2012
SpierHead Winery – Pinot Noir Cuvee, Pinot Noir 2014
Summerhill Pyramid Winery – Cipes Blanc De Blanc, Sparkling Chardonnay 2010
Time Estate Winery – Syrah 2013

The Premier’s Award for the Best Wine in British Columbia is selected from all Platinum medals. The Premier’s Award was introduced in 2014 as a legacy for the sitting Premier to present annually given the stature of British Columbia’s wine industry across the world. The Premiers Award for Best Wine in 2016 is awarded to SpeirHead Winery in Kelowna for its Pinot Noir Cuvee, 2014.

The full list of finalists is available on the Okanagan Wine Festivals website.

The annual British Columbia Wine Awards Reception in Kelowna is the official kickoff for the 10 day 100 plus event Fall Okanagan Wine Festival, and is followed by two nights of the “Fall WestJet Wine Tastings,” and wraps up Thanksgiving weekend with “Cropped” – Canada’s largest public tasting of BC wines and authentic farmer’s market in Penticton.