What a difference a year makes! Last weekend was my sophomore venture as a judge at the BC Wine Awards, a competition celebrating the best wines in the province occurring in tandem with the Okanagan Fall Wine Festival. The measure by which the bar was raised in just 12 months is testament to not only the rapid evolution of the British Columbian wine industry, but further evidence of increased confidence in our natural, regional character.
There were nine judges comprised of media and retail representatives and restaurant buyers hailing from Quebec, Washington State and many points in between. Any winery could enter their wines (with an $89 entry fee to support the Festival,) provided the wines were composed of 100 per cent BC fruit and currently available for sale.
We started with 550 wines in all. Sitting in three panels over four days, we were presented flights of anywhere from eight to 12 wines, each within the same category (Merlots, Red Blends, etc.) The tasting was completely blind; the only information given was grape variety and vintage. The goal was to award bronzes and silvers where we deemed appropriate, with possible golds going to a final round where all nine judges would have an ultimate vote of whether finalists should be golds or silvers. There was no minimum or maximum number of awards requested, just a commitment that wed use our best judgement and give each wine its due diligence.
After individual tasting and note-taking, we discussed each wine as a panel, reaching a verdict on an award (or not) that eventually found us giving props to a couple hundred of the entries, mostly bronze, fewer silver and two dozen golds.
Those gold awards represent what seem to be working well for BC. Cabernet Francs (Tinhorn Creek, Church & State) burst with bright, red fruit and fresh herbs without being the least bit stemmy or green, while Syrahs (Quinta Ferreira, Black Hills) perfectly combined Old World complexity, earthiness and spice with a New World opulent structure, full of black and purple fruit. Aromatic whites, such as the Stoney Slope Riesling from Wild Goose or Thornhavens classic Gewürztraminer, told the story of our mineral-rich soil and expressed lively acidity, a combination of cool climate and lake effect. Chardonnays (Quails Gate Stewart Family Reserve and Cedar Creeks Platinum edition) glistened with ripe orchard fruit, layers of character and plenty of sunshine, while fellow Burgundian varieties Pinot Noir and Gamay (Meyer Family Vineyards and Robin Ridge, respectively) floated to the top with nuance, prettiness and grace.
These varieties, styles and examples are indicative of the quality and strengths of BC wine today. In the year since I last judged this competition, I noted much less oak masking the natural expression of our wines, such a good thing, plus the growing restraint of a winemakers hand in favour of simply letting our fruit sing. Cabernet Sauvignon still seems to struggle (our short season makes it difficult to ripen,) and I remain unconvinced that Viognier and Sauvignon Blanc are the best fit for us. (We all found most examples imbalanced and clumsy.)
And then there are the new classics. Road 13s 2009 Sparkling Chenin Blanc, both a Gold and Best Sparkling winner, has been a cult-favourite for years and was probably my personal Best in Show. Winemaker JM Bouchards crafting of the fruit from their 44-year-old vines into a fizzy blend of Asian pear, starfruit and fireweed honey is an absolute gem, perfect for toasting the future of British Columbian wine!
For complete results of the 2012 BC Wine Awards, visit OkanaganWineAwards.com.
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