Nine British Columbia wineries garner 10 Lieutenant Governor’s Awards of Excellence in the 2008 competition

By John Schreiner

July 14, 2008

The Lieutenant Governor’s Awards of Excellence in British Columbia Wines might just be the toughest wine competition in B.C.

The bar is very high, with the judges allowed to hand out no more than 12 awards. In this year’s competition, the sixth annual, 218 wines were entered and only 10 awards are being given out.

As a member of the judging panel, I can tell you that the vast majority of the entered wines were of very good quality. The B.C. wine industry is doing a terrific job.

Looking down the list of winners, the big surprise is the price of the wines. There is very good value here. Most of these wines can still be found in wine stores or ordered directly from the winery.

Here are the winners:

Blasted Church Vineyards Syrah 2006 ($26). This Okanagan Falls winery now seals all its wines under screw cap. That closure is very good at retaining fresh fruit aromas and flavours. This wine has aromas of pepper and raspberry and flavours of ripe plums, with a touch of chocolate. 

Calona Vineyards Artist Series Unoaked Chardonnay 2007 ($13.99).  The original art for this label is a painting called “Dawn.” It fits the wine, which is as fresh as dawn, bursting with flavours of peaches, ripe apples and tangerines.     

Golden Mile Cellars Black Arts Syrah 2006 ($35). Black Arts is the term that Golden Mile Cellars uses for its top tier wines.  This wine has aromas of pepper and spice, tastes of plums and black cherries set against a complex underlay of flavours of delicatessen meat flavours.

Jackson Triggs Proprietors’ Grand Reserve Shiraz 2005 ($30). By calling the wine Shiraz, not Syrah, Jackson Triggs signals that it is making it in the bold Australian style. This wine, which was released last fall and now is hard to get, begins with aromas of pepper, fruit and oak. On the palate, there are flavours of plums, liquorice, tar and leather.  

Red Rooster Malbec 2006 ($20 but sold out). When the new Red Rooster winery was built several years ago, two acres of Malbec were planted on the property. This is the first wine from those vines. First-leaf wines (as a vineyard’s debut wines are called) typically are very expressive. That’s what made this wine stand out – the appealing flavours of spiced currants and plums with a hint of chocolate.

Sandhill Wines Cabernet Franc 2006 ($20) Good Cabernet Franc needs fully ripe grapes.The grapes that went into the 810 cases of this wine were picked November 4, 2006, practically at the end of vintage. Winemaker Howard Soon has made an exuberant red, with appealing aromas of mint and cassis and flavours of berries and spice. The wine is full on the palate, firm in structure, with a lingering finish.

Stoneboat Pinot Noir 2006 ($22) Stoneboat is a small family-owned winery near Oliver that just opened last year and obviously is one to watch. This is a charming Pinot Noir, with delicate aromas and flavours of strawberry and cherry, and with a hint of earthiness. The texture is exquisitely silky, classic in a top Pinot Noir.
 

Sumac Ridge Estate Steller's Jay Brut 2004 ($27) Named for British Columbia’s provincial bird, this sparkling wine is another perennial award winner. The wine begins with toasty aromas with complex flavours from bottle aging while still retaining crisp apple flavours. The active bubbles help give the wine a creamy texture. This is a terrific bottle and the winery made 16,000 cases.

 Wild Goose Vineyards Autumn Gold 2007 ($18.95) and Wild Goose Pinot Gris 2007 ($18.95).  In the past several vintages, Wild Goose Vineyards has been hoovering awards in national and regional competitions with quite superb white wines.

Autumn Gold a blend; the winery does not publish what varieties are in the wine but one would guess from its crispness that there is Pinot Blanc here and from its spice that there is Gewürztraminer. On the palate, there are layers of tropical fruit flavours, including citrus, melon and guava.

The Pinot Gris is appealing for its zesty, refreshing crispness, with citrus flavours and a balance that gives the wine a pristine cleanness. It would be hard to find a white that is easier to drink.

                               
                                                      The Lieutenant Governor's Award winning wineries

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