WineAlign National Wine Awards Results

The National Wine Awards of Canada is the new nameof the 12-year old Canadian Wine Awards run by Wine Access and originallyfounded by David Lawrason and this writer back in 2001.

Both David and I are intimately involved with awards(full disclosure: I am a co-head judge and in fact responsible for the entirejudging team that spans the country).

Canadian Winery of the Year is a wonderful accolade forMission Hill, its owner Anthony von Mandl, winemaker John Simes and his entireteam. It's the third time they have been able to best the rest of the countryand winning in 2013 has to be even more satisfying for everyone given thestrength of the competition and the sheer difficulty of beating 150 otherwineries that together entered nearly 1,200 wines.

The Nationals as they are known, are not really like anyother wine competition. It's a serious, five day competition founded byCanadian wine reviewers who really want to know which producers are making thebest wine in the country.

You have to finish in the top 20 per cent in the firstround to have any chance of advancing to the second round. In the second roundyou then compete against the absolute best wines in the competition. Grabbinggold and silver is no easy task. WineAlign also awards platinum medals to thetop one per cent of wines and ties. Of the precious 12 platinum medals awardedin 2013, Mission Hill took home two.

What the competition is, and has been for the past 13years, is a fabulous barometer of what's happening in Canadian wine, even ifit's just a snapshot. We used to worry about the few wineries who didn't enterbut I've come to the conclusion that they have other plans and in any eventtheir presence, while missed, would likely not impact the final results in anygreat fashion.

Mission Hill hit a lot of high notes in 2013 and in theend bested Niagara-based Tawse Winery, the winner for the last three years. Inmany ways, Mission Hill's wine speaks to it's tenacity to stick to itslong-term plan, which has included almost two decades of vineyard acquisitionand more important, learning how to farm those hectares, to make sure each siteis suited to the grapes planted.

With five significant vineyard sites that span theOkanagan Valley from Osoyoos Lake Bench and Oliver's Black Sage Bench in thesouth, through the spectacular Ranch Vineyard at the northern end of Naramata,to a pair of important sites in West and East Kelowna, winemaker John Simes hasa wide selection of grapes, grown in several meso-climates, that all help shapethe flavour and structure of his wines.

Mission Hill has always enjoyed fabulous success as atourist attraction thanks to its architecturally stunning winery, but the realgoal underneath its famous bell tower is to make the kind of wine that turnsheads internationally. If you ask me, it has been the transformation of tanninsand the overall phenolic ripeness of Mission Hill's red grapes that have reallyimproved the quality of its wines of late.

John Simes is getting some very good material and hiscollaboration with renowned French winemaking consultant, Michel Rolland, hasbegun to pay texture and complexity dividends across the entire red lineup.Interestingly, we may be talking more about the Martin's Lane project in thefuture as riesling, pinot noir and viognier move onto the main stage at MissionHill.

For the record, Mission Hill entered 16 wines into theWineAlign 2013 National Wine Awards of Canada. Its five highest scoring winesused to calculate the Canadian Winery of the Year award were the platinumwinning 2011 Reserve Riesling and the 2009 Compendium Red and the gold medalawarded 2010 Perpetua Osoyoos Vineyard Estate Chardonnay, 2011 Reserve RieslingIce Wine and 2011 Reserve Chardonnay.

The Ned SauvignonBlanc 2012, Marlborough, South Island, New Zealand

Price: $16 | Score: 87/100

UPC: 853076003037

The Ned always deliver freshness and New Zealandintensity. Expect a juicy palate with light sweetness and pink grapefruit,honey, green apple, canned jalapeno and herby passion fruit flavours. Anattractive style to go with seafood. Solid value.

Fontodi ChiantiClassico 2009, Tuscany, Italy

Price: $34 | Score: 89/100

UPC: 008021019000012

Tuscan reds are made for dinner. The attack is round andrich with perfect acidity and ripe full flavoured fruit. Look for black cherryjam, pepper, licorice and just a hint of spicy, summer sausage and the illusionof minerality. Drink now with quail or sausage pasta or hold for three to fiveyears. Organic too.

Lomas del VallePinot Noir 2012, Valle de Casablanca, Region de Aconcagua, Chile

Price: $15 | Score: 87/100

UPC: 007804614590277

A touch reduced on opening so aerate in your glass ordecant. This is a pure expression of the variety and its Casablanca site. It isa 'pretty' pinot leaning to the soft, sippable side with just a bit of spice, abit of black cherry, and a lot of juicy, ripe fruit that slides downeffortlessly. This is a super little red wine bargain. Good value.

Chartron La FleurMerlot Cabernet Sauvignon 2010, Bordeaux, France

Price: $15 | Score: 86/100

UPC: 003263070014859

Black olive, tobacco, pepper and light cassis mark thenose of this earthy red. On the palate cedar, coffee and cassis, black oliveand dried herbs form a stylish inexpensive dinner red. Well balanced and readyto drink with beef dishes.

Ben Marco Expresivo2011, Mendoza, Argentina

Price: $40 | Score: 91/100

UPC: 007798068481062

Finally a serious Argentine blend you can buy. The mix is50 per cent malbec with obvious contributions of bonarda, syrah, cabernetsauvignon and tannat. Round, dry, fresh and smooth on the palate Expresivooffers up dense, savoury black cherry fruit with smoky licorice, cassis andchocolate. Well balanced with fine fruit intensity this will improve in bottlethrough 2016. A great choice for beef.

Yalumba OrganicShiraz 2012, South Australia, Australia

Price: $17 | Score: 88/100