The Okanagan Wine Festivals Society announced the results of the British Columbia Wine Awards Thursday night, 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 four 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 per cent 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:
Among the winners, the judges singled out from the Gold honourees, six Platinum medals determined to be the top one per cent 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. T
he 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 at www.thewinefestivals.com