Okanagan College students get a taste of judging wines

PENTICTON — When a new wine sensory lab opened its doors to Okanagan students last fall, it also opened doors to new opportunities. The Northwest Wine Summit, a wine competition, chose Okanagan College to host its Canadian portion of the event because of the new facility.

“By having the prep space, having the proper condition to store the wines at the correct temperatures, having access to bring wine in and out so the judges don’t see, it’s just ideally set up for this kind of scenario,” says Danielle Robinson, the Food, Wine and Tourism program administrator.

The college took the opportunity to create a unique learning experience, picking eight students to observe and participate in the judging process.

Kareen Greaves, a student in the winery assistant program, get a taste of what’s it like to be a judge at a wine competition.

“Just being able to learn, observe and be allowed to have input in the decision making process…helps us learn even more,” says Greaves.

More than 300 wines from B.C., Alberta and Saskatchewan have entered the competition.

Besides grape wines, wineries can also submit fruit wines, honey wines, and even cider.

Parks Redwine, the competition’s founder, says transporting Canadian wines across the border is becoming increasingly difficult.

So all wines made in Canada are first being judged at the Penticton campus and only the best make the trip down to the states for the main event.

“We will pay the duties and everything, we will get them there legitimately to have them judged along with other gold medal winners to determine the best,” says Redwine.

The students can provide their input, but ultimately, the judges will decide which wines will make the cut.

About 30 vintages will compete in the competition held in Oregon next week.

All the leftover, unopened wines will be donated to the college’s wine program.