Record-breaking entries for Okanagan wine fest competition

PENTICTON — The kickoff to the Spring Okanagan Wine Festival is a week away, but Thursday  is the most important day for the Best of Varietal Wine competition since this is when the judging happens.  This year, the competition received a record-breaking 479 entries, which is about 30 per cent more than last year.

“The reason it is becoming so popular is because The Best of Varietal is indeed that. It tells the consumers who’s got the best Pinot Noir, who’s got the best Chardonnay, the best Riseling,” says Blair Baldwin, Okanagan Wine Festivals Society general manager.

Twenty wine sommeliers are broken into five panels, each panel tries up to five varietals. Depending on the category, this could mean tasting about 30 wines.

“Each year, we’ve seen quite a substantial increase maybe because the wineries believe in this and they’re willing to put their wines forward for criticism,” says judge Mark Filatow.

It isn’t just wines coming under scrutiny, Baldwin says many wineries decide whether to enter a competition based on who’s judging.

“They want to know who the judges who they are, do they have good palettes, do they have extensive experience and where do they come from?” explains Baldwin. “Our judges for the Best of Varietals are focused on the trade; they’re sommeliers of B.C. and Alberta.”

Tim Pawsey, a Vancouver-based wine writer, has been judging this competition for about 20 years.

He says Okanagan wines have truly blossomed to maturity.

“When we first started judging, you would look at a flight of wine…and very obvious flaws jumped out. We don’t find that today, it’s very, very rare,” says Pawsey.

The winners of this competition will be announced on April 30th at the Ramada Hotel in Penticton. Attendees will have an opportunity to try all the award-winning wines that same night.