Fittingly located on the Golden Mile, Road 13 was recently named Canada’s winery of the year.
This month, WineAlign held its annual national wine awards competition, and Road 13 topped the list of 257 entries. The winery is located in Oliver, B.C., on a section of Highway 97 that features several wineries within a short drive.
WineAlign bills itself as the country’s largest competition of Canadian wines, with leading wine writers, trade buyers and sommeliers making the evaluations. This year, WineAlign said 257 wineries and 1,850 wines entered the annual competition, which took place June 22 in Penticton and lasted five days. The wines were said to be served blind, but identified and organized into groups by grape variety and style.
The entries came from seven provinces. British Columbia had the highest representation with 158 wineries entered, Ontario was second with 78, followed by wineries from Nova Scotia, Quebec, Prince Edward Island, Alberta, and New Brunswick.
Road 13’s top wine in the competition was its Vineyards Roussanne 2016, which earned a score of 92 points and a platinum medal.
According to WineAlign, Road 13 “took home 15 medals including one platinum, eight gold, two silver, and four bronze, wowing judges over multiple flights in a blind tasting environment.”
“Former winemaker Michael Bartier once said, ‘These wines are the Okanagan in a glass,’ and it’s hard to argue less. Lest you think it’s only the quirky wines that get the judges’ attention these days, Road 13 is nailing select bottlings of petit verdot, cabernet franc, the aforementioned chenin blanc and several Bordeaux-style red blends. It’s really a complete lineup.”
WineAlign also named its top 25 wineries for 2018. While Road 13 took top spot, 14 other B.C. wineries made the list, with the remaining 10 coming from Ontario.
The B.C. wineries listed in the top 25 were:
Nk’Mip Cellars (5), Cedar Creek Estate Winery (7), Bench 1775 (8), Fitzpatrick Family Vineyards (10), Meyer Family Vineyards (11), Stag’s Hollow Winery (13), Quails’ Gate Estate Winery (15), Bordertown Vineyard (16), Mission Hill Family Estate (19), Red Rooster Winery (20), Painted Rock Estate Winery (22), Corcelettes Estate Winery (23), Orofino Vineyards (24) and Thornhaven Estates Winery (25).
Comments