Results of the 2021 WineAlign National Wine Awards of Canada (The Nationals)
Meads and other Non-Fruit Wine / Fruit Wine / Fortified Wine
Category Overview by Judge John Szabo, MS
The mead, fortified and fruit wine categories remain a small part of the National Wine Awards of Canada, if the most pan-national. A combined total of 47 entries represented more provinces than any other category, including parts of Canada like Saskatchewan and Alberta, where wine production is virtually unknown. And the medal ratio is remarkably high, indicating a maturing industry with ambitious specialists aiming at quality well beyond immediate local interest. 30 entries finished in the medals, almost two-thirds.
(Jump straight to the medal winners.)
Special mention should be made of La Frenz in Penticton; Australian-born winegrower Jeff Martin earned a platinum, a gold and a silver in the fortified category, putting his winemaking breadth on display (the winery also earned several medals in ‘regular’ wine categories). We can only imagine his platinum-winning Liqueur Muscat was inspired by the great muscats of Rutherglen down under.
And over in Québec, it was no surprise to see Domaine Acer come up aces, with two golds and a bronze in the mead category. Acer has amassed a track record of success spanning multiple editions of the NWACs. While mead is technically a fermented honey beverage, Acer ferments maple syrup into absolutely singular, vaguely old sherry-like elixirs, even more uniquely Canadian than Icewine. But we couldn’t very well create an entire category for fermented maple syrup, so it was tacked on to the meads. In any case, these are categorically must-trys.
Fortified Wine:
La Frenz N/V Liqueur Muscat, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia
Meads and other Non-Fruit Wine:
Domaine Acer N/V Charles-Aimé Robert, Quebec
Domaine Acer Prémices d’Avril, Quebec
Fortified Wine:
La Frenz N/V Tawny Port, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia
Meads and other Non-Fruit Wine:
Meadow Vista Honey Wines Bliss Blueberry Haskap, British Columbia
Prairie Bee Meadery Raspberry Rapture, Saskatchewan
Prairie Bee Meadery Traditional Bee, Saskatchewan
Spirit Hills 2020 Dande Dandelion Wine, Alberta
Fruit Wine:
Maan Farms 2020 Raspberry, Fraser Valley, British Columbia
Forbidden Fruit 2020 Flaunt Organic Sparkling Plum Wine, Similkameen Valley, British Columbia
Fortified Wine:
Domaine Ives Hill Crème de Cassis, Quebec
La Frenz 2019 Vintage Port Style, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia
Loch Mór Pommeau Fortified Barrel Aged Cider, Prince Edward County, Ontario
Rathjen Cellars Crème de Cassis, Vancouver Island, British Columbia
Meads and other Non-Fruit Wine:
Domaine Acer N/V Val Ambre, Quebec
Meadow Vista Honey Wines Rubus, British Columbia
Planters Ridge N/V Sparkling Mead, Nova Scotia
Shrugging Doctor Apple Cinnamon Mead, Manitoba
Fruit Wine:
Goat Hill 2020 Signature Series Haskap, Saskatchewan
Krause Berry Farms Sparkling Golden Raspberry, Fraser Valley, British Columbia
Maan Farms Blueberry Dessert, Fraser Valley, British Columbia
Monte Creek N/V Split Decision Blueberry Grape Sparkling, British Columbia
Northern Lights 2020 Pink Knight, British Columbia
Northern Lights N/V Seduction Rhubarb Strawberry, British Columbia
Rustic Roots 2019 Organic Plum, Similkameen Valley, British Columbia
The Joosed Moose Siggy’s Saskatoon Honey Off Dry, Saskatchewan
Fortified Wine:
Lake Breeze N/V Cellar Series Chinook, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia
