WineAlign - Awards - 2022 NWAC White Single Varieties

Results of the 2022 WineAlign National Wine Awards of Canada (The Nationals)

White Single Varieties

Category Overview by judge Sara d’Amato

This is a category in which Canada should excel given its extensive disparity of terroir. This grouping contains an almost an endless number of grape varieties but some stand out more than others. Only lesser-planted, smaller-entry, vinifera varieties are represented here, and of those, the stand-out medal winning grapes include gewürztraminer, viognier, pinot blanc, semillon and chenin blanc. We saw a great deal of gewürztraminer this year, many of which were solid examples in various styles from viscous and sweet, to dry and aromatic yet none forged ahead into gold medal territory.

(Jump straight to the medal winners.)

Gewürztraminer and chenin blanc are both varieties that are not cold hardy with the former faring slightly better in the cold than the latter. Overall, Ontario exhibits colder lows than in most parts of B.C. so nature dictates where these grapes are best suited. Yet, in Ontario, gewürztraminer persists with a significant amount of tonnage produced with more and more grown outside of Niagara from Prince Edward County to Lake Erie North Shore. It is no surprise that chenin blanc, which has limited acreage in Ontario, was medaled solely in B.C. with Quail’s Gate and Da Silva’s Naramata-sourced grapes champions of these wines. B.C. is also showing strength in semillon as well as a stand-out roussanne from the sandy soils of southern Okanagan’s Black Hills Bench.

Viognier was a hotly debated subject this year. Is it a variety that Canada should be championing? In favour, viognier is quite drought resistant making it a climate warming candidate and is very telling of its growing and vintage conditions. An aromatic and exotic variety, styles tasted ranged from unctuous to thin. On the other hand, results are variable and there are many regions across the globe that can produce viognier with consistency. Viognier will likely remain a rather niche wine even though there are 90 hectares planted in B.C. where it thrives more readily than in Ontario. Viognier can make a showy splash in a flight of assorted single variety whites so we will likely continue to award future incarnations.

In both the white and the red “single varieties” categories, are we beginning to see some specialization in Canadian wine regions? Since I started judging this competition back in 2005, when it was run under the auspices of the now defunct Wine Access magazine, the category has expanded and contracted like an accordion with some varieties showing strongly, and in other years those same varieties had almost non-existent representation. Despite distinctive single variety wines emerging, Canada is proving that given the right terroir and kind vintages, it is capable of making quality wines from unexpected varieties. Grüner veltliner, melon de Bourgogne, albariño and even arneis were awarded top scores this year. Less surprising were medals awarded to aromatic varieties such as chardonnay musqué and moscato from Niagara, chenin blanc from Niagara’s Lincoln Lakeshore, pinot blanc from the Okanagan and siegerrebe from the B.C.’s Fraser Valley, A bravo to gewürztraminer from Quebec where fresher styles of this vinifera variety can most certainly prevail, provided they are protected from low temperatures.

Santé!

And the winners are…

Big Head Wines 2020 Viognier, Niagara Lakeshore, Niagara Peninsula, Ontario
Black Hills Estate Winery 2020 Roussanne, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia
Culmina 2021 Unicus, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia
Da Silva Chenin Blanc 2021 Hidden Hollow Vineyard, Naramata Bench, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia
Fort Berens 2021 Small Lot Grüner Veltliner, Lillooet, British Columbia
Fresh NV Beginnings Moscato, Niagara Peninsula, Ontario
La Frenz 2021 Semillon Knorr Vineyard, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia
Maverick 2020 Golden Mile Slopes Semillon, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia
Quails’ Gate 2021 Chenin Blanc, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia
Strewn 2020 Distinctive Small Lot Chardonnay Musque, Niagara-on-the-Lake, Niagara Peninsula, Ontario
Van Westen 2021 Vivacious, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia