WineAlign - Awards - 2023 NWAC Other White Single Varieties

Results of the 2023 WineAlign National Wine Awards of Canada (The Nationals)

Other White Single Varieties

Category Overview by Judge John Szabo, MS

(Jump straight to the medal winners.)

“Single white varieties” is the umbrella category at the National Wine Awards under which are gathered all the bits and pieces of odd, non-mainstream white varieties bottled unblended, outside of the big categories of chardonnay, riesling, sauvignon blanc, gewürztraminer, viognier, and white blends. It includes rarities such as albariño, arneis and grüner veltliner, as well as hybrid white grapes, and more common but not-quite-deep-enough-to-be-a-category varieties like semillon and pinot blanc.

Overall, this tends to be an exciting category, affording judges a view into the more experimental and creative side of the Canadian wine industry, and perhaps a window on its future for particularly successful trials. Judges are given the name variety so it’s not a completely blind process, important to establish some context and to benchmark against known examples from around the world, experience all NWAC judges are required to have.

This year, 39 medals including 9 gold were awarded out 64 entries, an impressively high percentage (61 percent), indicating that many experiments are already bearing successful fruit. Unsurprisingly, B.C. provided the lion’s share of winners including all gold medals, with only five wines out of the 39 coming from out of province (four from Ontario and one from Québec). I’d chalk this up to not only to the wide range of climates that B.C. enjoys, but also the industry structure, which counts a high number of small wineries, each fighting for a piece of the pie in a hyper competitive market and seeking points of differentiation.

Excitingly for consumers, this category provides fertile hunting ground for values; the most expensive wine among the medals was $40, but the average falls to just under $27, meaning there are many delicious and well-priced wines to choose from. Be sure to give the top examples a try.

Culmina 2022 Unicus , Okanagan Valley, British Columbia
Mission Hill 2022 Reserve Pinot Blanc, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia
Moon Curser 2022 Arneis, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia
Moraine 2022 Dry Muscat, Naramata Bench, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia
Palatine Hills 2021 Wild & Free Sémillon, Niagara Lakeshore, Niagara Peninsula, Ontario
Quails’ Gate 2021 Chenin Blanc, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia
Quails’ Gate 2021 Clone 220 Chenin Blanc, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia
Terravista Vineyards 2022 Roussanne, British Columbia
Tightrope 2022 Sémillon Thomas Vineyard, Naramata Bench, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia

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