WineAlign - Awards - 2023 NWAC Cabernet Sauvignon

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

Cabernet Sauvignon

Category Overview by Judge Geoffrey Moss, MW

(Jump straight to the medal winners.)

Last year, Ontario narrowly edged out B.C. when it came to gold medals for cabernet sauvignon. It was a tie this year, with five each. That marks a modest decline in gold medals overall, from 13 to 10, with no platinum awarded. That is not necessarily a surprise. Cabernet sauvignon is a challenging grape variety to grow in Canada, and there can be significant variability vintage to vintage. As a category, it had among the lowest medal rates, with only 59 percent of entries earning a medal.

It is telling that all but one of the gold medal winners come from the 2020 vintage, which was excellent in both Niagara and British Columbia. The one exception is the 2019 Corcelettes Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon, which shows that cabernet sauvignon can also thrive in cooler vintages on the right sites. And, no doubt, Corcelettes has one. The top cabernet sauvignon I tasted this year was their 2020 Cabernet Sauvignon, another gold medal winner.

Even if the medal count is down, there is still a lot to be optimistic and excited about. Colio and Magnotta show that you do not need to break the bank to get excellent cabernet sauvignon in Ontario to drink now. If you have more patience, the top bottlings from Ravine and Thirty Bench are perfect cellar candidates, showing the depth of the vintage.

Those familiar with Okanagan cabernet sauvignon won’t be surprised to see Burrowing Owl and Nk’Mip among the gold medal winners. Both benefit from sun-soaked vineyards on the Black Sage Bench and Osoyoos East Bench, respectively, and have been consistent medal winners, picking up silver medals last year. Across the valley on the Golden Mile Bench, Hester Creek shows a more structured, mineral-driven expression of the grape variety that is characteristic of B.C.’s first official sub-GI.

Burrowing Owl 2020 Cabernet Sauvignon, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia
Colio 2020 Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon, Ontario
Corcelettes 2019 Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon, Similkameen Valley, British Columbia
Corcelettes 2020 Cabernet Sauvignon Corcelettes Estate Vineyard , Similkameen Valley, British Columbia
De Simone 2020 Cabernet Sauvignon, Niagara-on-the-Lake, Niagara Peninsula, Ontario
Hester Creek 2020 Cabernet Sauvignon Golden Mile Bench Estate Vineyard, Golden Mile Bench, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia
Magnotta 2020 Cabernet Sauvignon Limited Edition, Niagara Peninsula, Ontario
Nk’Mip Cellars 2020 Qwam Qwmt Cabernet Sauvignon, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia
Ravine Vineyard 2020 Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon , St. David’s Bench, Niagara Peninsula, Ontario
Thirty Bench 2020 Small Lot Cabernet Sauvignon, Beamsville Bench, Niagara Peninsula, Ontario

Backyard Vineyards 2020 Cabernet Sauvignon, British Columbia
Bella Terra 2020 Cabernet Sauvignon, Four Mile Creek, Niagara Peninsula, Ontario
Black Swift 2019 Monarch Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia
Blasted Church 2020 Cabernet Sauvignon, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia
Culmina 2020 Cabernet Sauvignon , Golden Mile Bench, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia
GreenLane 2019 Cabernet Sauvignon, Niagara Peninsula, Ontario
Muscedere Vineyards 2020 Cabernet Sauvignon, Lake Erie North Shore, Ontario
Ravine Vineyard 2020 Cabernet Sauvignon , St. David’s Bench, Niagara Peninsula, Ontario
Red Horses Vineyard 2020 Estate Cabernet Sauvignon , Okanagan Valley, British Columbia
Sprucewood Shores 2020 Hawk’s Flight Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon, Ontario
Stonebridge 2020 Cabernet Sauvignon, Niagara Peninsula, Ontario
The Foreign Affair 2020 Cabernet Sauvignon , Niagara Peninsula, Ontario
The Foreign Affair 2020 Cabernet Sauvignon Re-passed, Niagara Peninsula, Ontario
Trius 2020 Showcase East Block Cabernet Sauvignon, Four Mile Creek, Niagara Peninsula, Ontario
Uppercase Winery 2020 Cabernet Sauvignon, British Columbia

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