Report from - Ontario Wine Awards Gala Dinner & Award Ceremony ... May 8, 2009
The 14th Annual Ontario Wine Awards was held on Friday night and a record number of wines entered, 501, all vying for the Gold, Silver and Bronze awards in 25 different wine categories … there were also 4 other categories: Winemaker of the Year, Wine of the Year, Wine Journalism Award and Label Design Award. Thirsty Traveler Kevin Brauch hosted this event with a little better success than the previous two hosts – though you could still hear some groans and moans from the audience. I had no problem with him, especially during his sabring stunt to a bottle of bubbly, in honour of mine and my fiancées engagement – which had happened at 5AM that morning after a long-overnight journey from Detroit. I would especially like to take this opportunity to publicly thank Tony Aspler for such a special moment during his awards ceremony.
Besides myself, because she said yes, big winners included Tawse with three golds (Riesling, Gewurztraminer and Pinot Noir), Creekside three golds (Sauvignon Blanc, Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot) along with Malivoire and Gretzky taking home a couple of pieces of golden hardware. Wine of the Year honours were broken down into White and Red – sparing us from another year of an Icewine taking top prize. Vineland’s 2005 Reserve Cabernet Merlot was the red with a score of 91.5 and Thirty Bench 2007 Riesling took home the white prize, with a score of 90.5. Winemaker of the Year, and rightly so, went to Thomas Bachelder from Le Clos Jordanne. The Wine Journalism Award went to John Szabo for his article in The Globe and Mail “Napa North”.
And the Gold Medal winning wines are …
Wines highlighted in blue are linked back to www.ontariowinereview.com for a full review (many are so new they have yet to be reviewed) … the rest of the winners, in the silver and bronze categories, can be found at www.ontariowineawards.ca.
Sparkling Wine –
Maleta Estate 2006 View Old Vines Brut
Dry Riesling –
Thirty Bench 2007 Riesling
*winner of the White Wine of the Year Award.
Merlot –
Creekside Estate 2005 Butler’s Grant Vineyard Reserve Merlot
Syrah/Shiraz –
Stonechurch Vineyards 2007 Reserve Syrah
Meritage and Cabernet/Merlot Blends –
Vineland Estates 2005 Reserve Cabernet Merlot
*winner of the Red Wine of the Year Award.
Late Harvest –
Chateau des Charmes 2007 Estate Bottled Late Harvest Riesling
Vidal Icewine –
Wayne Gretzky Estates 2005 Vidal Icewine
Blended Red Award –
Wayne Gretzky Estates 2006 Estate Series Shiraz Cabernet
Blended White Award –
Caroline Cellars 2006 Momentum Enchantment
Best Label Design Award –
Fielding Estate 2008 Sauvignon Blanc
These and many other award winning VQA Ontario wines will be poured during the consumer tasting event (now known as Sip & Savour Ontario – which will include culinary pairings of regional cuisine), held in the Distillery District in downtown Toronto on Tuesday June 16, 2009 … tickets are on sale now. To find out more check out www.ontariowineawards.ca.
