Mission Hill Receives Winery of the Year Award
Congratulations Mission Hill!
Representatives from Mission Hill Family Estate Winery in British Columbia travelled to Toronto this week to receive their Winery of the Year Award earned during the inaugural 2013 WineAlign National Wine Awards of Canada. An informal presentation was held during a tasting and reception at Joey Restaurant in Toronto’s Eaton Centre, where Mission Hill poured five wines that won platinum and gold medals.
David Lawrason, co-chief judge of the Nationals, presented the award to Ingo Grady, Director of Wine Education for Mission Hill.
David Lawrason (WineAlign), Jessica Bryans (Joey Restaurants) and Ingo Grady (Mission Hill) Photo: Dan Trcka
“This is a great honour”, said Mr. Grady, “but it really belongs to our winemaker John Simes and his team, who are currently up to their necks in the harvest in the Okanagan Valley. John’s full title is Vice President of Viticulture and Winemaking, which emphasizes the importance we place on his role in building quality from the ground up. My job was to pick which wines to enter into the competition.”
Mission Hill submitted sixteen wines to the Nationals and carted off twelve medals. This included two platinums and three golds, a performance that pushed Mission Hill into top spot among 160 wineries that entered the competition. Second spot went to Tawse Winery in Niagara, a big winner in previous national competitions, and third spot went to B.C.’s Road 13 Vineyards. Among the top 20 wineries, ten were from B.C. and ten from Ontario.
The awards event in Toronto was jointly orchestrated by Mission Hill, Joey Restaurants and WineAlign; and a similar event is being planned for Tuesday, October 8 at Joey in Vancouver, with Chief Judge Anthony Gismondi presiding. Joey has taken a keen interest in Canadian wine as it expands nationally from its base in B.C., thanks largely to the efforts of National Wine Buyer Jessica Bryans of Vancouver who joined the National Wine Awards judging corps this year.
Guests at the event enjoyed food stations paired with the five top wines. Link to the following wines to read full reviews by WineAlign critics.
Mission Hill Riesling Reserve 2011
Mission Hill Reserve Riesling Icewine 2011
Mission Hill Reserve Chardonnay 2011
Mission Hill Perpetua Osoyoos Vineyard Estate 2010
The complete results of the National Wine Awards of Canada are now posted on WineAlign. The results include all the Platinum, Gold, Silver and Bronze medal winners in several style and grape variety categories, plus a “performance report” on the Top 20 wineries in the country. Click here for all the details.
Photo credit: Dan Trcka, GrapeSelections
