WineAlign - Awards - 2021 NWAC Pinot Gris / Pinot Grigio

Results of the 2021 WineAlign National Wine Awards of Canada (The Nationals)

Pinot Gris / Pinot Grigio

Category Overview by Judge John Szabo, MS

2021 saw the most imaginative and inspiring array of pinot gris/grigio yet tasted at the National Wine Awards of Canada.

(Jump straight to the medal winners.)

Historically, the category has been split between the simple, pale, crisp and light, inexpensive grigio style (think northern Italy), and the richer, fuller bodied (and more interesting) ‘gris’ style, for which Alsace is still the benchmark. But this year, with the growing interest in, and experimentation with, varying degrees of skin contact, the range of flavours, from tart citrus to autumnal orchard fruit, and colours, from pale platinum to pinkish-amber, were nothing short of captivating. Indeed, there were questions around the judging room as to whether some wines should be moved to the skin contact/orange category instead.

In the end, six out of 100 entries were awarded gold, a small percentage, but the silver and bronze categories are certainly worth attention. Many of the outliers and idiosyncratic styles, on which panels couldn’t quite agree, ended up here, the inevitable result of judging by committee. Be sure to check the tasting notes for an indication of what fun awaits in the glass. In any case, the Canadian gris/grigio universe has never been so interesting and pan-Canadian, with medalists from Vancouver Island to Prince Edward County and in between.

And the winners are…

50th Parallel 2020 Pinot Gris, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia
Bordertown 2019 Pinot Gris, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia
Hillside 2020 Un-oaked Pinot Gris, Naramata Bench, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia
Mission Hill 2020 Reserve Pinot Gris, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia
O’Rourke’s Peak Cellars 2020 Skin Kissed Pinot Gris, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia
Rathjen Cellars 2019 Pinot Gris Saison Vineyard, Vancouver Island, British Columbia

Colio 2020 Bricklayer’s Rewards Pinot Grigio, Ontario
Deep Roots 2020 Rhododendron Pinot Gris, Naramata Bench, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia
Free Form 2020 Vin Gris, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia
Huff Estates 2020 Buried Vine Pinot Gris, Prince Edward County, Ontario
Indigenous World 2020 Pinot Gris, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia
Liquidity 2020 Pinot Gris, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia
Organized Crime 2020 Pinot Gris, Beamsville Bench, Niagara Peninsula, Ontario
Rocky Creek 2020 Pinot Gris, Cowichan Valley, Vancouver Island, British Columbia
SpearHead 2020 Golden Retreat Pinot Gris , Okanagan Valley, British Columbia
Sprucewood Shores 2020 Pinot Grigio, Ontario
Stanners 2019 Pinot Gris Cuivre, Prince Edward County, Ontario
Tawse 2019 Pinot Gris Lawrie Vineyard, Niagara-on-the-Lake, Niagara Peninsula, Ontario
Volcanic Hills 2019 Pinot Gris, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia