WineAlign - Awards - 2022 NWAC Red Single Varieties

Results of the 2022 WineAlign National Wine Awards of Canada (The Nationals)

Red Single Varieties – Love at first site

Category Overview by judge Michael Godel

Like a single red rose, a winemaker’s relationship with a single red variety can often be love at first site. Two roses and then a blend might say “you’re still the one,” but a varietal wine speaks volumes and says everything about the original feeling. Wines made from “Red Single Varieties” are considered those that, at least in the terms of WineAlign’s Canadian Nationals competition, are 100 per cent vinifications of one grape outside that of pinot noir, cabernet sauvignon, cabernet franc, merlot, syrah and gamay. All other reds are on the table, bets are off and anything goes. The wild west if you will and judging by these 2022 awards results, location drives the RSV machine.

(Jump straight to the medal winners.)

Grapes in this category are planted and crafted as solo artists in many parts of Canada, Ontario being the notable “other” province, but who would argue against British Columbia’s Okanagan Valley as being the epicentre of this bracket and categorization. At the head of the virtuoso grouping is most certainly malbec, an expatriate grape most well known as the focus of Cahors in west-central France and of course in Argentina. In the Okanagan Valley conditions are ideal for this sun and heat loving red variety and while recent past iterations may have seemed a bit wood and sun-soaked heavy, at this year’s Nationals the levels of restraint, beauty and balance were on full display. Winemakers are really embracing possibility and potential for a future filled with malbec excellence. Four of this year’s six Gold Medals are malbec wines and of all 40 medal winners in this category, 15 are malbec. Only two are from Ontario. All three sets of analyses speak to the proof and truth of the grape’s necessary connection with The Valley.

Meanwhile, back at the varietal red ranch there are many promising European transplants showing their very own potential, led by Gold Medal winners touriga nacional and carmenère. It would seem that the Okanagan is perhaps the one region situated in the northern hemisphere performing yeoman’s work with European grapes that have found their greatest commercial success (or at the very least are thriving) in the southern hemisphere. Case in point carmenère in Chile, touriga nacional in South Africa, petit verdot and sangiovese in Australia. These grapes are achieving great things in B.C. and Ontario, along with the likes of pinotage, blaufränkisch/kékfrankos, zweigelt, tannat, tempranillo, dolcetto and st. laurent. Hate to say it but in some locations pinot noir and the three main Bordeaux varieties are square pegs being forced into round holes. These Euro alternatives breathe life, interest and excitement into B.C. and Ontario vineyards. They should be encouraged.

Then come the hybrids with their refined vinifera-like general and much improved phenolic chemistry. There is an argument to be made that vinifera is not suited to much of Canada’s new world growing sites and in many cases their relationship with the land just never reaches fruition. Hybrids may not be wholly indigenous or native to Canadian vineyards but their suitability often outpaces their European counterparts. Look at the two Bronze medal winners from Vignoble Le Chat Botté in Québec. Their premiers pas and petite perle were glorious surprises in a grouping of seven hybrid wines that included baco noir, castel, marechal foch and marquette. Several medals were awarded for hybrid wines. That they came out as winners despite judges knowing full well what varieties were being tasted says two things. First, WineAlign judges are open-minded and assess what’s in the glass. Second, hybrids are essential when employed in the right place and at the right time.

And the winners are…

Bordertown 2019 Malbec, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia
La Frenz 2019 Malbec Rockyfeller Vineyard, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia
Moon Curser 2020 Carmenere, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia
Moon Curser 2020 Touriga Nacional, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia
Painted Rock 2019 Malbec, Skaha Bench, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia
Rainmaker 2019 Malbec Rattlesnake Vineyard The Risk Taker, British Columbia