WineAlign - Awards - 2023 NWAC Merlot

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

Merlot

Category Overview by Judge John Szabo, MS

(Jump straight to the medal winners.)

Merlot is a category dominated by British Columbia. It’s the province’s most planted red variety by a good margin, representing nearly 20 percent of tonnage by variety (2020 data), followed distantly by pinot noir at under 7 percent, the second-most–planted red grape. And although it’s widely planted in Ontario as well, running neck and neck with cabernet franc at 10 percent of production by volume — Ontario’s two most productive red varieties — much of that province’s merlot ends up in red blends rather than single-variety wines.

It’s also treated less seriously as a stand-alone grape in Ontario overall than in B.C., where it takes pride of place, and often the top price tier, in many producer’s portfolios. Yet despite this, out of 84 merlot entries in 2023, no platinum medals were awarded, even if with 16 gold medals it equalled cabernet franc as a percentage of gold medal winners, of which three are from Ontario and the rest from B.C.

Judges often commented on the toughness and high extraction of many examples, wines that in the best case need more time in bottle to settle out, or in the worst case, will likely remain hard and unyielding for a lifetime. Balance — of tannins, acid, oak and fruit — is what really drives success, all of which confer drinkability and pleasure, features absent in the less successful wines.

And thus, perhaps counterintuitively, price is not always your best guide to quality in this category, where high price usually equals high extraction and abundant oak. In fact, the average bottle price among gold medal winners was slightly lower, $40.88, than the average price of silver and bronze medalists combined, $41.37, indicating that sometimes less is more.

We’d suggest you read through the judges’ reviews to get a sense of when the top wines will be at their prime.

Blasted Church 2019 Merlot, Skaha Bench, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia
Bordertown 2019 Merlot, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia
Chronos 2020 Merlot, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia
Corcelettes 2019 Merlot, Similkameen Valley, British Columbia
Corcelettes 2020 Merlot, Similkameen Valley, British Columbia
Gold Hill 2020 Merlot, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia
Gray Monk 2019 Odyssey Merlot, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia
Jackson-Triggs Niagara 2020 Grand Reserve Merlot, Niagara Peninsula, Ontario
Mission Hill 2021 Reserve Merlot, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia
Nk’Mip Cellars 2020 Qwam Qwmt Merlot, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia
Painted Rock 2019 Estate Grown Merlot, Skaha Bench, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia
Privato Woodward Collection 2020 Casato Merlot, British Columbia
Sprucewood Shores 2020 Hawk’s Flight Reserve Merlot, Ontario
Stonebridge 2020 Reserve Merlot, Four Mile Creek, Niagara Peninsula, Ontario
Tinhorn Creek 2020 Reserve Merlot, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia
Vanessa Vineyard 2019 Merlot , Similkameen Valley, British Columbia

13th Street Winery 2021 Reserve Merlot, Niagara Peninsula, Ontario
13th Street Winery 2020 Reserve Merlot, Creek Shores, Niagara Peninsula, Ontario
Bordertown 2020 Merlot, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia
Colio 2020 Reserve Merlot, Niagara-on-the-Lake, Niagara Peninsula, Ontario
De Simone 2020 Merlot, Niagara-on-the-Lake, Niagara Peninsula, Ontario
Fort Berens 2020 Merlot, British Columbia
Four Shadows Winery 2020 Merlot, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia
Inniskillin 2020 Montague Vineyard Merlot, Four Mile Creek, Niagara Peninsula, Ontario
Liquidity 2020 Merlot, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia
Moraine 2021 Reserve Merlot, Naramata Bench, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia
Recline Ridge 2022 Merlot, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia
Seaside Pearl Lover’s Lane Merlot 2019, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia
Thirty Bench 2020 Small Lot Merlot, Beamsville Bench, Niagara Peninsula, Ontario
Township 7 Benchmark Series 2020 Reserve Merlot Remuda Vineyard, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia
Trius 2020 Showcase RHS Merlot Clark Farm, Four Mile Creek, Niagara Peninsula, Ontario
Vieni Estates 2017 Merlot Reserve, Vinemount Ridge, Niagara Peninsula, Ontario

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