WineAlign - Awards - 2024 NWAC White Blends

Results of the 2024 WineAlign National Wine Awards of Canada (The Nationals)

White Blends

Category Overview by Judge Michael Godel

New Trends for White Blends

The continued success of mixed Canadian appellative categories lets us know that winemakers are always fiddling, mixing, matching and playing around with what sometimes feels like an infinite number of varietal possibilities. This is the thing about making wines in parts of the world where words like endemic, indigenous and autochthonous do not generally apply. The National Wine Awards of Canada category called “White Blends” allows for and encompasses many permutations, inclusive of those wines made with vinifera and also hybrid grapes. No matter how you slice, dice or blend them, appellative white wines are an increasing concern and most definitely a mainstay in the lexicon of Canadian wine.

First come the confluences, followed by an often random and sometimes more precise set of percentages that in the end collectively come to define these styles of wines. There are no steadfast rules save for those set out by VQA which says that all the grapes in a labeled bottle must come from the province (Ontario or British Columbia), an appellation (i.e. Niagara Peninsula or Okanagan Valley), but also sub-appellation (i.e. Beamsville Bench or Naramata Bench). Otherwise, the choices are boundless and white blends can run from the traditional to the eclectic. Knowable concepts include the Bordeaux joint of sauvignon blanc and sémillon, the northern and southern Rhône get togethers that involve marsanne, roussanne and viognier, but also grenache blanc, clairette blanche, bourboulenc, picpoul and ugni blanc. Maybe a producer looks to Alsace or Loire Valley, or in a more modern vein, to Australia.

At the 2024 National Wine Awards of Canada, British Columbia continues to set the trends for blending and styles, but also finds the most success, taking home 27 of the 41 total medals awarded for the blended white wine category. In fact, B.C. outpaced Ontario by a two and a half to one margin with just one medal awarded to Blomidon Winery Tidal Bay from Nova Scotia and two from Québec’s Vignoble du PicBois. The breakdown for 2024 is three Gold, 13 Silver and 25 Bronze. Terravista Vineyards took two of the four top spots with their Fandango and Figaro blends, while Lake Breeze‘s joint between roussanne and viognier and Nk’Mip’s white Meritage were the third and fourth Gold Medal winners. Four Ontario wineries figured prominently in the Silver medals, including two vintages of the Two Sisters Stone Eagle-Eagle Eye, the Hidden Bench Nuit Blanche Rosomel Vineyard, the sauvignon-sémillon from Creekside Estate called Iconoclast and Lailey Winery’s Field Blend.

The misfits, bohemians, non-conformists, idiosyncratic and even eccentric white blends continue to test Canadian waters and consumers must be charged with giving these non-conformist wines their due. As it has already been said, “wines that find the wherewithal to become the sum of their constituent parts must be lauded and encouraged because emerging wine regions find their way and place through experimentation, trial and error.” Extreme climate events and crises make these grapes essential to fulfilling our future generations’ white drinking needs.

And the winners are…

Lake Breeze 2022 Roussanne Viognier, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia
Nk’Mip Cellars 2022 Mer’r’iym White Meritage, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia
Terravista Vineyards 2022 Figaro, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia
Terravista Vineyards 2023 Fandango, Naramata Bench, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia

Cannon Estate Winery 2022 Bonhomous , Fraser Valley, British Columbia
Creekside 2022 Iconoclast Sauvignon Semillon, Niagara Peninsula, Ontario
Hester Creek 2023 Sauvignon Blanc Semillon, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia
Hidden Bench 2022 Nuit Blanche Rosomel Vineyard, Beamsville Bench, Niagara Peninsula, Ontario
La Frenz Winery 2021 Reserve Ensemble, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia
La Frenz Winery 2022 Reserve Ensemble, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia
Lailey Winery 2022 Field Blend Lailey Vineyard, Niagara River, Niagara Peninsula, Ontario
Nk’Mip Cellars 2022 Winemakers Dreamcatcher, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia
Privato 2023 Sorpresa Bianco, Thompson, British Columbia
Stone Eagle 2020 Eagle Eye, Niagara Peninsula, Ontario
Stone Eagle 2021 Eagle Eye, Niagara Peninsula, Ontario
Tightrope 2023 Sauvignon Blanc Sémillon Thomas Vineyard, Naramata Bench, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia

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