Results of the 2024 WineAlign National Wine Awards of Canada (The Nationals)
Malbec and other Red Single Varieties
Category Overview by Judge Geoffrey Moss, MW
(Jump straight to the medal winners.)
The “other red single varieties” category could be renamed “Malbec and other red single varieties.” Last year, I wrote that Malbec “feels like it’s on the cusp of a breakout.” That trend certainly continued with the 2024 awards. Malbec represented nearly half of the medal winners in this category (18 of 41) and accounted for 88% of the gold medals (7 of 8). It also punched well above its relative weight. It accounted for just 1.4% of entries in the competition but earned 4.1% of all gold medals. That puts it in similar company to heavyweight categories like Syrah/Shiraz (8.3% of golds, 4.1% of all entries) and Red Blends (13.6% of golds, 10.4% of all entries). And that doesn’t even factor in the Malbec-dominant red blends highlighted last week.
This trend is almost entirely driven by British Columbia, with the noteworthy exception of a gold medal for Lailey’s 2021 Lailey Vineyard Wild Ferment Malbec. There’s something special about Okanagan Malbec. Much like Syrah, it does well up and down the valley. There are compelling cool(er)-climate expressions from Naramata, often juicy and intensely floral, such as Van Westen’s 2021 Violeta and the Fox & Archer 2021 Malbec. Further south, Malbec thrives in the heat of Oliver and Osoyoos, producing rich, opulently-styled wines well-exemplified by Rainmaker, Road 13, and Valley Commons. On the other side of Mount Kobau, Corcelettes continues to show that you can’t overlook Similkameen Malbec, either.
The remainder of the category is a combination of tried-and-true workhorses alongside the rare and unusual. Blasted Curch’s 2022 Small Blessings Grenache, the only non-Malbec gold medal, shows that Rhône varieties continue to perform well in the South Okanagan – if only they could consistently survive the winter. But silver medalists like Moon Curser’s Touriga Nacional and Carménère as well as Three Sisters’s 2022 Tempranillo show that there’s still a lot of room for successful experimentation.
And the winners are…
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Blasted Church 2022 Small Blessings Grenache, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia
Corcelettes 2021 Malbec Micro Lot Series Estate Vineyard, Similkameen Valley, British Columbia
Fox&Archer 2021 Malbec, Naramata Bench, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia
Lailey Winery 2021 Wild Ferment Malbec Lailey Vineyard, Niagara River, Niagara Peninsula, Ontario
Rainmaker Wines 2020 Malbec The Risk Taker Rattlesnake Vineyard, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia
Road 13 2021 John Oliver Selection Malbec, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia
Valley Commons 2021 Malbec Single Vineyard, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia
Van Westen 2021 Violeta, Naramata Bench, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia
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Bordertown 2020 Petit Verdot, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia
Culmina 2020 Malbec, Golden Mile Bench, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia
Foolish Wine 2022 Mystify Pinot Meunier, Naramata Bench, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia
Henry of Pelham 2022 Bin 106 Lost Boys Limited Edition Baco Noir, Ontario
Moon Curser 2022 Carmenere, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia
Moon Curser 2022 Touriga Nacional, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia
Pentâge Winery 2018 Tempranillo Dirty Dozen Vineyard, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia
River Stone 2022 Malbec, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia
Stratus 2020 Petit Verdot, Niagara-on-the-Lake, Niagara Peninsula, Ontario
Stratus 2023 Petit Verdot Zero Zero, Niagara-on-the-Lake, Niagara Peninsula, Ontario
Three Sisters Winery 2022 Tempranillo, Naramata Bench, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia
Uppercase Winery 2021 Malbec, British Columbia
Vieni Estates 2020 Aglianico Reserve, Vinemount Ridge, Niagara Peninsula, Ontario
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Arrowleaf 2022 Zweigelt, Lake Country, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia
Blasted Church 2021 Small Blessings Holy Moly Petit Verdot, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia
Blasted Church 2022 Small Blessings Mourvedre, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia
Church & State Wines 2020 Coyote Bowl Petit Verdot, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia
Crown & Thieves 2021 Jason Parkes Customs Malbec, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia
Deep Roots 2021 Malbec, Naramata Bench, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia
Dirty Laundry 2021 Cellar Series Malbec, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia
Fielding 2022 Malbec Glenlake Vineyard, Niagara Lakeshore, Niagara Peninsula, Ontario
Henry of Pelham 2022 Old Vines Baco Noir, Ontario
Henry of Pelham 2022 Speck Family Reserve Baco Noir , Short Hills Bench, Niagara Peninsula, Ontario
Konzelmann 2022 Zweigelt Reserve Barrel Aged, Niagara Peninsula, Ontario
Moon Curser 2022 Malbec, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia
Riverview Cellars 2021 Salvatore’s Reserve Malbec, Four Mile Creek, Niagara Peninsula, Ontario
Rust Wine Co. 2021 Zinfandel South Rock Vineyard, Golden Mile Bench, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia
Three Sisters Winery 2022 Zinfandel, Similkameen Valley, British Columbia
Wayne Gretzky 2022 Signature Series Baco Noir, Ontario
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