Results of the 2024 WineAlign National Wine Awards of Canada (The Nationals)
Riesling
Category Overview by Judge Janet Dorozynski, Ph.D, DipWSET
(Jump straight to the medal winners.)
While riesling still has its detractors, and many of us are waiting for that long overdue riesling revolution, I personally think that Canada is riesling land, as we have so many great and quality examples from coast to coast. It is a variety that is the perfect vector to express the place where it is grown and also counts among some of Canada’s oldest planted vinifera varieties, with plantings dating back to the mid 1970’s and early 1980’s in Niagara and the Okanagan Valley.
At this year’s National Wine Awards there were seventy-eight riesling medal winners, which was 8% of all NWAC medals. Riesling claimed 5.5 % of platinum medals and 9.5% of golds with many of the big wins going to long time and dedicated producers like Henry of Pelham, Inniskillin and Thirty Bench from Ontario and Synchromesh and Tantalus from British Columbia. Most of the wines tend to be dry to off-dry with a ripeness and symphony of fruit combined with the juicy and racy acidity that makes riesling so compelling and food friendly.
The top scoring and platinum medal went to the Thirty Bench 2021 Small Lot Wood Post Vineyard Riesling, which is one of several single vineyard rieslings from this winery in Niagara’s Beamsville Bench sub-appellation. The wines are made by the talented winemaker Emma Garner from riesling vineyards that date back to 1980.
And the winners are…
Henry of Pelham 2023 Speck Family Reserve Riesling, Short Hills Bench, Niagara Peninsula, Ontario
Inniskillin Niagara 2022 Discovery Series Susse Reserve Riesling, Niagara Peninsula, Ontario
La Frenz Winery 2022 Riesling 21B Freedom 75 Vineyard, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia
Lailey Winery 2022 Off-Dry Riesling Lailey Vineyard, Niagara River, Niagara Peninsula, Ontario
Lake Breeze 2023 Riesling, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia
Megalomaniac Wines 2021 Narcissist Riesling, Niagara Peninsula, Ontario
Organized Crime 2023 Riesling, Beamsville Bench, Niagara Peninsula, Ontario
Peak Cellars 2022 Estate Grown Block 11 Riesling, Lake Country, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia
Quails’ Gate 2022 Clone 49 Riesling, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia
Quails’ Gate 2023 Clone 49 Riesling, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia
Storm Haven 2022 Riesling Boulders, Okanagan Falls, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia
Synchromesh 2023 Dry Riesling Storm Haven Vineyard White Label, Okanagan Falls, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia
Tantalus Vineyards 2021 Old Vines Riesling, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia
Thirty Bench 2021 Small Lot Riesling Triangle Vineyard, Beamsville Bench, Niagara Peninsula, Ontario
Two Sisters Vineyards 2021 Riesling , Beamsville Bench, Niagara Peninsula, Ontario
Van Westen 2022 Viscous, Naramata Bench, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia
Adamo Estate Winery 2022 Estate Riesling, Ontario
Bartier Bros. 2022 Riesling, Thompson, British Columbia
CedarCreek 2023 Estate Grown Riesling, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia
CedarCreek 2023 Platinum Naramata Bench Riesling, Naramata Bench, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia
Charles Baker 2021 Riesling Picone Vineyard, Vinemount Ridge, Niagara Peninsula, Ontario
Charles Baker 2022 Riesling B-Side, Niagara Peninsula, Ontario
Country Vines 2022 Suzie Q Dry Riesling, Naramata Bench, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia
De Simone Vineyards 2022 Riesling, Niagara-on-the-Lake, Niagara Peninsula, Ontario
En Terre 2023 Riesling Boulders & Gold Digger Blocks, Okanagan Falls, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia
Fielding 2022 Riesling, Niagara Peninsula, Ontario
Flat Rock Cellars 2023 Capstone Series Nadja’s Vineyard Riesling , Twenty Mile Bench, Niagara Peninsula, Ontario
Flat Rock Cellars 2023 Foundation Series Riesling, Niagara Peninsula, Ontario
Fort Berens 2022 Wild Ferment Riesling Reserve, Lillooet, British Columbia
Fort Berens 2023 Riesling, British Columbia
Inniskillin Niagara 2022 Reserve Series Riesling, Niagara-on-the-Lake, Niagara Peninsula, Ontario
JoieFarm 2022 En Famille Whitfield Vineyard Riesling, Summerland Lakefront, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia
La Frenz Winery 2023 Riesling 21B Freedom 75 Vineyard, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia
Ravine Vineyard 2023 Small Batch Riesling, Four Mile Creek, Niagara Peninsula, Ontario
Redstone Winery 2021 Dry Riesling Limestone Vineyard South, Twenty Mile Bench, Niagara Peninsula, Ontario
Stirling Gait 2020 Riesling, Ontario
Storm Haven 2022 Gold Digger Riesling, Okanagan Falls, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia
Synchromesh 2023 Riesling Dry Long’s View Vineyard, Naramata Bench, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia
Synchromesh 2023 Riesling Thorny Vines Vineyard, Naramata Bench, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia
Tawse 2021 Carly’s Block Riesling, Twenty Mile Bench, Niagara Peninsula, Ontario
Tawse 2021 Estate Vineyard Riesling, Niagara Peninsula, Ontario
The Foreign Affair 2023 Sussreserve Riesling, Vinemount Ridge, Niagara Peninsula, Ontario
Therapy Vineyards 2022 Riesling, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia
Thirty Bench 2021 Small Lot Riesling Steel Post Vineyard, Beamsville Bench, Niagara Peninsula, Ontario
Three Dog Winery 2022 Foxcroft Riesling, Twenty Mile Bench, Niagara Peninsula, Ontario
3Benches Estate Winery 2023 Riesling, Similkameen Valley, British Columbia
Blasted Church 2023 Small Blessings Riesling, Skaha Bench, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia
CedarCreek 2022 Aspect Collection Riesling, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia
Charles Baker 2023 Riesling Laundry Vineyard, Ontario
Fielding 2023 Riesling Estate Bottled, Beamsville Bench, Niagara Peninsula, Ontario
Fort Berens 2023 Dry Riesling Small Lot, Lillooet, British Columbia
Four Shadows Winery 2023 Riesling Dry, Naramata Bench, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia
Gaspereau Vineyards 2023 Riesling, Nova Scotia
Gray Monk 2023 Riesling, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia
Marynissen Estates 2023 Heritage Riesling Picone Vineyard, Niagara Peninsula, Ontario
Mayhem 2023 Riesling, Naramata Bench, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia
Monte Creek 2022 Ancient Waters Riesling, Thompson, British Columbia
Peak Cellars 2022 Terraces Dry Riesling, Lake Country, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia
Peller Estates 2022 Signature Series Riesling, Four Mile Creek, Niagara Peninsula, Ontario
Phantom Creek 2021 Limited Edition Small Lot Riesling, Similkameen Valley, British Columbia
Rosehall Run 2023 Riesling Righteous Dude Nedelko Vineyard, Twenty Mile Bench, Niagara Peninsula, Ontario
SpearHead 2022 Riesling, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia
Strewn 2022 Riesling Luscious, Niagara Peninsula, Ontario
Strewn 2022 Terroir Riesling, Niagara-on-the-Lake, Niagara Peninsula, Ontario
Synchromesh 2023 Dry Riesling Thorny Vines Vineyard, Naramata Bench, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia
Synchromesh 2023 Riesling Long’s View Vineyard, Naramata Bench, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia
Synchromesh 2023 Riesling Storm Haven Vineyard, Okanagan Falls, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia
Tawse 2021 Tawse Riesling, Niagara Peninsula, Ontario
Tawse 2022 Limestone Ridge North Riesling, Twenty Mile Bench, Niagara Peninsula, Ontario
Tawse 2022 Sketches Riesling, Niagara Peninsula, Ontario
Thirty Bench 2021 Small Lot Riesling ‘Wild Cask’, Beamsville Bench, Niagara Peninsula, Ontario
Trius 2022 Showcase Riesling Ghost Creek, Four Mile Creek, Niagara Peninsula, Ontario
Vieni Estates 2022 Riesling, Vinemount Ridge, Niagara Peninsula, Ontario
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