Results of the 2018 WineAlign National Wine Awards of Canada (The Nationals)

Red Blends

Category overview by judge Sara d’Amato

This is a category that has long been dominated by British Columbia whose overall warmer weather lends itself to a multitude of later ripening red varieties. Blending to achieve balance plays an important role in warmer climates. We see blending used in the southern Rhône as opposed to the northern Rhône, for example. Ontario’s strength is typically within single grape varietal categories such as pinot noir, riesling and chardonnay. However, this year Ontario increased its gold medal count in the red blends category. One explanation has to do with the reputed 2016 vintage, of which 4 of Ontario’s gold medal winners originated. The vintage was warmer and drier than normal resulting in notably high-quality reds.

We begin to see some dependable trends in this category with several wineries achieving medal ranking year after year for subsequent vintages. Mission Hill’s Compendium and Road 13’s Fifth Element are two gold winning examples. This becomes important in a country whose regional wine identity is still developing. The Bordelaise/Meritage style blends are still, by far, the most popular but adding other varieties such as syrah to the mix is becoming more common in B.C. In Ontario, varieties such as baco noir are occasionally added but the trend is more towards the classic Bordeaux blend. Other globally borrowed blends include GSM (grenache-syrah-mourvèdre) styles, such as those of southern France, are mostly confined to B.C. There is no evidence in this category that appasimento style wines are trumping the quality of their un-dried counterparts. The wines that achieved highest rankings were top examples of a great range of styles yet they all impressed the judges with their integration of flavours, their judicious use of oak and their authenticity.

Red Blends had the most entries of any category in 2018 with 209 wines and the most medals with 93.

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Blasted Church 2015 Nothing Sacred, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia
Blind Creek Collective 2015 Consensus, Similkameen Valley, British Columbia
Bonamici Cellars 2016 Merlot Cabernet Franc, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia
Caroline Cellars 2016 The Farmer’s Red, Ontario
CedarCreek 2014 Platinum The Last Word, British Columbia
CedarCreek 2015 Meritage, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia
Clos du Soleil 2014 Signature, Similkameen Valley, British Columbia
Corcelettes 2015 Meritage, Similkameen Valley, British Columbia
D’Angelo 2014 Sette Coppa, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia
Hugging Tree 2014 Telltale , Similkameen Valley, British Columbia
Indigenous 2016 Hee Hee Tel Kin, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia
Kacaba 2016 Cabernet Syrah, Niagara Escarpment, Niagara Peninsula, Ontario
LaStella 2016 Fortissimo, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia
Laughing Stock 2015 Portfolio, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia
Mission Hill 2015 Compendium, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia
Nk’Mip Cellars 2015 Merriym Red Meritage, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia
Noble Ridge 2014 King’s Ransom Meritage, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia
Painted Rock 2015 Red Icon, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia
Pentâge 2013 Skaha Bench GSM, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia
Redstone 2013 The Club Cabernet Merlot, Lincoln Lakeshore, Niagara Peninsula, Ontario
River Stone 2015 Stones Throw, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia
Road 13 2013 5th Element, British Columbia
Seven Stones 2014 The Legend Estate, Similkameen Valley, British Columbia
The Foreign Affair 2016 Conspiracy, Niagara Peninsula, Ontario
TimBuckTwo 2016 Cab Merlot, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia
Two Sisters 2012 Stone Eagle, Niagara River, Niagara Peninsula, Ontario
Two Sisters 2013 Eleventh Post, Niagara River, Niagara Peninsula, Ontario
Van Westen 2015 Voluptuous, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia

Backyard Vineyards 2016 Gossip, British Columbia
Bench 1775 2014 Cabernet Sauvignon Merlot, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia
Bench 1775 2016 Groove Red, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia
Burrowing Owl 2014 Meritage, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia
Burrowing Owl 2015 Athene, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia
CedarCreek 2014 Platinum Desert Ridge Meritage, British Columbia
Dark Horse 2015 Valegro Meritage Special Reserve, Ontario
Desert Hills 2016 Cactus Red, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia
Fielding 2016 Cabernet-Syrah, Niagara Peninsula, Ontario
Fitzpatrick 2016 Sudden Inversion Meritage, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia
Fort Berens 2015 Red Gold, British Columbia
Indigenous 2013 Simo, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia
JoieFarm 2016 PTG, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia
Kismet 2015 Moksha, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia
Kismet 2016 Karma, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia
La Frenz 2015 Grand Total Reserve, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia
Lake Breeze 2016 Meritage, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia
Lunessence 2016 Crescendo, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia
Magnotta 2015 Enotrium, Niagara Peninsula, Ontario
Monte Creek Ranch 2015 Cabernet Merlot, British Columbia
Moraine 2014 Meritage, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia
Noble Ridge 2015 Reserve Meritage, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia
Osoyoos Larose 2014 Le Grand Vin, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia
Pelee Island 2017 Cabernet Merlot, Pelee Island, Ontario
Prospect Winery 2016 Stags & Bears Cabernet Merlot, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia
Quails’ Gate 2015 The Connemara, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia
Rathjen Cellars 2016 Wine Bunker Red, Vancouver Island, British Columbia
Redstone 2015 Redstone Meritage, Lincoln Lakeshore, Niagara Peninsula, Ontario
Road 13 2016 GSM, British Columbia
Robin Ridge 2013 Signature Series Meritage, Similkameen Valley, British Columbia
Sandhill 2016 Cabernet Merlot Terroir Driven Wine, British Columbia
See Ya Later Ranch 2015 Ping Meritage, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia
Singletree 2015 Harness, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia
Southbrook 2015 Poetica Red, Four Mile Creek, Niagara Peninsula, Ontario
Stag’s Hollow 2015 Renaissance Meritage, British Columbia
The Hatch 2016 Screaming Frenzy Meritage, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia
Thornhaven 2017 XV, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia
Tightrope 2016 Equipoise, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia
Tightrope 2016 Vertigo, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia
Wayne Gretzky 2016 Estate Series Shiraz Cabernet, Niagara Peninsula, Ontario
Wild Goose 2016 Red Horizon Meritage, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia

Blue Grouse 2016 Quill Red, British Columbia
C.C. Jentsch 2014 The Chase, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia
Caroline Cellars 2016 The Farmer’s Meritage, Niagara-on-the-Lake, Niagara Peninsula, Ontario
Château des Charmes 2014 Equuleus  Paul Bosc Estate Vineyards, St David’s Bench, Niagara Peninsula, Ontario
Dark Horse 2015 One Horse Town Cabernet Merlot, Ontario
Deep Roots 2016 Parentage Red, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia
Evolve 2016 Cabernet Merlot, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia
Jackson-Triggs Okanagan 2015 Grand Reserve Red Meritage, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia
Jackson-Triggs Okanagan 2015 Red Meritage Sunrock Vineyard, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia
Lake Breeze 2013 Cellar Series Tempest, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia
Moon Curser 2016 Dead of Night, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia
Nighthawk 2016 Nocturnus, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia
Osoyoos Larose 2014 Pétales d’Osoyoos, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia
Peller Estates Niagara 2016 Private Reserve Meritage, Niagara Peninsula, Ontario
Poplar Grove 2015 Benchmark, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia
Red Rooster 2015 Rare Bird Series Meritage, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia
Road 13 2016 Cabernet Merlot, British Columbia
Road 13 2016 Seventy-Four K, British Columbia
Sandhill 2015 Small Lots One Phantom Creek Vineyard, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia
Stag’s Hollow 2015 Heritage Block, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia
Therapy 2016 Freud’s Ego, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia
Thirty Bench 2016 Winemaker’s Blend Red, Beamsville Bench, Niagara Peninsula, Ontario
Vanessa Vineyard Right Bank 2014, Similkameen Valley, British Columbia
vinAmitie 2015 Compass, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia

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