Results of the 2022 WineAlign National Wine Awards of Canada (The Nationals)
Mead, Fruit Wine & Fortified
Category Overview by judge Janet Dorozynski DipWSET
This category is always an interesting one to judge as you get to taste a range of styles of wines made from base ingredients such as grapes, tree fruit, berries, honey, maple syrup and even dandelion flowers. It is also the category that we see the most representation from all parts of Canada and, judging from this year’s results, there continues to be abundant innovation and imagination in what is produced.
(Jump straight to the medal winners.)
Among the three gold medals, the La Frenz Liqueur Muscat from British Columbia’s Naramata Bench returns as a perennial winner, which draws its inspiration from the stickies of Rutherglen in Australia. Also from British Columbia, the delightfully intense and concentrated raspberry wine from Maan Farms in the Fraser Valley, the heart of the province’s fruit basket. On the opposite side of Canada, comes the medium-sweet sparkling mead from Planter’s Ridge in Nova Scotia’s Annapolis Valley, which will make a lovely finish to a meal.
Among the silver medals, there is a strong showing of fruit and mead along with fortified wines made from grapes, largely from the Prairies and British Columbia, including a second time medal for the off beat and intriguing Dandelion Flower wine from Alberta’s Spirit Hills.
La Frenz N/V Liqueur Muscat, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia
Maan Farms 2020 Raspberry, Fraser Valley, British Columbia
Planters Ridge NV Sparkling Mead, Nova Scotia
Bee & Thistle N/V The Abbey Fortified Haskap, Saskatchewan
Krause Berry Farms N/V Black Currant, Fraser Valley, British Columbia
Krause Berry Farms N/V Bumbleberry, Fraser Valley, British Columbia
La Frenz 2020 Vintage Port Style, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia
La Frenz N/V Tawny, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia
Loch Mór Cider NV Pommeau Barrel Aged, Ontario
Maan Farms 2020 Strawberry Raspberry Blend, Fraser Valley, British Columbia
Moraine 2020 O’Port, Naramata Bench, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia
Shrugging Doctor 2020 Carmine Jewel Cherry Wine, Manitoba
Shrugging Doctor Apple Cinnamon Mead, Manitoba
Spirit Hills 2021 Dande Dandelion Flower Wine, Alberta
Stolen Harvest Meadery 2022 Berries Borealis
Domaine Acer N/V Charles-Aime Robert (8 years old), Quebec
Domaine Acer NV Val Ambre (8 years old), Quebec
Domaine Le Cageot NV 1870 Le Grand Feu, Quebec
Domaine Le Cageot NV Cageolais, Quebec
Krause Berry Farms N/V Illuminate Viam, Fraser Valley, British Columbia
La Casa Bianca 2022 Haskap Berry, British Columbia
Lake Breeze N/V Cellar Series Chinook, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia
Muskoka Lakes 2016 Portage Blueberry Port-Style Wine, Ontario
Muskoka Lakes 2018 Muskoka Red, Ontario
Northern Lights 2018 Bell Family Reserve, British Columbia
Northern Lights N/V Boreal Frizzante, British Columbia
Stolen Harvest Meadery 2020 Salted Caramel Bochet Limited Edition, Alberta
Winegarden Estate NV Rubina Blueberry Wine, New Brunswick
