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

Gamay

Category Overview by Judge Janet Dorozynski, Ph.D., DipWSET

(Jump straight to the medal winners.)

I have been a gamay watcher and enthusiast for over a decade and tasting it for even longer. I also coined the hashtag #gogamaygo in 2012 because I love the complex simplicity, juiciness and freshness of gamay and believe it to be so well suited to many regions across Canada. I have been judging and writing up the NWAC gamay category overview for the past five years and from this vantage point, it is fascinating to see how things have changed, but yet how they remain the same.

Things change because every year we have new entries from newish wineries making gamay, like Wending Road in Niagara’s Creek Shores sub-appellation and 180 Estate Winery, also from Niagara in Jordan Station, both of whom took silver medals for their gamays this year.   

Some things also remain the same, and happily so. Many long-time advocates and stalwart producers of gamay continue to make excellent examples and place gold, like 13th Street, Malivoire and Stratus from Niagara in Ontario and Deep Roots from the Okanagan Valley’s Naramata Bench. There was first time gold at the National Wine Awards of Canada for the 2022 gamay from Three Sisters Winery, also from the Naramata Bench. A hearty congratulations to them and all of this year’s medal winners.

And the winners are…

13th Street Winery 2023 Gamay , Niagara Peninsula, Ontario
Deep Roots 2022 Reserve Gamay Noir, Naramata Bench, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia
Malivoire 2023 Gamay, Niagara Peninsula, Ontario
Malivoire 2023 Le Coeur Gamay, Beamsville Bench, Niagara Peninsula, Ontario
Stratus 2022 Gamay, Niagara-on-the-Lake, Niagara Peninsula, Ontario
Three Sisters Winery 2022 Gamay, Naramata Bench, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia

13th Street Winery 2022 Gamay Sandstone, Niagara Peninsula, Ontario
180 Estate Winery 2020 Gamay Noir Reserve Mia Cara Vineyard, Creek Shores, Niagara Peninsula, Ontario
Divergence Wines 2022 Gamay Noir Wismer Wingfield Vineyard, Twenty Mile Bench, Niagara Peninsula, Ontario
Malivoire 2022 Courtney Gamay, Beamsville Bench, Niagara Peninsula, Ontario
Peller Estates 2023 Private Reserve Gamay Novelle, Niagara-on-the-Lake, Niagara Peninsula, Ontario
Vieni Estates 2023 Novello Nouveau Gamay Noir, Vinemount Ridge, Niagara Peninsula, Ontario
Wending Home 2021 Estate Vineyard Gamay, Creek Shores, Niagara Peninsula, Ontario

Fielding 2023 Gamay, Niagara Peninsula, Ontario
Grange of Prince Edward 2022 Farmers Series County Gamay, Prince Edward County, Ontario
Inniskillin Niagara 2022 Discovery Series Gamay Noir, Niagara Peninsula, Ontario
Little Table Wine 2022 Gamay, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia
Niagara College Teaching Winery 2022 Dean’s List Gamay Noir, Niagara-on-the-Lake, Niagara Peninsula, Ontario
Peller Estates 2022 Private Reserve Gamay Noir, Niagara Peninsula, Ontario
Redstone Winery 2021 Gamay Noir , Twenty Mile Bench, Niagara Peninsula, Ontario
Redtail Vineyards 2023 Estate Gamay Noir , Prince Edward County, Ontario
Tawse 2023 Cuvée Spéciale Gamay Noir, Twenty Mile Bench, Niagara Peninsula, Ontario
Vieni Estates 2020 Gamay Noir, Vinemount Ridge, Niagara Peninsula, Ontario

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