THIS week saw the wraps pulled off the 12 wines chosen for the 2013 Lieutenant Governor's Awards for Excellence in British Columbia Wines, announced by the Honourable Judith Guichon.
All wineries in British Columbia were invited to submit their wines for judging by a panel of wine industry professionals, including the Hired Belly.
Wines submitted had to be from 100 per cent British Columbia grown grapes and produced in the province to be eligible. It's tempting to just run the list of winners without any comment, as the wines tend to stand on their own, and that's the point.
At the outset of this competition back in 2002, more than a few thought that selecting 10 or so wines from a field of more than 100 entries was a well nigh impossible task.
And now that the field has grown to more than four times that, you could argue it has become even more impossible. Yet the intriguing part is at the end of the day there's an extremely solid consensus among the panel on most of the wines awarded.
The lineup tends to reflect the success of a variety in a given vintage. For example, you won't find a whole lot of 2012 Pinot Gris or Chardonnay in the list below. That's not to say there weren't some worthy wines entered. They were just overshadowed by better showings in other varieties.
It's also noteworthy that almost all of the wines come from grapes grown in the south Okanagan: Osoyoos, Oliver and Okanagan Falls. In the spirit of the competition, I'm not going to single out any particular wines for attention, as they are all recognized equally. However, a little scrutiny will show that there are some pretty good values here.
Several wines jumped out of the glass in the first round as sure-fire winners. One suggestion I would offer is that some of these are worth buying by the case or at least the half case (OK, maybe not the icewine). You can always mix in some others to make up the box. Most, if not all, should be available (at least for a short while) from the winery and possibly elsewhere, such as from VQA stores.
This year adds up to the largest competition in the 11 year history of the awards, with 402 wines submitted from 109 wineries across the province. Here's the list:
? Burrowing Owl Estate Winery Cabernet Franc 2010
? Calona Vineyards Artist Series Pinot Noir 2011
? Church & State Wines Coyote Bowl Syrah 2010
? Eau Vivre Winery Pinot Noir 2010 (Similkameen)
? Hester Creek Estate Winery Block 3 Reserve Cabernet Franc 2010
? Inniskillin Okanagan Riesling Icewine 2011
? Red Rooster Winery Reserve Syrah 2010
? Red Rooster Viognier 2012
Stag's Hollow Winery Cachet
No. 03 Limited Edition 2010
? Stoneboat Vineyards Pinot Noir 2010
? Synchromesh Wines Storm Haven Vineyard Riesling 2011
? Wild Goose Vineyards and Winery Mystic River Vineyard Pinot Blanc 2012
In what has become one of the most popular events on the consular corps calendar, the lieutenant governor will visit the winning wineries with the corps from July 24 to July 26 to present the awards in person. For more information visit ltgov.bc.ca.
And for more details about the award winners check hiredbelly.com
Belly's Budget Best Masi Serego Alighieri 2010
Straight-ahead red delivers easy drinking with cherry, damson and floral notes, easy tannins and good length, for not a lot of dollars (BCLS $16.99, 89 points).
Tim Pawsey covers food and wine for numerous publications and online as the Hired Belly at hiredbelly.com. Contact: rebelmouse.com/hiredbelly, on Twitter @hiredbelly or email [email protected].
