Canada's winemakers celebrated a historic moment at the Global Fine Wine Challenge in Sydney, with eight runner-up awards, 11 double gold and 17 gold medal citations.Bodegas Atalaya
Mere days after the Canadian men’s team left the World Cup with their heads held high, this country’s winemakers celebrated their own historic moment at the Global Fine Wine Challenge in Sydney, with Burrowing Owl Estate winning the Syrah/shiraz trophy over legendary producers from Australia. Canada also won trophies for the top-scoring wines in the cabernet franc, Pinot Grigio/Pinot Gris and dessert wine classes, along with a total of eight runner-up awards, 11 double gold and 17 gold medal citations.
Now in its 19th year, the Global Fine Wine Challenge is a curated competition, with wines from Australia, Canada, New Zealand, South Africa and the United States nominated by wine experts from their home regions. Unlike most wine competitions where producers are free to enter any wines they wish to submit, wines need to be invited to this tasting.
It’s been my responsibility to nominate the Canadian wines since 2016, the first time our country’s wines were welcome in the challenge. Each country representative is asked to put forward wines for 22 different classes, with a maximum of 10 in any class and a maximum of 120 entries.
I’ve always seen this unique competition as a chance to change perceptions, perhaps even shock the world. Many Canadian wine lovers continue to downplay the quality of the wines produced in British Columbia, Ontario, Quebec and Nova Scotia. Canadian-made white wines may receive grudging admiration, but red wines are routinely dismissed out-of-hand.
Connoisseurs who love to hold a grudge continue to play the Baby Duck card, conjuring up that Ghost of Canadian Wine Past to slight the industry. Ultimately that’s a self-own that shows they haven’t been paying attention. (While Baby Duck continues to have a strong following – more than 7,750 bottles were part of the LCBO’s inventory at the time of writing – it’s not indicative of the styles of wines coming out of Canada’s vineyards today.)
International success for Canadian icewines is nothing new. Ever since 1991, when Inniskillin won the Grand Prix D’Honneur from Vinexpo, France for its 1989 Icewine, medals from various international wine competitions have been in steady supply, which likely prompted the icewine nickname: “liquid gold.” That first recognition was huge, however, launching Inniskillin into the international wine arena and establishing Canada as a leading producer of icewine from grapes naturally frozen on the vine.
Seeing Burrowing Owl Syrah 2019 and Mission Hill Family Estate Terroir Collection Jagged Rock Vineyard Syrah 2020 atop the podium in one of the most fiercely contested categories of the challenge is equally significant. These Okanagan wineries beat the best of Australia, at a tasting in Australia, overseen by Australian judges. Other medal winners included Hickinbotham Brooks Road Shiraz 2020, Mount Langi Ghiran Shiraz 2019 and Wynns Coonawarra Estate Michael Shiraz 2019 as well as other top shirazes revered by collectors around the world.
Mission Hill and Burrowing Owl enjoyed particularly strong showings at this year’s Global Fine Wine Challenge. Mission Hill Family Estate Terroir Collection Vista’s Edge Cabernet Franc 2020 took home the cabernet franc trophy, the second time this venerable Okanagan winery placed first in the category. Mission Hill Quatrain 2017, a blend of Syrah, merlot, cabernet franc and cabernet sauvignon, was the runner-up in a Red Blends category, which included many highly touted cabernet-shiraz blends from Australia. Meanwhile, Burrowing Owl’s Malbec from the 2019 vintage was the runner-up in the Other Reds (Full-Bodied) category.
The other trophy winners were Gray Monk Odyssey Pinot Gris 2021 and Pillitteri Estates Family Reserve Riesling Icewine 2017, marking the second time that the family-owned Niagara-on-the-Lake winery has won the dessert wine trophy.
It’s important to note that Canadian wines of every style and colour – including Speck Bros. Three of Hearts Rosé 2021, which earned a double gold medal in the recently added rosé category – won strong endorsements at this year’s competition. As a result, Canada enjoyed its best showing in the competition to date. Our standing improves year over year as wineries become more supportive of the challenge. Not every producer who gets nominated will enter – more than 200 invitations were sent out to garner the 120 submissions.
Winemakers often question the benefit of sending wine off to Sydney, where very few Canadian wines are sold. Another commercial consideration is that nominations are made in March to allow for consolidation and shipping to Australia in time for the tasting, but the results aren’t available until December. Many of the winning wines are sold out before the results are public, as is the case for Burrowing Owl’s winning red wines and Gray Monk’s trophy winner.
But the opportunity to benchmark against elite wineries from around the world and build credibility for Canadian’s industry is a significant drawing card. It’s not about promoting one particular wine, it’s about selling the notion that Canadian wine producers truly rank amongst the best in the world.
Judging took place over four days in Sydney in November, where Trophy, Double Gold and Gold medal-winning wines were selected from the 600 entries. On the final day, White Wine of Show, Red Wine of Show and Wine of Show were awarded from the 20 class winners. Ordinarily the wines would be evaluated by the nominating judges from each country, but that practice was interrupted by the pandemic.
For the second year, the scores were awarded by a team of Australian-based Masters of Wine, including Andrew Caillard, Toni Paterson and Andrea Pritzker. The Master of Wine qualification is awarded by the U.K.-based Institute of Masters of Wine following rigorous examinations to illustrate exceptional expertise in the wine world. There are presently 415 MWs based in 30 countries.
Australia was crowned best overall nation, having earned six trophies, including Wine of Show for Accolade Arras Museum Release Blanc de Blanc Sparkling 2001 and White Wine of Show for Deep Woods Estate Reserve Chardonnay 2021, and a total of 53 medals.
The results were announced Dec. 9 at ceremony in Sydney. The full lineup is available via globalfine.wine.
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