Top Canadian Red Single Varietals

(55 entries, 25 medals)

For Canadian wine adventurers, this sprawling category is one of the most interesting, with emerging varieties like gamay, malbec, petit verdot, barbera, nebbiolo and sangiovese, plus winter- hardy hybrids like baco noir and marechal foch. We included — rather than segregated — hybrids because they remain an important, and rarely recognized genre. (And nowhere on the label does one see the word hybrid!) With such a disparate group, there were fewer judges' comments, but Calgary’s Tom Firth thought several baco noirs were “well-balanced, structured and very drinkable.” Rothsay, New Brunswick’s Craig Pinhey liked “the acid and the tarry character of some foch.” Ottawa’s Janet Dorozynski was impressed with “fresh” gamays,“ where oak was kept in check and the fruit was not dried out.”

Red Single Varietal CWA Silver Medal Winners

Sandhill 2008 Small Lots Phantom Creek Vineyard Petit Verdot, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia $30

Quails' Gate 2008 Reserve Old Vines Foch, Westbank South, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia $40

Matos 2010 Gamay-Noir, Prince Edward Island $15

Henry Of Pelham 2009 Reserve Baco Noir, Ontario $25

Pentâge 2010 Gamay Noir, Skaha Bench, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia $20

Sandhill 2008 Small Lots Sandhill Estate Vineyard Barbera, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia $30

Red Single Varietal CWA Bronze Medal Winners

Desert Hills 2008 Proprietor’s Reserve Malbec, Oliver, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia $35

Mt. Boucherie 2008 Summit Reserve Blaufränkisch, Cawston, Similkameen Valley, British Columbia $25

Sandbanks 2009 Reserve Baco Noir, Prince Edward County, Ontario $20

CedarCreek 2009 Platinum Malbec, Osoyoos, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia $45

Sandhill 2008 Small Lots Phantom Creek Vineyard Malbec, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia $30

Moon Curser 2009 Tempranillo, Osoyoos, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia $29

Starling Lane 2009 Maréchal Foch, Vancouver Island, British Columbia $24

Gaspereau 2008 Barrel Select Lucie Kuhlmann, Annapolis Valley, Nova Scotia $25

Richibucto River 2010 Maréchal Foch, New Brunswick $16

House of Rose 2009 Maréchal Foch, East Kelowna, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia $18

Mt. Boucherie 2008 Family Reserve Zinfandel, Cawston, Similkameen Valley, British Columbia $35

Cassini 2009 Collector’s Series Malbec, Oliver, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia $29

Robin Ridge 2009 Gamay, Keremeos, Similkameen Valley, British Columbia $22

Richibucto River 2010 Reserve Maréchal Foch, New Brunswick $16

Alvento 2007 Aria, Niagara Peninsula, Ontario $35

Jost 2009 Côte St. George Maréchal Foch, Nova Scotia $15

Inniskillin Okanagan 2008 Discovery Series Malbec, Oliver, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia $25

Sandhill 2008 Small Lots Sandhill Estate Vineyard Sangiovese, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia $30

Gillis Of Belleisle 2010 Belleisle Premium Red, New Brunswick $25

Vineland 2010 Pinot Meunier, Niagara Escarpment, Niagara Peninsula, Ontario $18

Peller Estates Niagara-on-the-Lake 2010 Private Reserve Baco Noir, Ontario $17

Annapolis Highland 2010 Lucie Kuhlmann, Annapolis Valley, Nova Scotia $22

Domaine de Grand Pré 2010 Vintner's Reserve Castel, Annapolis Valley, Nova Scotia $20