When you hear the expression that something “is worth its weight in gold,” think about the 38 wines that took home gold medals from the Wine Access 2010 Canadian Wine Awards.

From the beginning, 10 years ago, founding editor David Lawrason and I decided we would run the competition similar to the Buyer’s Guide. We built a team of the country’s best, most consistent judges; during tasting, each wine must compete to be scored out of 100 points. It may then be awarded a medal according to a predetermined scale that fixes the number of points required for medals. In other words, we can award more than one gold and silver in each category. Or, in some cases, we may not award a gold at all.

The system takes the business of awarding medals away from our judges, and leaves them to concentrate on evaluating the quality of the wine in each glass.

The system is not perfect, but we believe the best wines in the country are getting their due. The CWA is designed to award excellence in winemaking, not just hand out medals.

Medal Results at the Wine Access 2010 Canadian Wine Awards

This year, we gave out the most golds ever: 38. But that is still a miserly 4.2 percent of all entries.

The silvers tell more of the story. Last year, we awarded 124 silver medals, more than one for every 10 entries. In 2010, that number jumped to 189, or two out of 10.

Such a sudden rise in quality isn’t easy to explain, given the mix of vintages and wineries. Or is it? Are technology, viticulture, winemaking and experience finally settling into a rhythm conducive to making fine wine?

The Advancement of Canadian Wine

Clearly, Canadian wine has advanced in 2010. After assessing nearly 1,000 wines at the CWA, we believe the country’s best wine is estate-made. Vineyards are tended with respect to the land; many wineries show a sense of environmental responsibility. The winemaker and viticulturalist have extensive international experience.

The performance report on page 43 should convince you of the above. Moray Tawse is a Burgundy freak; Inniskillin winemaker Bruce Nicholson is picking up in Ontario where he left off in British Columbia. When he started his winery, Mission Hill owner Anthony von Mandl was convinced Napa Valley had nothing (but a head start) on the Okanagan. Nk’Mip Cellars winemaker Randy Picton has access to some of B.C.’s oldest vineyards, while CedarCreek is the quintessential estate winery, growing more than 80 percent of its own grapes.

Believing in their country. Growing their own grapes. Showing a deep respect to the land. The Canadian wine industry, as you can see, is clearly worth its weight in gold.

In 2007, a veteran Canadian winemaker joined a time-tested Canadian producer. Nearly four years later, the potency of the combination is evident, with Inniskillin Wines vaulting up the Wine Access Canadian Wine Awards rankings to second place.

Founded by Donald Ziraldo and Karl Kaiser in 1975, Niagara’s Inniskillin was the recipient of the first winery licence handed out in Ontario. The company expanded into the Okanagan in 1994.

“Inniskillin was truly founded on…producing premium wines from premium grapes grown in the Niagara Peninsula,” says Deborah Pratt, a winery public relations spokesperson who has been with the company since the beginning.

“It’s exciting to be recognized and score well, but I think there’s that pride in the continuance of what we started 35 years ago.”

Inniskillin’s icewines have been the winery’s foot-in-the-door internationally, with wide availability and frequent accolades at national and international competitions. Kaiser produced their first icewine in 1984. Today, Pratt says, you can find Inniskillin icewines in 69 countries and on 27 airlines.

Bruce Nicholson came to Inniskillin to serve as senior winemaker after Kaiser retired. Originally from the Niagara region, he had spent more than 20 years working in the Okanagan Valley. In 2006, as senior winemaker, he produced icewines for Jackson-Triggs Okanagan Estates, then travelled across the country, landing in Niagara just in time for the icewine harvest.

But Nicholson wants people to know that Inniskillin produces more than just icewine. You can hear the passion in his voice as he talks about the quality of Canadian wine, and he says he wants to make sure that every grape that enters the winery reaches its maximum potential.

“If I’ve got a grape growing here, I want to make sure I make a great wine from it,” he says.

In 2007, his first full harvest in Niagara, Nicholson began his Legacy Series. Designed as a replacement for the Founders’ Series, there is only one Legacy wine released each vintage, and each has a very limited production. Cabernet franc was selected for the inaugural vintage, followed by riesling in 2008. In 2009, Nicholson selected pinot gris as the third grape to join the Legacy Series ranks.

“It was a way to highlight what I believe was the best of each vintage, the very best,” Nicholson says. In early September, he was already considering possibilities for the 2010 installment, his confidence fuelled by the quality of the vintage in Ontario.

“I take great offense at people who won’t drink Canadian wines, who don’t appreciate them, because then I realize that they don’t know,” Nicholson says. “We put out world-class wines and we’ve proven it time and again.”

“I would pour my wines anywhere in the world and be proud to do it.”