The Wine Access Canadian Wine Awards (CWA) are Canada's premiere competition for Canadian made wine.

The Best of Canadian Wine Since 2001.

The Wine Access Canadian Wine Awards is Canada's leading national wine competition open to all wines that are 100 percent Canadian grown, fermented and bottled. Since its inception in 2001, the Canadian Wine Awards quickly became the most important competition for Canadian wine in the country. A great deal of prestige is involved in capturing any of the major awards, including the coveted Wine Access Canadian Winery of the Year title.

The Wine Access 2009 Canadian Winery of the Year will be announced in the beginning of November, 2009.

The Wine Access CWA judges nearly 1,000 wines from across the country in nearly 30 categories. Some of Canada's leading wine writers, journalists, sommeliers, buyers and industry professionals come together from across Canada to comprise the Wine Access CWA National Tasting Panel. Wines are sorted into flights by the Competition Director and then tasted blind by various panels led by a senior Wine Access Tasting Panel member.

Full results from the 2009 Canadian Wine Awards are published in the December 2009/January 2010 issue of Wine Access magazine. In addition, results will appear in the spring in the Wine Access Canadian Wine Annual, the definitive guide to Canadian wineries which is seen by more than 40,000 consumers and wine tourists. 

Entering the Wine Access 2010 Canadian Wine Awards

Cost of Entry

$100 CDN per entry. Each entry will be subject to 5 percent GST.

New in 2009: 3 bottles of each entry are required for judging purposes in order to minimize shipping costs, packaging requirements, and cost of product. Smaller format bottles (200ml, 375ml etc.) should send 4 bottles for sampling purposes. Payment can be made by major credit card (American Express/MasterCard/Visa). Wineries are welcome to send a fourth bottle of wine if there is concern that a wine might have a closure fault.

Who can enter?

Entries must:

• Be 100 percent grown, vinified and bottled in Canada. Wines bearing the VQA (Vintners Quality Alliance) logo automatically qualify. Likewise for fruit wines bearing the QC designation of Fruit Wines of Canada.
  Wineries submitting non-VQA or non-QC wines must consent to an audit of origin if requested by the Canadian Wine Awards;

• Have a minimum production equal to or greater than 75 cases (12 bottles/case) of 750ml bottles or equivalent volume;

• Be available for public retail sale somewhere in Canada during the 2009 calendar year, or scheduled for release by January 31, 2010.
  Please note: As full wine results will be released in late November 2009, wines should still be available in the market at this time;

• Be a current vintage.
  The Canadian Wine Awards is designed to award current releases and provide a forum for discussion of current vintages. As a result, older wines are not eligible, even if they remain commercially available;

• Please refer to the complete Rules and Regulations for varietal or style-specific qualifications.

THE JUDGING PROCESS

All wines are judged in categories according to varietal or style, not their province of origin. They will be further sub-grouped by vintage within the flights. All wines will be scored using the Wine Access 100-point system. If you would like a sample of the scoring guidelines, please contact Event Manager Tom Firth. Each wine earning the requisite points will get a medal. 

Gold medals = 90 - 100 points
Silver medals = 88 - 89 points
Bronze medals = 86 - 87 points

Click here for complete Rules and Regulations of the Wine Access Canadian Wine Awards

The 2009 CWA will take place in Toronto, Ontario. It is the responsibility of each entering winery to arrange for wines to arrive at either the consolidation point or the competition directly by the competition deadline.

Click here for detailed shipping instructions and guidelines

Make sure your wines are seen by more than a million consumers by entering the Wine Access 2010 Canadian Wine Awards!

A full brochure for the 2009 competition is also available for download

Click here to see full results the Wine Access 2008 Canadian Wine Awards.