Okanagan Spring Wine Awards

Spring Wine Picks. Photo Courtesy The Wine Festivals.

If you’re looking forward to a long weekend of wine, here are some of the Spring Releases you’ll want to sip and swirl.

The  Okanagan Wine Awards, part of The Wine Festivals, noted these vintages in last week’s award ceremonies. Of course, it’s up to you to taste and decide for yourself which ones you like best.

Mixed Red Varietals

• Winner Hillside Estate Winery Pinotage 2008
  Finalists The View Winery Pinotage 2008
  Sandhill Wines Small Lots Sangiovese 2007
  Inniskillin Okanagan Winery Discovery Series Malbec 2007

White Blend

• Winner Road 13 Vineyards Stemwinder 2009
  Finalists Gehringer Brothers Estate Winery Desert Sun 2009
  Intrigue Wines Nine 2009
  Blasted Church Vineyards Hatfield’s Fuse 2009
  Silkscarf winery Riesling Muscat 2009

Syrah/Shiraz

• Winner Sandhill Wines Small Lots Syrah 2008
  Finalists See Ya Later Ranch Rover 2007
  Mission Hill Family Estate Select Lot Collection Syrah 2007
  Painted Rock Estate Winery Painted Rock Syrah 2007
  Sandhill Wines Syrah 2008

Mixed White Varietals

• Winner CedarCreek Estate Winery Ehrenfelser 2009
  Finalists Road 13 Vineyards Old Vines Chenin Blanc 2009
  Arrowleaf Cellars Bacchus 2009
  Hillside Estate Winery Muscat Ottonel 2009

Other Icewine/Late Harvest

• Winner Inniskillin Okanagan Winery Discovery Series Tempranillo Icewine 2008

• Finalists Rollingdale Winery Sweet Tooth Series Pinot Gris Icewine 2008
• Ganton & Larsen Prospect Winery The Lost Bars Vidal Icewine 2007

Cabernet Franc

• Winner Peller Estates Winery Family Series Cabernet Franc 2008
  Finalist Burrowing Owl Estate Winery Cabernet Franc 2007

Pinot Gris

• Winner Pentage Winery Pinot Gris 2008
  Finalists CedarCreek Estate Winery Pinot Gris 2009
  Arrowleaf Cellars Pinot Gris 2009
  See Ya Later Ranch Pinot Gris 2008
  Wild Goose Vineyards Mystic River Pinot Gris 2009

Pinot Noir

• Winner Road 13 Vineyards Jackpot Pinot Noir 2007
  Finalists Arrowleaf Cellars Pinot Noir 2008
  CedarCreek Estate Winery Pinot Noir 2007
  Nk’Mip Cellars Pinot Noir 2008
  Nk’Mip Cellars Qwam Qwmt Pinot Noir 2008

Unoaked Chardonnay

Winner Blasted Church Vineyards Chardonnay Musque 2009
Finalist Ganton & Larsen Prospect Winery Townsend Jack Unoaked Chardonnay 2008

Gewurztraminer

• Winner Hillside Estate Winery Gewurztraminer 2009
  Finalists Arrowleaf Cellars Solstice Gewurztraminer 2009
  Gray Monk Estate Winery Gewurztraminer 2008
  Sumac Ridge Estate Winery Gewurztraminer 2008
  The View Winery Gewurztraminer 2009

Fruit Wine

• Winner Forbidden Fruit Winery Plumiscuous Plum Mistelle 2009
  Finalist Forbidden Fruit Winery Cherysh Cherry Rose 2009

Red Blend

• Winner Twisted Tree Vineyards and Winery Long Creek Red Second Crossing 2007
  Finalists Dunham & Froese Estate Winery Amicitia Red Blend 2008
  Jackson-Triggs Okanagan Estate Propreitors’ Grand Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon Shiraz 2007

Chardonnay

• Winner Sandhill Wines Small Lots Single Block Chardonnay 2008
  Finalists See Ya Later Ranch Chardonnay 2008
  Peller Estates Winery Private Reserve Chardonnay 2008
  Painted Rock Estate Winery Chardonnay 2008

Red Meritage Blend

• Winner Nk’Mip Cellars Qwam Qwmt Meritage 2007
  Finalists Painted Rock Estate Winery Red Icon 2007
  Sandhill Wines Small Lots Two 2007
  Jackson-Triggs Okanagan Estate SunRock Vineyard Red Meritage 2007
  Quinta Ferreira Estate Winery Obra-Prima 2007
  Twisted Tree Vineyards and Winery Six Vines 2008

Riesling

• Winner Nk’Mip Cellars Riesling 2008
  Finalists See Ya Later Ranch Riesling 2008
  Intrigue Wines Riesling 2009

Rose/Blush

• Winner Stag’s Hollow Winery & Vineyard Syrah Rose 2009
  Finalists See Ya Later Ranch Nelly 2008
  Mission Hill Family Estate Five Vineyards Rose 2009
  Red Rooster Winery Rose 2009

Riesling Icewine

• Winner Jackson-Triggs Okanagan Estate Proprietors’ Reserve Riesling Icewine 2007
  Finalist Jackson-Triggs Okanagan Estate Proprietors’ Grand Reserve Rielsing Icewine 2007

Sparkling

Winners Sumac Ridge Estate Winery Sparkling Gewurztraminer 2008
Sumac Ridge Estate Winery Sparkling Rose 2008

Merlot

• Winner Painted Rock Estate Winery Painted Rock Merlot 2007
  Finalists CedarCreek Estate Winery Merlot 2007
  Ganton & Larsen Prospect Winery Major Allan’ Merlot 2007
  Jackson-Triggs Okanagan Estate Propreitor’s Grand Reserve Merlot 2007
  Sandhill Wines Small Lots Single Block Merlot 2007
  Tinhorn Creek Vineyards Tinhorn Creek Merlot 2007
  Cassini Cellars Nobilus 2008
  Sandhill Wines Merlot 2008

Pinot Blanc

• Winner Wild Goose Vineyards Mystic River Pinot Blanc 2009
  Finalists Artisan Wine Co. White Bear Pinot Blanc 2008
  Peller Estates Winery Family Series Pinot Blanc 2009

Cabernet Sauvignon

• Winner Burrowing Owl Estate Winery Cabernet Sauvignon 2007
  Finalists Peller Estates Winery Private Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon 2008
  Jackson-Triggs Okanagan Estate Propreitors’ Grand Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon
  2006
  Church & State Wines Coyote Bowl Cabernet Sauvignon 2007

Sauvignon Blanc

• Winner Jackson-Triggs Okanagan Estate Propreitors’ Edition Sauvignon Blanc 2009
  Finalists Blasted Church Vineyards Sauvignon Blanc 2009
  Artisan Wine Co. White Bear Sauvignon Blanc 2008

Viognier

• Winner Sandhill Wines Small Lots Viognier 2009
  Finalist Red Rooster Winery Viognier 2009

2010  Best of Varietal Wine Awards    http://www.OkanaganWineAwards.com

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Okanagan Wineries’ WineTripper App for the iPhone

by Jeff Pennal

Every year my wife and I take a tour through the Okanagan hitting many of our favourite wineries, tasting and purchasing many bottles of wine, and basking in the glory of the majestic interior, with its breath-taking scenery and lovely lakes.

Last Spring, we decided to take an early trip through the Okanagan to pick up some more wine and enjoy the beautiful spring blossoms in the orchards – we had stopped at the local tourist info centre and grabbed a handful of winery brochures and maps of the wineries and we were off.  We discovered that there were some downfalls to using the maps – the hours were not listed nor their open season.  We were there early in the spring and some of our favourite wineries were not open!  This is when we decided to create an iPhone App that would eliminate the need to stop for maps and brochures altogether.

Wine Tripper has a great map of the wineries in BC, a comprehensive list of those wineries including their address and hours of operation, and a place where you can make notes on the wines you have tasted and your opinions.  My wife’s favourite aspect of the Wine Tripper app is that when you pull up the map of the area the red dots indicate wineries that are closed and the green ones are open – this eliminates the extra time and disappointment of driving by a winery that is closed for the off-season.  I like that you can easily get a listing of the wineries that are closest to you based on proximity.  You will like that the Wine Tripper BC iPhone app costs only $2.99 to buy and will save you time and make your wine touring much more enjoyable!

Check it out at http://www.bennalsoft.com/winetripper

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Okanagan Greens A Conduit For Local Food

Okanagan Greens hosted this weekend their Conduit Festival.  It was a celebration of live music, local farms, art, emerging artists and all things Okanagan.There were over 100 local poets, musicians, crafters and artists contributing.  Story tellers from En’Owkin shared ancient stories of the land and generations past.

Okanagan Greens’ Conduit Festival Event 2010

Conduit is all about the Global Green Movement. It is a Zero Waste all Organic and Local faire, self-sufficiency Festival that dealt with the issue of Climate change with proactive creative solutions from the Okanagan community. It is for everyone to be inspired and involved in our societal evolution, understanding and wellbeing.

The 5th Annual Organic Okanagan Festival will be held at Summerhill Pyramid Winery September 26th, 2010.

For  more Information please go to:  Okanagan Greens

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