British Columbia wines: Can they compete?

Can the cream of the BC crop stand up against top wines from around the world? Michaela Morris reports...

British Columbia produces a mere drop of the world’s total wine production, and less than 5% of this makes it outside Canada.

Unsurprisingly then, Canada’s westernmost province has done very little benchmarking. That is until 2015, when renowned wine expert and Decanter’s consultant editor, Steven Spurrier paid a visit.

The British Columbia Wine Institute took the opportunity to stage a comparative blind tasting modelled after Spurrier’s legendary Judgement of Paris 1976 tasting, pitting British Columbia Chardonnay and Syrah against international counterparts.

It has since become an annual event with Riesling and Pinot Noir in 2016 followed by Merlot and Pinot Gris in 2017. In these past competitions, both local and international contenders were thoughtfully selected solely by wine consultant and educator, DJ Kearney.

The tasting

For the 2018 edition, Kearney assembled a panel of six seasoned Canadian professionals (myself included) to determine which wines would represent British Columbia. From a blind tasting of 30 traditional method sparkling wines and 99 red Bordeaux blends, we whittled it down to the top six in each category. Kearney did not reveal which wines we had chosen.

For the international opponents, Kearney selected six established benchmarks for each category, at comparable prices and with both a global reputation and successful track record in British Columbia.

Held on 24 October 2018, the competition brought together 37 judges from across Canada, the USA, the UK and Asia. Each rated the 12 wines per category individually, before all scores were averaged for a collective ranking.

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The sparkling wine flight

This was an absolute pleasure, both in the selection process and at the final competition. While it was not surprising that the international wines dominated, it was somewhat shocking that California’s Roederer Estate beat both Veuve Clicquot and Pierre Paillard. The fourth, fifth and sixth positions went to British Columbia contenders.

I was somewhat of an outlier, rating BC’s Blue Mountain Blanc de Blancs 2010 as number one. Nevertheless, based on the judges’ general enthusiasm, I’m not alone in my belief that traditional-method sparkling wine is one of the region’s strengths.

The judges’ results

1. Roederer Estate, Brut, Anderson Valley, California, USA NV

2. Veuve Clicquot, Brut, Champagne, France NV

3. Pierre Paillard, Les Parcelles Bouzy Grand Cru XIII, Champagne, France NV

4. Blue Mountain Vineyard & Cellars, Blanc de Blancs RD, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia, Canada 2010

5. Noble Ridge Vineyard & Winery, The One, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia, Canada 2012

6. Sperling Vineyards, Brut Reserve, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia, Canada 2011

7. Graham Beck, Brut Zero, South Africa 2011

8. Tantalus Vineyards, Blanc de Noir, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia, Canada 2015

9. Segura Viudas, Brut Reserva Heredad, Penedès, Spain NV

10. The View Winery, Pearls Traditional Brut, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia, Canada 2016

11. Fitzpatrick Family Vineyards, Fitz Brut, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia, Canada 2015

12. Mumm Napa, Brut Prestige, California, USA NV

The Bordeaux blends flight

Red Bordeaux blends are a popular category in British Columbia. Merlot is the most planted grape overall, and Cabernet Sauvignon is third amongst the reds. However, the Okanagan Valley’s compressed growing season, with hot days and cool nights, makes it difficult to achieve balanced sugar and phenolic ripeness. Overtly green tannins sometimes rear their ugly head.

In the selection round, we also came across a number of very extracted, heavily oaked wines. ‘We eliminated these and looked for the more elegant examples,’ my fellow panelist, Rhys Pender MW explained to the judges.

This clearly allowed British Columbia to put its best foot forward: Poplar Grove’s The Legacy 2014 and Laughing Stock Vineyards’ Portfolio 2015 took the top two spots.

Among the international wines, Blackbird’s opulently styled Arise blend from Napa Valley ranked third. While my own preference leaned towards the more restrained Bordeaux, it was in fact the Bordeaux-esque Osoyoos-Larose from British Columbia that gained my top mark.

The judges’ results

1. Poplar Grove Winery, The Legacy, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia, Canada 2014

2. Laughing Stock Vineyards, Portfolio, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia, Canada 2015

3. Blackbird, Arise, Napa Valley, California, USA 2015

4. Dominus Estate, Napanook, Napa Valley, California, USA 2014

5. Intersection Estate Winery, Axiom, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia, Canada 2014

6. Château Poujeaux, Moulis-en-Médoc, Bordeaux, France 2015

7. CedarCreek Estate Winery, The Last Word, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia, Canada 2014

8. Osoyoos Larose Estate Winery, Le Grand Vin, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia, Canada 2015

9. DeLille Cellars, D2, Columbia Valley, Washington State, USA 2013

10. Clos du Soleil Winery, Signature, Similkameen Valley, British Columbia, Canada 2014

11. Chateau de La Dauphine, Fronsac, Bordeaux, France 2015

12. Chateau d’Armailhac, Pauillac, Bordeaux, France 2015

This was the first time that a wine from British Columbia has come first in my personal ranking – not just in one but in both categories. I, like many of my Canadian colleagues, have been tough on our local wines, but clearly they have risen to the challenge on this occassion.

Canada factbox:

Total planting in Canada 12,540ha

Total annual wine production in Canada (VQA or 100% Canadian grapes) 43 million litres

Total plantings in British Columbia 4,249ha

Total annual wine production in BC (VQA or 100% BC grapes) >14 million litres

Most widely planted white varieties in BC Pinot Gris, Chardonnay, Gewurztraminer, Riesling, Sauvignon Blanc

Most widely planted red varieties in BC Merlot, Pinot Noir, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Syrah

Total exports from across Canada <5% of overall production

Michaela’s top-rated wines from the tasting:

We asked Michaela to pick her top six sparking wines and her top six Bordeaux blends

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