Canada holds cut-price wine competition

Experts will descend on Calgary next week to judge nearly 1,000 wines in an attempt to find the best buy in Canada.

The first International Value Wine Awards, organised by Wine Access magazine, will be held at Hotel Arts in Calgary from June 24 – 26. The all-Canadian panel of 15 will judge the wines, all at CAN$25 or less.

Competition director Steve Thurlow explained the reasoning behind the new competition.

‘I have taken part in wine competitions all over the world and in many cases you can’t get hold of the winning wines,’ he said. ‘They’re either made in small quantities or they’re very expensive. The vast number of Canadians who buy wines want to know what’s affordable to them. So we chose $25 as the top price point because that’s 95% of the market.’

The entries will be tasted in flights of varietals or similar blends and styles, irrespective price or region.

The competition has entries from twenty countries, including all the main wine-producing regions.

The judges will be divided into three panels. The top wines will be given ‘Best Wine Under $25 available in Canada’ as well as several other ‘bests’ based on country, category, price point and varietal.

The Decanter World Wine Awards also judges wines in price bands of over and under £10.

Written by Tony Aspler