Winners of Atlantic Canadian Wine Awards

Atlantic Canada’s Best Rise to the Top

This past weekend a selection of the region’s best sommeliers put their palates and noses to the test in an effort to determine the best wines of Atlantic Canada. The annual competition is hosted by the Canadian Association of Professional Sommeliers and managed by With Zest, a local event and tour business operated by The Chronicle Herald’s own Mark DeWolf, who also happens to be the national president of The Canadian Association of Professional Sommeliers.

The competition has been previously been held in Halifax, but this year the decision was made to move the competition to Wolfville, in the heart of Annapolis Valley wine country. According to competition organizer Mark DeWolf, national president of the Canadian Association of Professional Sommeliers (CAPS), “our decision to move the annual competition from Halifax to wine country reflects our desire to remind ourselves that great wines are reflections of their place. Judging the wines, surrounded by vines and nearby views of the Minas Basin, part of the Bay of Fundy — the ecological key of Nova Scotia’s terroir — made this connection of the wines to their place more palpable.”

Instead of awarding multiple awards in each category, the Atlantic Wine Awards only recognizes the top wine in each, making the award of Best of Class a truly prestigious title.

 

Of the overall quality of the wines, DeWolf says, “Every year we see the bar raised higher. This year was no exception. This is a testimony to the efforts of our local wineries to push themselves to be better. At the top end, particularly in categories such as Traditional Method Sparkling Wines, Dessert Wines and White Vitis Vinifera, we were thrilled to taste wines that deserve national, even international, praise. The quality of our very best wines in categories such as Traditional Method Sparkling Wine is on par with the best in the country.”

 

The Annapolis Valley’s Lightfoot & Wolfville, which practices organic and biodynamic viticulture, took a number of the top awards including, Winery of the Year, Wine of the Year and Best of Class Sparkling Wine for their 2013 Lightfoot & Wolfville Blanc de Blanc Extra Brut. The ambitious 100 per cent Chardonnay, made using the traditional method, was aged on its lees for three years. DeWolf describes it as “boasting an enviable balance of autolytic richness and snappy, flavour enlivening-acidity that defines the Nova Scotia TM style.”

 

Of the recognition

 

Winery of the Year — Lightfoot & Wolfville

Wine of the Year — 2013 Lightfoot & Wolfville Blanc de Blanc Extra Brut Late Disgorged

 

Best of Class White Wine — 2015 Lightfoot & Wolfville L’Ancienne Chardonnay

Best of Class Tidal Bay — 2017 Domaine de Grand Pré Tidal Bay
Best of Class Red Wine — 2017 Lightfoot & Wolfville Kekfrankos
Best of Class Sparkling Wine — 2013 Lightfoot & Wolfville Blanc de Blanc Extra Brut Late Disgorged

Other Awards:

Best of Class Non-Traditional Sparkling — 2016 Planters Ridge Elevation
Best of Class White Single Varietal, Vitis Vinifera — 2015 Lightfoot & Wolfville L’Ancienne Chardonnay
Best of Class White Single Varietal, Hybrid — 2017 Avondale Sky Muscat
Best of Class White Blend — 2017 Planters Ridge Quintessence White
Best of Class Rosé — 2017 Lightfoot & Wolfville Rosé
Best of Class Red Single Varietal, Vitis Vinifera — 2017 Lightfoot & Wolfville Kekfrankos
Best of Class Red Single Varietal, Hybrid — 2015 Domaine de Grand Pre Vintner’s Reserve Leon Millot
Best of Class Fruit Wine — NV Lunenburg County Winery Birchtown Blackcurrant
Best of Class Dessert Wine — NV Avondale Sky Martock Late Harvest Vidal