Four
wine societies: the Vancouver American Wine Society, the Australian Wine
Appreciation Society, the British Columbia Wine Appreciation Society, and Les
Chevaliers des Vins de France, took part in this event last evening.
All
attendees tasted – blind - 3 wines from each Society, and then voted for their
favourites. The votes were counted, and the Gold Medal went
to.......AUSTRALIA!!
The
results are tabled below.
1. Australia St. Halletts Blackwell Shiraz 2007
2. USA Starmont Merryvale CS 2006
3. BC Seven Stones Similkameen Meritage 2007
4. Australia Thorn- Clarke Shotfire Shiraz 2006
5. BC Fairview Cellars “The Bear” 2005
6. USA Kenwood “Jack London” CS 2005
7. BC Mission Hill “Compendium” 2006
8. USA Ridge Sonoma “Three Valleys” 2007
9. Australia Ringbolt Margaret River CS 2007
10. France Ch. Belle Vue Bordeaux 2004
11. France Canet Valette St. Chinian 2005
12. France Crozes Hermitage 2005
All
the wines had to be under $40.00 and readily available in the Liquor Store.
We,
in the AWAS, were particularly proud that the St. Halletts beat out 2nd
place by over 140 votes! The spread between 2nd and 4th
place was 7 votes, so we were delighted that the Shotfire Shiraz came so close
to the podium.
The Ringbolt CS suffered from quite a bit of bottle variation – the head of the US Society, tasting it blind, thought it could pass for a NZ Sauvignon Blanc. (Ignoring the colour of course!) Quite a few people did have this wine in their top 5.
This was a very enjoyable, and successful event. There were many attendees who wanted a repeat next year, focusing maybe on a single varietal. Your suggestions would be welcome.
Congratulations Australia!