Robert Bell's
Wines of Canada
Since 1992
All Canadaian Wine Awards
Surprises
Yes, in my mind there were a few surprises at the All Canadian Wine Awards for 2025. The organization added International Blends awards but that was expected. One of the bigger surprises was the medals won by New Brunswick and Quebec.
British Columbia walked away with the most medals which is no surprise since they have done that the last few years. BC has the second most wineries to Ontario who collected the second most medals. The big surprise was 4 Double Gold 5 Gold 2 silver and 2 Bronze won by New Brunswick. Perhaps the province outside of the Prairies with the lest number of wineries..
Quebec won 1 trophy and 12 Double Gold. They also colled 10 Gold,9 silver and 7 Bronze.
Miel Nature inc. (QC) won Best Mead of the Year for their Pomme et Miel. La Cantina won two Gold in the Rosés Dry Catagory.
Remember not all wineries enter these award competitions. Of those that did there were some surprising winners. Another surprise how few awards were were won by the older prestigious wineries.
Happy Knight Wines NB Won double Gold for their Cranberry Rosé a surprise maybe but then their consultant is the highly respected Dominic Rivard.
Magnetic Hill Winery , Moncton NB, won Double Gold for their Single White Hybrids The OC Osceola by the Sea 2024. A double surprise the won a nother Double Gold for their Terroir Generator New World Cali Style - Single Red Hybrids. Did I mention their third medal another Double Gold for their Soft Fruit off Dry Bay of Fundy and in the same catagory a silver for their Evangeline Blanc.
Bear River Vineyards!Coming out of Nova Scotia, a small Winery named for the town it is in Bear River Vineyards won Double Gold for White Hybrid Blends.
How about the new Solvero Wines winning Best White Wine of the Year for their 2022 Chardonnay; surprise or not after their winemake is the highly respected Alison Moyes.
Little know Keint-he Winery won Best Rose Wine of the Year. They also won a silver for their Portage Pinot Noir.
Maan Farms Estate Winery took home the best Fruit Wine Trophy for their Strawberry Dessert Wine.
Vancouver Island Cherry Point Estate Wines a Double Gold for their 2024 Spritzy Rosé
A winery I have heard very little about Villa Romana Estate Winery Inc in Ontario won a silver for the Cenerentolo 2022 Sparking Wine.
Another new winery to me Volta Estate Winery, in Prince EDward County , Ontario won a Silver for Chardonnay Unoaked.
I was not expecting Moraine Estate Winery on the Naramata Bench to take the DOuble Gold for Shiraz /over $35
I cannot say I was surprised that Baillie-Grohman won a double Gold for their Gewürztraminer , I would say it was about time they received recognition for their "fine" cellar of wines.
One winery that keeps surpring us is Alderlea Vineyards near Duncan on Vancouver Island, The husband and wife team of Zac Brown and Julie Powell keep producing outstanding wines. Winning a Double Gold for their 2024 Pinot Gris and more additional medals.
The Biggest Surprise Loose Wire Winery a New Brunswick-based winery that’s starting to make waves—especially after winning a Double Gold at the 2025 All Canadian Wine Championships for their 2024 Orange Pet Nat. They also received a Bronze for their Appassimento Style Experssimento. A winery I did not know about to just a few weeks ago and I have zero information about them!!
The ACWC started back in 1981, founded by a staff writer for the Windsor Star, Brian Bannon who was assigned as their medical reporter, but also did a wine column on the side. It was run annually in Windsor, Ontario. “I started the All-Canadian as material for a newspaper story,” recalls Brian, “I invited as many Canadian wineries as I could find to send someone to Windsor to showcase their wines.” The original format was a walk around tasting and the judges “were about 100 local restaurateurs, LCBO staffers and members of local wine clubs … Only nine wineries showed up to the first one, all from Ontario” and the overall winner was a 1979 Riesling from Chateau des Charmes. In year two a Newark 1980 Gewurztraminer took top honours (Newark was to later become Hillebrand / Trius). Brian ran the competition for some 21 years, and in 2002 he gave the awards over to current awards organizer Bev Carnahan, who kept them going in Windsor until 2013 at which point she made the move to Prince Edward County.
The ACWC is open to all Canadian licensed wineries, cideries and meaderies and content must be grown and made in Canada.
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