CedarCreek named top Canadian winery
Taylor Whelan takes no shortcuts. “You can’t make great wine from average grapes,” said the winemaker from CedarCreek Estate Winery in Kelowna.
“You have to spend the time and money to ensure quality fruit to make varietalcorrect, exceptional wines. We have an awesome team that’s all about attention to detail. There are definitely no shortcuts.”
Such dedication led CedarCreek to be named winery of the year at the recent WineAlign National Wine Awards of Canada.
‘The Nationals’ are considered the most rigorous and prestigious wine awards program in the country.
After all, 251 wineries entered thousands of wines and CedarCreek came out on top.
“It feels good. It was a long time coming,” said Whelan, who has worked at CedarCreek for a dozen years.
The long-time-coming quip references CedarCreek’s two previous winery of the year wins at The Nationals in 2001 and 2005 under winemaker Tom DiBello.
A lot has happened since then at CedarCreek.
The Fitzpatrick family - who bought the six-year-old Uniacke Wines in 1986 and changed the name to CedarCreek - sold the winery to Anthony von Mandl (Mark Anthony Brands and Mission Hill Family Estate in West Kelowna) in 2014.
The Fitzpatricks continue to make award-winning wines at Fitzpatrick Family Vineyards in Peachland.
Under new ownership, much of CedarCreek was rebuilt, including new indoor-and-outdoor tasting rooms, a new restaurant (Home Block) and updated production facilities.
Massive investments were made in the vineyards to convert to organic and regenerative farming.
“That’s expensive, and it also means lower yields,” explained Whelan.
“But the results are outstanding. It amplifies fruit quality.”
The winery of the year honour is determined by points earned for snagging platinum, gold, silver and bronze medals at the competition.
CedarCreek collected an impressive two platinum medals for its 2019 Aspect Collection Block 5 Chardonnay and Platinum Jagged Rock 2020 Syrah. Gold medals went to four wines: the 2020 Platinum Jagged Rock Chardonnay,
Aspect Collection 2020 Block 3 Riesling, Platinum Home Block 2020 Riesling and 2021 Pinot Noir Rose.
Now, there’s the question of how accessible are these wines? You can buy the rosé for $24 online at cedarcreek.bc.ca, at the winery at 5445 Lakeshore Rd. or at a wide variety of liquor stores and even Save-On-Foods.
However, for the Aspect and Platinum tier wines, you have to be an club member, which means signing up for four shipments a year of six bottles each ($350 per shipment).
You can customize the wines you receive and you also get unlimited access to the private Aspect House for food-paired wine
tastings and invites to exclusive winery events.
“We’ll be putting on tastings where people can taste and purchase the six platinum and gold medal winners,” said Whelan.
“We’ll be encouraging people to join the Aspect Club to get the wines and we’ll also be launching dinners across the country to showcase the winning wines.”
The WineAlign awards also generated lists of the top 25 wineries in Canada, the top 10 small wineries in the country and the top 10 wineries in BC and Ontario. Here’s the top 10 in BC:
1. CedarCreekin Kelowna
2. SpearHead in East Kelowna (also named best performing small winery of the year)
3. Mission Hill in West Kelowna
4. La Frenz on the Naramata Bench
5. Black Hills in Oliver
6. Fort Berens in Lillooet
7. Bordertown in Osoyoos
8. Quails’ Gate in West Kelowna
9. Nk’Mip in Osoyoos
10. Kismet in Oliver