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Organic: A technique for growing grapes without using chemicals such as pesticides, herbicides or commercial fertilizers.*

Botrytis: A fungus that attacks grape skins. In favourable conditions, it dehydrates grapes, allowing the production of intense dessert wines.*

Terroir: Borrowed from the French, this term encompasses the entire environment–soil, climate, aspect–that makes a vineyard special.*

Brix: A measure of sugar in grapes: one degree Brix equals 10 grams of sugar per litre. Mature grapes are typically 21 to 25 Brix, equating to 11 to 13 percent alchohol after fermentation.*

Varietals: 49% of British Columbia’s wines are white. 51% are red. In the last acreage survey conducted, 97.1% of the yield was from vinifera grapes and 2.9% from hybrids.

*Schreiner, John - British Columbia Wine Country, Whitecap Books Ltd., 2003

 
 
  October 19, 2005

BC reds take on France and win top spots at Canada-Bordeaux challenge

CedarCreek takes first place overall at head-to-head competition

BC’s Bordeaux-style red blends are continuing their march to the top of the red wine world.

A tasting today in Ottawa pitted six of BC’s red blends against six from the Bordeaux region of France and six from Ontario. BC wines took three of the top four and five of the top ten spots, with CedarCreek’s Platinum Reserve Meritage 2002 coming out on top. CedarCreek Estate Winery is in Kelowna.

The five other BC wines finished as follows: Burrowing Owl 2002 Reserve Meritage was third, and Sumac Ridge 2001 Pinnacle fourth.

Today’s tasting, called Canada vs. Bordeaux: The Dawn of a New Millennium, was a fundraiser organized by the Vendange Institute in Ottawa. The event was modeled after the famed 1976 Judgement of Paris, when an English wine merchant in Paris organized a blind tasting of French and Californian wines in celebration of the US bicentennial. To the surprise of the mostly French judges, California wines took top honours over the prestigious French wines.

The event signaled to the wine world that New World wines had to be taken seriously, and while today’s event confirms BC’s excellence, BC’s wine industry has been focusing on quality for many years. “As a small region, BC’s wine industry knows it cannot produce the quantities of wine that other regions produce,” says Peggy Athans, executive director of the British Columbia Wine Institute. “Our wineries and winemakers knew long ago that they had to focus on quality. It’s gratifying to see BC wines do so well against an established Old World region like Bordeaux, but it’s not a surprise.”

Following are the top ten results from today’s challenge, including their ranking in the 100-point system.


1. 89.32 Cedar Creek 2002 Platinum Reserve Meritage (BC)
2. 87.88 Colio 2000 CEV Reserve Merlot (Ontario)
3. 87.39 Burrowing Owl 2002 Reserve Meritage (BC)
4. 87.30 Sumac Ridge 2001 Pinnacle (BC)
5. 86.70 Chateau Lascombes 2000 (Bordeaux)
6. 86.37 Chateau Pontet-Canet 2001 (Bordeaux)
7. 86.31 Stoney Ridge 1998 Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve (Ontario)
8. 85.72 Chateau Rauzan-Gassies 2000 (Bordeaux)
9. 85.68 Osoyoos Larose 02 (BC)
10. 84.83 Mission Hill Oculus 02 (BC)

Based in Kelowna, the BCWI promotes the Wines of British Columbia (BC VQA) and the Wine Regions of British Columbia brands.


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Lindsay Anders, Communications Manager
tel (250) 762-9744 ext. 103 toll-free 1-800-661-2294
landers@winebc.com www.winebc.com

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