This year Penticton, British Columbia hosted the 25^th anniversary of the WineAlign National Wine Awards of Canada (NWAC). The NWAC is the country’s largest competition, involving only 100 percent Canadian-grown and produced wines.

This year a new category was introduced – Library Wines. This classification includes wines that are 5 years or older. These aged wines were not compared against each other but instead, each wine was independently assessed as to where it was in its lifecycle and how well it was ageing and tasting.

The Replacement wines or Crafted in B.C. wines were not included as part of The WineAlign National Wine Awards.

Winery of the Year

The 2025 Winery of the Year is Penticton, British Columbia’s Mission Hill Family Estate. This is the sixth time Anthony von Mandl has been awarded this prestigious honour.

This year, Mission Hill entered 11 top-tier wines, earning two Platinum medals, five Golds and one Silver medal.

The balance of the top 10 wineries are:

• Laughing Stock Vineyards, Penticton, British Columbia
• Meyer Family Vineyards, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia
• SpearHead Winery, Kelowna, British Columbia
• The Organized Crime Winery, Beamsville, Ontario
• Quails’ Gate Winery, Kelowna, British Columbia
• Peller Estates, Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario
• Fielding Estate Winery, Lincoln, Ontario
• Trius Winery, Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario
• Tantalus Vineyards, Kelowna, British Columbia

Best Performing Small Winery

This year’s Best Performing Small Winery is Penticton, British Columbia’s Laughing Stock Vineyards. Laughing Stock earned eight medals at this year’s event: two Platinum, three Gold, one Silver, and two Bronze. 

When the winery was acquired by Arterra Wines in 2017, some experts had concerns as to whether Laughing Stock would maintain its boutique identity under its new corporate umbrella. However, the winery continues to operate with a small, focused team and remains fully independent in its winemaking approach.

The balance of the top 10 small wineries are:

• Meyer Family Vineyards, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia
• SpearHead Winery, Kelowna, British Columbia
• The Organized Crime Winery, Beamsville, Ontario
• Tantalus Vineyards, Kelowna, British Columbia
• Township 7 Vineyards and Winery, Penticton, British Columbia
• Stag’s Hollow Winery, Okanagan Falls, British Columbia
• Moon Cruiser Vineyards, Osoyoos, British Columbia
• Orofino Vineyards, Similkameen Valley, British Columbia
• Thirty Bench Wine Makers, Beamsville, Ontario

Platinum Awards

A Platinum medal is the highest award possible. Less than 2% of the 1,700 wines and ciders entered received this award.

The award process involves a minimum of eight judges, three or four in the first round, and five or six in the second round. Each wine must have achieved an aggregate score of 93 points by five of those judges. 93 points or better is considered entering the realm of “outstanding.” Thus, not every judging category had a Platinum recipient.

This year’s Platinum Award winners are listed below:

Library Wines

• Moon Curser 2020 Malbec, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia

Red Blends

• Black Hills 2023 Bona Fide, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia
• Laughing Stock 2022 Blind Trust Red, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia
• Nomad at Hinterbrook Winery 2021 Wanderlust, Niagara Lakeshore, Niagara Peninsula, Ontario
• Palatine Hills Ramblers 2024 Schmoozer Cabernet Merlot, Niagara Lakeshore, Niagara Peninsula, Ontario
• The Organized Crime 2022 The Download, Beamsville Bench, Niagara Peninsula, Ontario
• Trius 2022 Grand Red, Niagara-on-the-Lake, Niagara Peninsula, Ontario

Pinot Noir

• 1 Mill Road 2022 Pinot Noir Home Block, Naramata Bench, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia
• Lightning Rock Winery 2022 Pinot Noir Canyonview Vineyard, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia
• Meyer 2022 Old Block Pinot Noir   McLean Creek Road Vineyard, Okanagan Falls, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia
• SpearHead 2022 Okanagan Valley Pinot Noir, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia
• SpearHead 2022 Pommard Clone Pinot Noir, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia

Chardonnay

• 1 Mill Road 2023 Chardonnay, Naramata Bench, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia
• Meyer 2022 Chardonnay McLean Creek Road Vineyard, Okanagan Falls, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia
• Mission Hill Family Estate 2022 Perpetua, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia
• Quails’ Gate Winery 2022 Rosemary’s Block Chardonnay, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia

Syrah

• Laughing Stock 2022 Syrah, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia
• Sandhill 2022 Syrah Terroir Driven Wine, British Columbia
• Stag’s Hollow 2022 Syrah, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia

Riesling

• CedarCreek 2022 Aspect Collection Riesling, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia
• Peller Estates 2023 Signature Series Riesling, Niagara Peninsula, Ontario
• Thirty Bench 2022 Small Lot Riesling, Triangle Vineyard, Beamsville Bench, Niagara Peninsula, Ontario Trius 2023 Showcase Riesling, Ghost Creek, Four Mile Creek, Niagara Peninsula, Ontario

Icewine and Late Harvest

• Inniskillin 2023 Riesling Icewine Niagara Estate, Niagara Peninsula, Ontario
• Byland 2023 Riesling Icewine, Niagara-on-the-Lake, Niagara Peninsula, Ontario

Cabernet Franc

• Black Bank Hill 2022 Cabernet Franc, Lincoln Lakeshore, Niagara Peninsula, Ontario
• Fielding 2023 Cabernet Franc, Niagara Peninsula, Ontario
• Kismet 2022 Cabernet Franc Reserve, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia
• Mission Hill Family Estate 2022 Terroir Cabernet Franc, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia
• Niagara College Teaching Winery 2022 Dean’s List Cabernet Franc, St. David’s Bench, Niagara Peninsula, Ontario
• Tinhorn Creek 2022 Cabernet Franc, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia
• Merlot

The complete list of award winners can be found at www.winealign/awards.

Sláinte mhaith