Similkameen wineries awarded 37 medals in spring competitions

Wine region you've "never heard of" getting a name for itself

Following Erin's post about Similkameen travel is the great news that wines from that region are winning awards! Here's news from the Similkameen Winery Association…

Wineries in the Similkameen Valley won a staggering 37 medals for their submissions at 3 major spring Wine Competitions this past month. The All Canadian Wine Championships, established in 1981, are held in Windsor, Ontario and have been following the progress of the Canadian wine industry for 32 years. Wines are submitted and judged from wineries across Canada. The Northwest Wine Summit is held at Mt. Hood, Oregon and is a massive competition with submissions accepted from Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana, British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan and Alaska. And regionally, the Okanagan Spring Wine Awards Best of Varietals judges wines from all regions of British Columbia.

Top honours were awarded to Forbidden Fruit Winery of Cawston, picking up 2 Best Of Categorys-­‐Double Golds for their 2011 Earth Series Sauvignon Blanc and the 2011 Pearsuasion-­‐ Asian Pear Off Dry, and Robin Ridge Winery in Keremeos, Best Of Category-­‐ Double Gold for their 2009 Reserve Merlot and Best of the Best award also for their 2009 Reserve Merlot.

3 double golds, Spring 2012
3 double golds, Spring 2012
Forbidden Fruit also won 3 Gold Medals, one for their 2009 Earth Series Cabernet Sauvignon and one for the 2010 Impearfection Asian Pear Late Harvest and a third for the 2011 Earth Series Sauvignon Blanc. Orofino Winery, of Cawston, won Gold for their 2009 Beleza-­‐ Bordeaux Blend and Seven Stones, also of Cawston, was awarded Gold for their 2009 Cabernet Franc.

The wineries were also awarded 14 Silver Medals with Forbidden Fruit receiving 8, Orofino 2, Seven Stones 2, Cawston’s Eau Vivre 2 and 1 for Cawston’s Rustic Roots. Finalist awards were also given to Clos du Soleil, Rustic Roots and Robin Ridge. The group also picked up 10 Bronze Medals. To review the full results, log on to:

All local wine shops are now open for the season, so be sure to drop by and taste the ‘Similkameen’. If you are looking for a reason to visit the Similkameen, you now have 37 more reasons!

The Similkameen is one of the hot spots for grape and fruit wine in British Columbia, Canada. It was named by enRoute Magazine as one of the world's 5 Best Wine Regions You've Never Heard Of! The Similkameen Wineries Association is a collective of 8 wineries located in Cawston and Keremeos in the Similkameen Valley including Cerelia, Clos du Soleil, Eau Vivre, Forbidden Fruit, Orofino, Robin Ridge, Rustic Roots and Seven Stones. For more information on the Similkameen Wineries Association or any of its fine award-­‐winning wineries and wines, visit www.SimilkameenWine.com, call 250.488.0878 or follow them on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.

– post by Stacey