Winners announced for the 2012 BC Lieutenant Governor’s Wine Awards!

10th year for BC's highest public honour for wine excellence

On a few occasions while wine traveling in the Okanagan we've come across a bus load of dignitaries making stops at BC wineries. These are special days for many of our friends in BC's wine industry – the Lieutenant Governor Awards, now in their tenth year, are considered an important honour in British Columbia. We are very excited for all the winners, who were all announced today by the LG's office.

Congratulations to John at Painted Rock Estate Winery, who received two awards (2009 Syrah, 2009 Red Icon)! Once again Thornhaven has won for their first class Gewurztraminer. Kudos also to Laughing Stock, Hester Creek, Jackson Triggs Okanagan Estate, Poplar Grove Winery, Road 13 Vineyards, Eau Vivre Winery, Ruby Blues Winery, and Gold Hill Winery.

The history of the LG wine awards

In 2003, the then Lieutenant Governor of British Columbia, the Honourable Iona Campagnolo, consulted with wine industry professionals throughout the province to establish the Lieutenant Governor’s Awards for Excellence in British Columbia Wines.

The awards program recognizes and honours excellence in wines made from 100% grapes, grown and processed within the province.

The annual competition, supported and primarily administered under the Government House Foundation, calls for entries at the end of March. There is no fee to enter a wine; however, each winery is limited to four entries. Three bottles of each entry are required and a tasting panel of wine critics/journalists is held in the middle of June.

The panel selects eight to ten wines that, in their view, have achieved “excellence”. Winners are announced in July and the Awards are presented in August. Winning wines are entitled to use the Lieutenant Governor’s Award logo for advertising, based upon the Terms of Use Agreement provided.

The 2012 Lieutenant Governor’s Awards for Excellence in British Columbia Wines

Eleven wines have been chosen for the 2012 Lieutenant Governor's Awards for Excellence in British Columbia Wines, the Honourable Steven Point, Lieutenant Governor of British Columbia, announced today.

"The outstanding quality of wines in British Columbia impresses our wine judges each year and makes the selection increasingly difficult," said Point. "This year's winners represent the best of the exceptional wines from our province."

This year was the largest competition in the 10-year history of the awards, with 347 wines submitted from 94 wineries across the province. The winners are:

The Lieutenant Governor will visit the winning wineries at the end of July to present the Awards. Members of the Consular Corps of British Columbia will accompany him when he makes these presentations so they can gain knowledge of British Columbia's renowned wine industry.

All wineries in British Columbia were invited to submit their wines for judging by a panel of wine industry professionals. Wines submitted had to be from 100% British Columbian grown grapes and produced in province to be eligible.

Additional information on the Lieutenant Governor's Awards for Excellence is available click here. For a comprehensive set of notes from one of the LG Award judges see John Schreiner's blog post.

– post by Stacey

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