PRESS RELEASE: Atlantic Canadian Wine Awards

Vineyards at Lightfoot and WolfvileFOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 31, 2018

Wolfville, Nova Scotia The Canadian Association of Professional Sommeliers Atlantic Chapter is pleased to announce the winners of the 2018 Atlantic Canadian Wine Awards.

This year’s competition was held this past weekend in Wolfville, the heart of Nova Scotia wine country.  According to competition organizer Mark DeWolf, national president of the Canadian Association of Professional Sommeliers (CAPS), “our decision to move the annual competition from Halifax to wine country reflects our desire to remind ourselves that great wines are reflections of their place. Judging the wines, surrounded by vines and nearby views of the Minas Basin, part of the Bay of Fundy — the ecological key of Nova Scotia’s terroir — made this connection of the wines to their place more palpable.”

This year, there was an exciting international component to the wine awards, as the winners were presented in front of an international audience of wine experts visiting Nova Scotia, following the ASI & APAS Contest of the Best Sommelier of the Americas held in Montreal. The contingent included three of the top four sommeliers from the recently held ASI & APAS Contest of the Best Sommelier of the Americas, a former “World’s Best Sommelier” winner, Veronique Rivest — one of Canada’s most celebrated sommeliers, two of the most acclaimed sommeliers of France, presidents of Sommelier Associations from many countries around the world and top sommeliers from Europe, Africa, Asia, South and North America.

Instead of awarding multiple awards in each category, the Atlantic Wine Awards only recognizes the top wine in each, making the award of Best of Class a truly prestigious title.

Of the overall quality of the wines, DeWolf says, “Every year we see the bar raised higher. This year was no exception. This is a testimony to the efforts of our local wineries to push themselves to be better. At the top end, particularly in categories such as Traditional Method Sparkling Wines, Dessert Wines and White Vitis Vinifera, we were thrilled to taste wines that deserve national, even international, praise. The quality of our very best wines in categories such as Traditional Method Sparkling Wine is on par with the best in the country.”

The Annapolis Valley’s Lightfoot & Wolfville, which practices organic and biodynamic viticulture, took a number of the top awards including, Winery of the Year, Wine of the Year and Best of Class Sparkling Wine for their 2013 Lightfoot & Wolfville Blanc de Blanc Extra Brut. The ambitious 100 percent Chardonnay, made using the traditional method, was aged on its lees for three years. DeWolf describes it as “boasting an enviable balance of autolytic richness and snappy, flavour enlivening-acidity that defines the Nova Scotia TM style.”

Top Awards:

Winery of the Year  Lightfoot & Wolfville
Wine of the Year — 2013 Lightfoot & Wolfville Blanc de Blanc Extra Brut Late Disgorged
Best of Class White Wine — 2015 Lightfoot & Wolfville L’Ancienne Chardonnay
Best of Class Tidal Bay — 2017 Domaine de Grand Pré Tidal Bay
Best of Class Red Wine
 — 2017 Lightfoot & Wolfville Kekfrankos
Best of Class Sparkling Wine — 2013 Lightfoot & Wolfville Blanc de Blanc Extra Brut Late Disgorged

Other Awards:

Best of Class Non-Traditional Sparkling — 2016 Planters Ridge Elevation
Best of Class White Single Varietal, Vitis Vinifera — 2015 Lightfoot & Wolfville L’Ancienne Chardonnay
Best of Class White Single Varietal, Hybrid — 2017 Avondale Sky Muscat
Best of Class White Blend — 2017 Planters Ridge Quintessence White
Best of Class Rosé — 2017 Lightfoot & Wolfville Rosé
Best of Class Red Single Varietal, Vitis Vinifera — 2017 Lightfoot & Wolfville Kekfrankos
Best of Class Red Single Varietal, Hybrid — 2015 Domaine de Grand Pre Vintner’s Reserve Leon Millot
Best of Class Fruit Wine — NV Lunenburg County Winery Birchtown Blackcurrant
Best of Class Dessert Wine — NV Avondale Sky Martock Late Harvest Vidal

The Atlantic Canadian Wine Awards are operated by the Canadian Association of Professional Sommeliers —Atlantic Chapter and managed on their behalf by With Zest, a wine and food tour and event management business based in Halifax.

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For more information:
Cheryl Doherty, CAPS-Atlantic President
Phone: (902) 221-6672
Email: president@atlantic.sommelierscanada.ca

ABOUT CAPS: The Canadian Association of Professional Sommeliers (CAPS) is a pan-Canadian association, which brings together individuals within the sommelier profession, restaurant services, and other sectors of the wine industry.

CAPS is affiliated with the Association de la Sommellerie Internationale (ASI) headquartered in Paris. This past month, CAPS / L’ACSP hosted the ASI & APAS Contest of the Best Sommelier of the Americas. The contest was won by Quebec-based sommelier, Pier-Alexis Souliere.  In 2018, CAPS is introducing two new communication tools, Assemblage by CAPS and CRU by CAPS to provide a cohesive national brand identity for the association and better position the role of Canadian sommeliers as the servers and educators of fine wine to the Canadian fine wine consumer. For more information about ASI & APAS Contest of the Best Sommelier of the Americas or other CAPS initiatives, please contact Mark DeWolf: mdewolf@herald.ca

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