• Skip to main content
  • Skip to secondary menu
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • Contact us
  • Wine of the Week newsletter
  • Wine submission guidelines
Great Northwest Wine

Great Northwest Wine

News, reviews and info about the wines of Washington, Oregon, British Columbia and Idaho

  • Home
  • Subscribe to GNWW The Magazine
  • Explore
    • Wine news
    • Grapes and viticulture
    • Washington wine
    • Oregon wine
    • Idaho wine
    • British Columbia wine
    • Product reviews
    • Recipes
    • Wine Adventures
    • Podcast
  • Reviews
    • Latest wine reviews
    • Wine of the Week
    • Best Buys
    • Washington wines
    • Oregon wines
    • Idaho wines
    • British Columbia wines
  • Events calendar
    • Submit an event
  • Competitions
    • Cascadia International Wine Competition
    • Idaho Wine & Cider Competition
    • “The Invite” – Great Northwest Invitational Wine Competition
    • Platinum Awards
    • Walla Walla Valley Wine Competition
    • Washington State Wine Competition
  • About us
    • Awards and honors
    • Advertising on Great Northwest Wine
    • Wine submission guidelines
  • e-edition

British Columbia proves place on world wine stage

May 19, 2013 by Andy Perdue Leave a Comment

Okanagan Valley
La Frenz wines are poured during an event atop Desperation Hill Vineyard on the Naramata Bench. (Photo by Andy Perdue/Great Northwest Wine)

TEMECULA, Calif. – For the fourth consecutive year, British Columbia wines performed brilliantly at a top California wine competition.

“I don’t think the Canadians understand just how good their wines really are,” said Dan Berger, a wine journalist who lives in Santa Rosa, Calif.

Berger, who runs the Riverside International Wine Competition, certainly does.

At the conclusion of the competition two weeks ago, La Frenz Winery in Naramata, B.C., was awarded the Small Winery of the Year award. Owner Jeff Martin entered eight wines in the competition, and two won unanimous double golds, four won golds, one earned a silver and one received a bronze.

They were:

  • Double gold: 2011 Robyn-Eastman Vineyard Viognier
  • Double gold: 2012 Rattlesnake Vineyard Sauvignon Blanc
  • Gold: 2011 Reserve Chardonnay
  • Gold: 2011 Sauvignon Blanc-Semillon
  • Gold: 2012 Andrew Vineyard Riesling
  • Gold: 2010 Reserve Pinot Noir
  • Silver: 2012 Knorr Vineyard Semillon
  • Bronze: 2009 Grand Total Reserve red blend

Berger determines the Small Winery of the Year by figuring the percentage of “high medals” – golds and silvers – earned during the judging. At 87.5 percent, La Frenz was the clear winner.

“It was pretty much a slam dunk,” Berger told Great Northwest Wine.

Okanagan Valley winemaker thrilled with California showing

Okanagan Valley
Jeff Martin, owner of La Frenz Winery on British Columbia’s Okanagan Valley, stands atop his estate Desperation Hill Vineyard on the Naramata Bench. (Photo by Andy Perdue/Great Northwest Wine)

For his part, Martin was thrilled to show so well in a competition so far from home.

“That was pretty amazing,” he said. “We are really happy with that.”

It was Martin’s first time entering Riverside, but he is determined to show that British Columbia wines deserve to be on the same stage with other wine regions.

“When I first came to Canada, there was a vacuum and a lot of catching up to get up to world standards,” he said. “We’ve gotten to the point where the wines can sit on the table with anyone. To really gain credibility with Canadian wines, we need to put them on the international table.”

Martin, 56, came to British Columbia in 1994. The Australian native worked in Napa before coming north for “a two-year working holiday” that never ended. He worked at Quails’ Gate Estate Winery near Kelowna before launching La Frenz in 2000. Today, he and head winemaker Scott Robinson make 10,000 cases of wine on the stunning Naramata Bench.

“It’s a beautiful area, and we can make some seriously good wines here,” he said.

Martin isn’t kidding. Not far away is JoieFarm, whose 2012 Re-Think Pink was the sweepstakes award this year at Riverside for best rosé. JoieFarm, run by Michael Dinn and Heidi Noble, won a special distinction at the 2010 Riverside competition for displaying best regional character. In 2011, it also won the top rosé. And in 2010, its Noble Blend won best white wine of the competition.

And just south of nearby Penticton is Wild Goose Vineyards in Okanagan Falls, B.C., which last year won Small Winery of the Year at Riverside, as well as best white wine for its 2011 Gewürztraminer.

“B.C. wines always show at the top of the range,” Berger said.

This year, he was especially impressed with La Frenz, a winery he was only mildly familiar with through the Wine Press Northwest Platinum Judging conducted each fall.

“I was just so blown away,” Berger said.

Throughout the competition, he was given updates on wineries that won gold medals during the blind judging, and La Frenz’s name kept showing up.

“I ended up in the back room going through a bunch of their wines, and I was just floored by them,” Berger said.

B.C. wines not exported to United States

Okanagan Valley
Vines on the Naramata Bench sweep down toward Okanagan Lake in British Columbia. (Photo by Andy Perdue/Great Northwest Wine)

The only frustration for Berger and other wine lovers south of the 49th parallel is getting the wines. Generally speaking, British Columbia wines are barely exported beyond the provincial borders – and almost never south in the United States. In fact, those wine lovers who understand the stunning quality of B.C. wines must travel to the Okanagan Valley and bring them home.

Martin said it is time for B.C. wineries to start sharing their wines a bit more broadly and at least get them into the Seattle and Portland markets.

“Those are obvious markets for us,” he said.

Vancouver and other Lower Mainland communities are the primary target of Okanagan Valley wineries, which makes them a bit of a mystery elsewhere.

“I think Canadian wines as a whole aren’t really known in the United States,” Martin said. “I think there’s an opportunity to open up the market and get over the perception we’re all living in igloos up here,” he added with a laugh.

Berger agrees – and he believes B.C.’s stylish white wines in particular would play well with the wine-savvy San Francisco crowd. Considering the results out of Riverside the past four years, he’s undoubtedly correct.

Filed Under: British Columbia wine, News, Wine competitions Tagged With: featured, ticker

About Andy Perdue

Andy Perdue, former wine columnist for The Seattle Times, now is a mostly retired stroke survivor. He lives in the heart of Washington wine country with his wife, Melissa, and their daughter, Niranjana, who plans to study communications in college.

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Wine of the Week

Liquid Light Wines 2022 Chardonnay, Washington State $16

November 28, 2023

Latest Wine Reviews

Chehalem Wines 2019 Estate Reserve Pinot Noir, Ribbon Ridge $70

Mosquito Fleet Winery 2019 SS Fortuna Petit Verdot, Horse Heaven Hills $45

Love & Squalor 2016 Reserve Riesling, Willamette Valley $28

Yamhill Valley Vineyards 2022 Estate Pinot Blanc, McMinnville $30

Fortuity Cellars 2018 Heart of the Hill Vineyard Destined Cabernet Sauvignon, Yakima Valley $65

Spring Valley Vineyard 2019 Estate Uriah Red Wine, Walla Walla Valley, $60

Desert Wind Winery 2022 Estate Albariño, Royal Slope, $32

Wine Cruises & Safaris

National Geographic partners with Food & Wine magazine for 2024 wine cruise series on Columbia, Snake rivers

Cruising the Rhine and Moselle with Wit Cellars

Footer

Grapes

Airfield Estates Winery soars with Sauvignon Blanc from Yakima Valley

VineLines Dispatch gallery: ‘I go where they grow’ as 2023 harvest begins

My long, strange trip with Viognier

British Columbia wine industry prepares for widespread replanting

May’s heat pushes much of Northwest wine country ahead of hot 2015 vintage

Food

Match Maker: Caprio Cellars delectably achieves perfection in Walla Walla

Recipe: Prawn and Sausage Orecchiette

Recipe: Tomato Peach Gazpacho

Wine, wine cocktails, good spirit pour out at Iris Vineyards Wine Bar

Match Maker: King Estate Winery rising stars combine for elevated restaurant experience

History

Dennis Murphy of Caprio Cellars acquires Figgins shares in Seven Hills Vineyard

Washington wine leaders back HistoryLunch in Seattle

Love at first sip, thanks to Wente Vineyards

Merit, heritage surround helpful Meritage concept

L’Ecole N° 41 Winery develops lesson plan in history for Walla Walla

© 2023 Great NW Wine. All Rights Reserved.