2017 British Columbia Amateur Winemaker’s Association Annual Competition
Grand Champion Winemaker – Don Graham, Nanaimo Winemakers
17 Medals – 4 Gold, 5 Silver, 8 Bronze
The BCAWA was founded in September 1972. Among many other items, it was decided that a Provincial Competition should be held annually, roughly a month before the National Competition. From these early beginnings this volunteer organization has nurtured and encouraged amateur wine making across the province. Today, there are 11 clubs from Vancouver Island thru the Lower Mainland and as far north as Kamloops with over 300 amateur winemakers. The result….. we have a large, healthy bunch of wine clubs that are producing some exceptional wines.
This years event was held 12-13th May 2017. Four Nanaimo Winemakers (representing 9% of entrants) entered 32 wines (representing 14% of the total entries) in the 2017 Provincial competition. 28 medals were awarded to Nanaimo Winemakers. We were 2nd in overall points standing for the 2017 BCAWA competition with 1433 points. The winning club had more than double the number of entrants and scored 1963 points – only 25% more points than Nanaimo!
Doug Markin represents Nanaimo at BCAWA activities and he was delighted to present Don Graham with his Sommelier Cup as the 2017 BC Winemaker of the Year.
Other Nanaimo members garnered a number of medals at this years event and we thank and congratulate them on their outstanding winemaking:
Don Holmes: 4 Medals – 4 Silver
Peter Huyghebaert: 4 Medals – 3 Silver, 1 Bronze
Franco Sarto: 3 Medals – 3 Bronze
Imagine what our club could do if more of us entered wines in the competitions!
http://www.bcawa.ca/events/provincials/prov2017/2017results.html