Image: Colton Davies
Nine professional wine judges and one apprentice wine judge are tasked with sampling nearly 600 wines collectively this weekend, ahead of the B.C. Wine Awards on Sept. 28.
The judging is taking place from Sept. 15 to 17 at the Penticton Trade and Convention Centre.
Of the 10 judges involved, one comes from the Similkameen Valley, four come from Vancouver, and one comes from each of Surrey, Seattle, Calgary, Edmonton and Toronto.
“We’re judging everything blind… We’re all professionals in that we can see wines for their true merit, regardless of our own personal opinion, which is something you really have to do as a judge,” judge Rhys Pender said, who comes from Cawston and is a co-owner of Little Farm Winery.
Pender added that each judge samples and spits out 80-100 wines for each of the three days.
“You kind of have to be like a wine athlete,” he said. “To be able to give the same attention to the last wine of the day as the first wine of the day, it takes a lot of practice basically.”
The competition is open to all B.C. wineries that use only grapes grown in the province.
To the wines that do win awards, judges will award platinum, gold, silver or bronze medals, as well as the Premier’s award as the best in province.
Those results will be unveiled at the B.C. Wine Awards on Sept. 28, taking place at the Laurel Packing House in Kelowna.
“We believe it’s helpful to the consumer,” Marjorie King said, judging manager for the competition. “And it’s well-worth looking at the results and seeing what you want to choose for your purchases.”
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