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With late January temperatures in downtown Ottawa stuck at a raw –25C, the grand interior of the Rogers Convention Centre glittered and glowed as more than 500 people turned out to taste some of the best cuisine in the country, and enjoy some of Canada’s finest wines. It was a soiree of the first order, a celebration of excellence, and simply a great party.
The Canadian Culinary Championship is the annual finale of Canada’s Great Kitchen Party, a chef competition held in 10 cities every fall. The winning chefs in each city assemble in Ottawa the last weekend of January to face off over three separate contests. For info on the culinary results please go to https://greatkitchenparty.com/ca/culinary-championship/
And Canadian wines are the only wines poured, and are presented at every stage, across the country and in the nation’s capital. It is Canada’s largest national exposition of Canadian wine.
It has been my responsibility and pleasure to oversee wine donations to this charitable and very social enterprise for the past 17 years. No one is keeping exact records on the following, but in recent years donations have come from about 90 wineries every year, with the value of the wines being about $100,000 per year. Trace this back over 17 years and Canadian wineries have added at the very least $1.5 million to funds raised for the beneficiaries.
For the first 10 years funds went to Canada’s Olympic athletes. Since 2017, monies raised have benefited MusicCounts, which puts instruments into schools; Spirit North, which brings organized sport to remote indigenous communities; and food security and education programs for local organizations across the country.
The wine selection this year was the best ever assembled, with more than 50 wines poured, from 23 different wineries.
All were from Ontario, which of course is odd given this is a national program, and that wines from B.C., Quebec, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia were used in the regional events. The problem is current inter-provincial wine shipping restrictions in Ontario that require wines used in public events go through the LCBO listing and lab-testing process. There is not enough time between the fall events and the CCC to make this happen. So only Ontario wine is used in the final. (Please watch for our February “The News” newsletter for more on this issue.)
One of the competitions was the Mystery Wine Pairing, where the chefs were given one wine in an unmarked bottle for which they had to create a matching dish. Guests were also served the wine blind as they went from station to station to judge for themselves how well the chefs performed. This year I chose Malivoire 2024 Gamay from Niagara, a $22 LCBO offering with very bright fruit and acidity that drank effortlessly through the evening. It was a hit. Malivoire generously donated 13 cases to the event, with winemaker Shiraz Mottiar taking the podium to thank the guests for their support of Canadian wine, and extoling the fact that it’s time has come.
Before the Mystery Wine was poured guests were able to sample six wines all sourced from the growing-in-fame Grimsby Hillside Vineyard in the Lincoln Lakeshore sub-appellation of Niagara. First planted in the late 19th century for commercial production, it was purchased by the Franciosa family in 2002 and gradually rehabilitated to produce high-quality grapes that are now sold to several wineries. Six were poured this night: Bachelder, Leaning Post, Divergence, Fogolar and Trail Estate, thanks to the largesse and co-ordination of Paul Franciosa.
Other winemakers in attendance at the Grand Finale included Keith Tyers of Closson Chase, J.J. Syer of Rosehall Run, Jonas Newman of Hinteland and The Grange of Prince Edward, and Chris Thompson of new Volta Estate — all from Prince Edward County. The Niagara contingent included Marty Werner of York Vineyard and MW Cellars, Kelly Mason of Mason Vineyard and Domaine Queylus, Melissa Beausoleil of Perenelle, and Adam Pearce, who poured Two Sisters and Stone Eagle
As the chefs compete, so do the wines. There is a Best of Show competition in each city — judged by a panel of local National Wine Awards judges, wine writers, sommeliers and retailers — with the winner going on to Ottawa. Those winners go up against two other winners from the much larger pool of wines poured over three events at the CCC, with one wine emerging as gold medal Wine of the Year, followed by a silver and bronze medalist.
The wine judges in Ottawa included National Wine Awards veteran judges Janet Dorozynski and Michael Godel, Ottawa wine author and historian Rod Philips, director of the National Capital Sommelier Guild, Bill Ellis, and Edmonton-based publisher of The Tomato Food & Drink, Mary Bailey.
The Wine of the Year 2026 was Closson Chase Churchside Vineyard Pinot Noir 2023, a wonderfully precise and elegant Prince Edward County definition of this grape. Silver went to energized and sophisticated Mason Vineyard The Landing Cabernet Franc 2022 from Niagara’s Beamsville Bench. The Bronze went to the very refined and textural The Long Way Home Chardonnay 2023 from the Beamsville Bench. All three wines are fully reviewed below complete with tasting notes and backgrounders.
Janet and I have selected other personal favourites of excellent quality.
The CCC 2026 in Ottawa was my last as National Wine Advisor, as I slow down, travel less and devote more time to Canada’s Best Wines. I am delighted that Michael Godel, my friend and colleague at WineAlign has accepted the responsibility to carry on this very important work.
