EXCITING NEWS
FROM HESTER CREEK
This spring, we are proud to announce the exciting news that Hester Creek Estate Winery has been named the British Columbia Winery of the Year for 2023 by Great Northwest Wine Magazine.
Great Northwest Wine, which celebrates wines of the Pacific Northwest, hosts many competitions every year, including Cascadia International Wine Competition. It was at Cascadia that a chain reaction of Hester Creek wins started. We earned gold for our 2021 Pinot Gris Viognier and 2021 Sémillon. We also took home double gold for our 2021 Viognier, and for two estate wines, our 2021 vintages of the Old Vine Pinot Blanc and Old Vine Trebbiano.
As a result of these awards, Hester Creek was invited to enter wines in the Great Northwest Invitational Wine Competition, where we were awarded double gold for our 2020 Character Red and gold for the second vintage of our 2019 Old Vine Brut. Finally, this competition resulted in an invitation to the Platinum Awards, where three of our wines were awarded prestigious platinum medals: our 2019 Old Vine Brut, 2021 Old Vine Pinot Blanc and 2021 Sémillon.
In early January, Great Northwest Wine Magazine founder, Eric Degerman, reached out to let us know that due to these achievements, the magazine would be naming Hester Creek the 2023 British Columbia Winery of the Year. In his interview with Hester Creek Winemaker, Mark Hopley, Degerman comments on the platinum achievement of our second vintage of the Old Vine Brut, “One of the many wines you’ve made that’s impressed my [judging] panels has been your sparkling.”
Along with many other factors, including our old vines, terroir and east-facing slopes, Hopley gives away his secret to creating the perfect sparkling – allowing the wine to rest for two years en tirage. “If you don’t go two years en tirage, you don’t get those biscuity, doughy characteristics that you come to love in sparkling.”
Talk of the terroir leads to what gives Golden Mile Bench wines such great balance, especially in our ever-famous, Old Vine Trebbiano. “It’s a true Mediterranean variety,” says Hopley about the Trebbiano, “We lose the sun fairly early on this side [of the valley], so we hang onto those acids which is very important in our winemaking.” He goes on to explain that holding onto some residual sugar – 3 to 5 grams per litre – balances the total acidity, allowing the wine to last on palate. “By making sure the acidity and sugar are balanced, you get that winning combination.”
As the world opened up again in 2022, the list of international recognition for Hester Creek wines has gone on to include our 2021 Pinot Gris Viognier winning gold with 97 points from Australia’s Global Fine Wine Challenge, our 2021 Viognier and 2019 Old Vine Brut winning gold at the San Francisco International Wine Competition, as well as our 2021 Old Vine Pinot Blanc winning double gold at the San Francisco International Wine Competition.
This is the first time that the British Columbia Winery of the Year award has been given under the Great Northwest Wine brand, and we’re honoured to lead the way in the rise and recognition of BC wines.
You can find the full article for British Columbia Winery of the Year award here on April 7th at greatnorthwestwine.com.
Information and image courtesy of the winery.
