Kelowna Area Winery Wins Big at International Competition
If you’re a wine lover, here’s some big news that you will want to raise a glass to…
This year's big winner at the London IWSC: Mission Hill Family Estate
Mission Hill Family Estate has come home a big winner at the London International Wine & Spirits Competition, raking in 19 awards at the British-based competition, and being named Canadian Wine Producer of theYear.
The cellar at Mission Hill Family Estate
Open year-round for tours and tastings, Mission Hill Family Estate has established itself as a must-visit Okanagan Valley winery for its fantastic wines, spectacular architecture, astounding art collection, and top shelf dining. Check out this previous blog post about winter winery touring at Mission Hill. Just another reason why wine touring in the Kelowna area is so special…
Mission Hill Family Estate Barrel Cellar
Here’s the press release from Mission Hill Family Estate, explaining the significance of these awards on an international stage:
London, United Kingdom – January 24, 2012 – Mission Hill Family Estate is the 2011 recipient of the coveted IWSC Trophy as the ‘Canadian Wine Producer of the Year’ at the International Wine & Spirit Competition (IWSC) in London, United Kingdom. The award came as a complete surprise to Mission Hill Proprietor Anthony von Mandl who was presented the award in front of 600 international wine luminaries at the historic Guild Hall in London by this year’s IWSC President, Prince Robert of Luxembourg, Proprietor of Château Haut-Brion in Bordeaux, France.
The award was particularly gratifying to von Mandl who in 1986 was the first Canadian appointed as President of the IWSC. Past Presidents include: Wolf Blass, Robert Mondavi, Baroness Philippine de Rothschild, Marchese Piero Antinori, May-Eliane de Lencquesaing and Sir Anthony Greener.
“Having started back in 1981 with a vision of producing wine that could stand alongside the best in the world, it is almost overwhelming to see this dream has become reality. This award represents a profound achievement for everything our winemaking and vineyard team has accomplished at Mission Hill Family Estate,” said Anthony von Mandl.
The IWSC was founded in 1969 and is the most prestigious competition of its kind in the world. Its aim is to promote the quality and excellence of the world’s best wines, spirits and liqueurs and it is the only international competition to use a rigorous two stage judging process of professional blind tasting followed by an extensive chemical and microbiological analysis.
In addition to the 2011 IWSC Trophy for ‘Canadian Wine Producer of the Year’, Mission Hill Family Estate won 19 individual medals at the IWSC competition, including: Gold Medals for the 2009 Reserve Riesling Icewine, 2005 Select Lot Collection Riesling Icewine and 2009 Reserve Vidal Icewine. A complete listing of awards is available at www.iwsc.net
The IWSC award comes on top of Mission Hill’s recent ‘Winery of the Year’ award at the 2011 InterVin International Wine Awards Competition. Mission Hill was also featured in Wine Spectator magazine with three of the winery’s red wines – 2007 Compendium, 2007 Quatrain and 2007 SLC Syrah – earning scores of 90 points; while its signature Bordeaux-inspired wine, 2007 Oculus, scored 91 points. This is the first time a Canadian winery has ever received 90+ scores for its red wines from this publication.
In 1994, Mission Hill Family Estate won the IWSC Avery Trophy for ‘Best Chardonnay in the World’ for its Grand Reserve Barrel Select Chardonnay. At the time this was the first major international award for Mission Hill and the accolade helped place British Columbia’s Okanagan Valley on the international wine producing map.
Congratulations Mission Hill on this outstanding achievement!