Canadas Best Wines 2021: Red Blends

Red blends are a somewhat underappreciated category in Canada’s wine scene. While all the attention seems to go to single-variety wines, given the success of red blends in the National Wine Awards of Canada, maybe we should be taking them more seriously. This seems to be a B.C. category: Of the top 10, there’s just one entry from Ontario. This makes sense. In the Okanagan, the leading red varieties all excel as blend components. We have Bordeaux-style blends represented here, but also blends where the versatile Syrah plays a role — a variety that pairs well with both Cabernet Sauvignon (in classic Australian blends) and its southern Rhône partners in crime, Grenache and Mourvèdre. This is a category where the skill of both the viticulturist (bringing good grapes to the winery) and the winemaker (partnering these varieties to best effect in the blend) are equally important, and by these results, plenty are doing it very well. —JAMIE GOODE