Results from the recent All Canadian Wine Championships (ACWC) highlighted several key trends in Canada's wine scene that, at the risk of over-analyzing in a navel gazing exercise, are worth exploring further.

The 2007 vintage of the competition, the oldest and longest running in the country at over 25 years, brought together over 850 wines from 140 wineries to be judged by industry experts, including sommeliers, wine judges, liquor board employees and restauranteurs.

Entries arrive from all the key wine regions of Canada, including Nova Scotia, PEI, Quebec, Ontario and BC. Fruit wines are a major component, too, with several separate categories.

As someone who has judged at the ACWC for most of the past decade, I feel somewhat qualified to comment on trends, specifically the overall improving quality and varietal trends of Canadian wine from all regions.

Let's examine some of these, based on the winners announced at Canadian Wine Trail. Note that all Trophy winners were Best of Category winners, and that Best of Category is essentially a Double Gold. Prices are approximate.

Quebec’s Wines Get More Attention

Most Canadians who have an inkling of our national wine industry still don't clue in that there's significant wine production in Quebec; the number of wineries is now over 40. Producers there are coping with harsh winters very nicely, thank-you, producing clean and crisp table wines from various crosses, including Seyval Blanc, and the so-called "Minnesota varieties," like Frontenac (Vignoble Carone won a "Best of Category" for their 2005 Frontenac). Quebec also fashions remarkable dessert wines, from grapes and apples. Domaine Pinnacle's Trophy for "Best Fruit Wine of the Year" for their 2005 Sparkling Ice Cider shows they can make great apple wine, and the truth is that this wine was nearly good enough to be best of show. Another Best of Category win was a 2005 "Late Harvest" from Vignoble Le Nordet, called Solstice d' Hiver.

What's big, blackish-purple, and drinks like a monster?

BC Syrah, that's what! The "Best Red Wine of the Year" was the 2004 SunRock Shiraz from Jackson Triggs Okanagan Estate. It's a power red with mineral, tar and blackberry notes, huge tannins, intense colour, and big flavours. It's still a good food wine though, with balance that makes you think of the Northern Rhone.

That a Syrah won the competition was surprising, but maybe not that surprising considering that there were 25 Syrah/Shiraz wines entered, many of which were excellent. Ontario grows Syrah too, and some of it is fine, but the southern Okanagan sure seems to be perfect terroir for this grape. Others have noticed: Jackson Trigg's Grand Reserve Okanagan Shiraz won Best Shiraz/Syrah at the huge International Wine & Spirits Competition in 2006, in London, England, beating out many more expensive wines. Convinced yet?

Welcome the Trendy White Varietal

There were 25 entries this year, mostly from Ontario, although the winner was from Gehringer Brothers Estate Winery in BC, and it wasn't that long ago when there was practically no Sauvignon Blanc grown in Canada. The quality is getting better all the time, but few of the entrants displayed obvious New World Sauvignon Blanc characteristics of gooseberry and fruit cocktail. The cool climate in Ontario lends itself to more of the Loire style: minerality, citrus, and grassiness. This trendy grape, like Syrah, will likely increase in plantings at appropriate sites in Canada.

Blends, Potpourri , and Miscellaneous…

Bordeaux and the Rhone regions of France are great examples of areas where the best wines are blends, and this approach is reaping rewards in Canada too, and not just for well established vinifera blends like Sauvignon Blanc/Semillon, Cabernet Sauvignon/Cabernet Franc/Merlot, or Cabernet/Shiraz, but also other varieties.

The Sauvignon Blanc/Semillon blends in BC are excellent, and have been gaining favour even with international critics – Jancis Robinson practically gushed over the Sumac Ridge White Meritage, which won a Silver in this competition. Madeline Angevine, Madeline Sylvaner, Ehrenfelser, Kerner, Schonburger, and Bacchus are not household names in the wine grape world, but they make fruity wines with similarities to Muscat and Riesling.

Red hybrid blends are also gaining momentum. I first heard the concept of a "Hybrid Meritage" (don't get all excited, now, you protectors of the precious Meritage name – it's just a comparison, not an official name) from Salt Spring Island Winery, BC, who won a Bronze this year for their "Millotage." But Nova Scotia wineries are taking it to heart…and to market. Marechal Foch, Lucie Kuhlman, Leon Millot, Baco Noir, and De Chaunac are treated like dirt by some writers and judges, which is unfair, because, with the right vineyard and winery treatment, they make great wine – sometimes ageworthy, too.

I've long contested that the Reserve Marechal Foch at certain celebrated Ontario and BC wineries are the best wines they make. Gaspereau Vineyards in Nova Scotia won a Gold Medal this year for their new "Vitis," a smooth and drinkable, non-vintage blend, which comes from a number of French American hybrids. The "Vitis" name is a bit of a poke at Vitis vinifera snobs, just to let them know that there are other vitis out there!

Vinifera increasing in Nova Scotia

It's doubtful that the rest of Canada cares, let alone the world, but there's a trend to vinifera grapes in the relatively small, in terms of plantings, Nova Scotia. Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, and Riesling are increasingly appearing in the vineyards, and a major breakthrough took place this year at the ACWC's Gaspereau Vineyards won Silver in the Over $15 Riesling category. With the arrival of traditional method sparkling wineries on the near horizon, expect even more Pinot and Chardonnay plantings.

These are just some of the trends noticed in Canadian wine from this competition. They are interesting, yes, but the most important trend, and the one that all of the judges at Canadian wine competitions noted and discussed, is that our wines keep getting better. World Class is an overused term, but it applies.