The third annual International Value Wine Awards was held at the University of Calgary in June. The results have now been published in the October/November issue of Wine Access.
With over 1,000 wines from 17 countries and hundreds of wineries evaluated and rated, this year's competition was the biggest ever. Judges included wine writers David Lawrason, Anthony Gismondi, Chistopher Waters and the reigning "Canada's Best Sommelier" Veronique Rivest. According to Anthony Gismondi, “We thought 2007 was a banner year, but registrations increased yet again over last year and it looks like we will see the best ever representation in the category ‘Best Wines in Canada Under $25.'”
In terms of wine, the concept of "value" is a bit like "how long is a piece of string?" It might be an incredible bargain to get, say, a 2nd Growth Bordeaux from a good year at $90, but it would be a heinous rip-off to get a tetrapack of South African chardonnay for $15. Nevertheless, this "value wine" summary as delineated here is more like an "almost all wine" summary: according to the organizers' figures, approximately 97% of the wine sold in Canada costs less than $25 a bottle.
The issue is worth getting a hold of for its very lengthy list of good quality lower priced wines: heck, there are enough lower priced wines here to get you through the looming recession...
For more information, visit www.valuewineawards.com
