Small wineries enjoy big success at this year’s National Wine Awards of Canada

Black Bank Hill winery, which has just released its fifth vintage, was one of this year’s National Wine Awards of Canada’s top-scoring producers. The Beamsville-based wine estate was named the best small winery, producing less than 10,000 cases a year, and finished as the third best overall, among wineries of all sizes.

“These awards are one of the best venues for getting our wines out there,” said Taylor Emerson, who purchased the Beamsville farm that would become Black Bank Hill Winery in 2017.

“We think these wines are pretty good, but we’re not really great at letting the world know about that,” he continued. “We sell our wines in the tasting room one person at a time.”

Emerson explained he wanted to establish his winery from the ground up, planting the specific vines to produce the styles of wines he wanted to make. He knew the former orchard site had the potential to produce quality wine given its location near Redstone Winery and the Keczan family’s vineyard, which provides grapes to many Niagara wineries including Leaning Post.

The neighbouring sites’ success with syrah was a major selling point, he said. Syrah vines are less cold-tolerant than cabernet franc or chardonnay varieties, which makes the variety relatively rare in Ontario, representing only 2 per cent of wines produced from the 2024 vintage.

The proximity of Black Bank Hill’s vineyard to the lake helps moderate temperatures and protect its vines during winter.

In 2021, Emerson’s cousin, winemaker Jonathan McLean, joined him in the venture. The pair focus on making wine strictly from grapes grown on the property, located north of Highway 8 close to the shore of Lake Ontario.

The 20-acre vineyard is planted with 12 different grape varieties, with the largest plantings being cabernet franc, chardonnay, pinot noir and syrah. Other varieties include chenin blanc, pinot gris, marsanne, roussanne and viognier. The winery produced 2,500 cases of wine in 2025, a mix of single varietal wines and red and white blends, including a cabernet-merlot called Égalité and a viognier, marsanne and roussanne named Liberté.

Black Bank Hill’s 2023 Cabernet Sauvignon was one of 22 wines to receive a platinum medal at this year’s competition, which saw more than 1,800 wines entered.

Its cabernet franc, chardonnay, pinot noir and Égalité blend, also coming from the 2023 vintage, received gold medals, with average scores of 91 points or higher from judges. (Winery of the Year rankings are based on the top five scores of each producer, combined with the weighted value of their medals. In categories where fewer medals are awarded, more value is assigned.)

“It great to hear from an expert panel what they think our strengths are,” said Emerson, who submitted a total of nine wines into the competition. The other four entries received silver medals.

The wines made in 2023 represent the second year their vineyard produced a crop viable for winemaking. Previous vintages were made at Cloudsley Cellars in Vineland with grapes purchased from Wismer Vineyards while Black Bank’s vineyard and winery came on stream.

I was one of 21 panelists for the blind tasting challenge, which took place in June over a five-day period in Niagara. We tasted wines assembled in flights by variety and style, without knowing the identity of the winery or its region. The top-scoring wines were retasted multiple times to determine the best wines of the competition.

Tawse Winery was named Winery of the Year for the fifth time in the award’s 26-year history. The Vineland, Ont., operation’s last honour came in 2016, after consecutive wins in 2010, 2011 and 2012. Fielding Estate Winery, which was established in Beamsville in 2005, placed second.

La Frenz Estate Winery was the competition’s most highly awarded winery from British Columbia, ranking as the runner-up in the best small winery category and fourth place overall based on accolades for its diverse portfolio of sparkling, sweet and table wines.

(Ontario’s Bachelder placed third in the small producer category and fifth overall.)

Based in Naramata on an apple orchard that was converted to a vineyard in 1999 by the Martin family, La Frenz became the seventh winery operating in the central Okanagan region. They were part of a boom that would see Naramata become home to more than 40 cellars.

La Frenz has previously enjoyed success at this competition, winning the best small winery category in 2017 and 2021. The winery’s strong showing in 2021 also made it the runner-up for winery of the year honours. Its annual production is nearly 10,000 cases each year.

“It’s a confirmation that our wines stack up really well with our neighbours and wineries across the country,” Elise Martin, operations manager overseeing the family’s six vineyards, said.

The timing of the results also motivates the team as they prepare for the 2026 harvest. “It definitely keeps us excited and striving to be better,” Martin explained, adding that this year’s harvest will start soon, with pinot noir and chardonnay for sparkling wine and muscat being the first grapes to be picked. (The growing season across the Okanagan has been running two weeks ahead of normal this year.)

Given the small scale of production at Black Bank Hill and La Frenz, as well as most craft wineries across Canada, tastings are offered by appointment. Black Bank Hill is open Wednesday to Sunday between noon and 5 p.m., while La Frenz operates its tasting room Thursday to Monday between 10 a.m. and 5 p.m.