The Must-Have Value List: 2014 Vancouver Magazine Wine Awards

line up of rosé wine at Vancouver Magazine Wine Awards

The rosé flight. Every home should have one!

I’m working on a redesign for hiredbelly.com wine recommendations, which will include all of the Belly’s Best selections as they run elsewhere. It’s time consuming but I think will be worth the wait and effort. In the meantime, here’s a link to the best list of readily available (in BC) value wines: the results of the 2014 Vancouver Magazine Wine Awards—the tenth edition.

It’s a true honour for me to be included on this panel that includes so many stellar people.

I’m also always gratified—even maybe a tad relieved—when the results of these competitions are released that I’ve already highlighted a number of the winners for “Belly’s Best” over the previous year.

Take time to read Chief Judge D J Kearney’s comments. I think you’ll find them interesting—especially concerning the diversity, regional and varietal spread of the results.

As she says, “The wine world is perpetually in flux.”

Of particular note, the rise of Riesling, (from BC, Germany and Australia), which suggests the variety that once ruled white wine, finally, really is regaining at least some of the respect it deserves.

Overall, there’s a shift, that seems to gather momentum every year, to more structured, less extracted, more finessed and ultimately more food friendly wines—a happy comment on our ever-growing culinary culture.

There’s also a great lineup of bubbles, just in time for the holiday season, including Louis Bouillot and The Bub—among many.

Tuck this list in your wallet, iPhone or whatever PWD (Personal Wine Device) you use. You’ll be glad you did.

About the Author: Tim Pawsey

Tim has been covering the food and wine revolution for about 20 kilos. Count 15 kg alone thanks to the blossoming cuisine and wine culture of British Columbia, Canada. Tim’s hallmark is seeking out and recommending value wines from BC and around the world that offer quality at every level. He also scopes out noteworthy restaurants that live up to their promises—and often over deliver. Readers depend on the Hired Belly for his “Belly’s Best” and “Belly’s Budget Best” picks to help them find the right wine for the occasion. For several decades Tim wrote columns in the Vancouver Courier and North Shore News. He contributes to several other publications, including BCLS Taste magazine, Quench, Vitis and many others. Tim is a frequent judge for wine competitions and was a founding judge of The BC Lieutenant Governor’s Awards for Excellence in Wine. He is frequently invited to judge at The BC Wine Awards, and others. Tim has traveled to taste in many of the world’s leading wine regions, most recently in Burgundy, Argentina and Chile.