‘Wizard with this grape’: Kelowna’s SpearHead Winery is triple winner in awards sweep

The team at SpearHead Winery is pouring celebratory glasses of award-winning Pinot Noir after an unprecedented sweep at the Wine Align National Wine Awards.
SpearHead Winery won platinum for three different bottles in the Pinot Noir category, something that had never happened before.
“Obviously, there were some other great producers in among the mix and we are happy to be in that category,” said Grant Stanley, general manager and wine maker at SpearHead Winery.
“Certainly, it makes us feel really happy that what we have concentrated on, which is really making great Pinot Noirs, has really lifted us and our profile to be a great Pinot Noir house.”
The historical win was not the only award for the winery. It also won the title of Winery of the Year as well as Best Performing Small Winery.
“We feel this is a great award for a winery of our size. We are a humble business enterprise by nature and it’s really great to see that money can’t buy this award. It’s about heart and passion and having a great team,” Stanley said.
This year, more than 1,800 wines from 230 Canadian Wineries were judged at the Wine Align National Wine Awards and Stanley’s Pinot Noirs were the talk of the competition.
“Sweeping the category is unprecedented, it hasn’t happened before,” said DJ Kearney, veteran WineAlign NWAC judge.
This year, judging for the Wine Align National Wine Awards was conducted in the Niagara wine region in Ontario. It is set to be held in the Okanagan next year.