The Friday Files: News & Notes from Canada’s Wine Scene

My Wine Canada news! MWC welcomes Painted Rock to the site — be sure to check out the award-winning wines John Skinner and his Okanagan winery has to offer.

Via Eat Magazine, Victoria’s Treve Ring (a past guest contributor at My Wine Canada) takes a look at (and tastes) the finesse and complexity of Cabernet Franc – including a couple of BC beauties.

The 2014 BC Wine Awards get underway in late September, in conjunction with the Fall Okanagan Wine Festival. My Wine Canada’s own Kurtis Kolt is among the esteemed judges this year.

Speaking of wine awards, Western Living has a look at the usefulness of them in general, and finds WineAlign’s National Wine Awards of Canada, which took place in June, to be among one of the better competitions.

Jamie Drummond of Good Food Revolution will host The Great Debate: The Battle of the Ferments on Friday, October 3 and Saturday, October 4 at Beau’s School of Bock at Beau’s Oktoberfest in eastern Ontario.

The event pits beer against wine, mead and sake against each other to see which fermented beverage will reign supreme. Each category will have its won representative, while Drummond will act as moderator (think CBC Radio’s The Debaters).

On Saturday, Sept. 5, CedarCreek Estate Winery is hosting the Barenaked Ladies at their Okanagan winery as part of the TELUS Sunset Concerts at CedarCreek. Unfortunately, all 400ish tickets are sold out. But pop by in October and check out their Starry Plates event, featuring canapés and wine under the stars.

Finally, over at the Globe and Mail, Dierdre Kelly offers insight into storing your wine in small spaces.

Ben MacPhee-Sigurdson is the wine columnist and literary editor for the Winnipeg Free Press, and judges at wine competitions across the country. He’s on Twitter and Instagram at @bensigurdson.