You don’t have to go far for great wines…Try your own backyard!
Rocky Creek Winery
1854 Myhrest Road
Cowichan Bay, BC V0R 1N1
May 28, 2009
For Immediate Release
You don’t have to go far for great wines…Try your own backyard!
People are discovering that you don’t have to go far to taste award winning wines. Local wineries are producing wines that bring home medals at prestigious competitions in Canada and Internationally. Across the island vintners are producing fabulous wines from grapes like Ortega, Pinot Gris, Pinot Noir, Marechal Foch, and local Blackberries. Local foods have been embraced and now is the perfect time to tie in local wines with the wonderful culinary products available here on Vancouver Island. One winery that combines award winning wines with sustainable viticulture is Rocky Creek Winery.
The medals keep rolling in for Rocky Creek Winery in Cowichan Bay. With the latest results from the Northwest Wine Summit Competition, they’ve almost doubled the results to 7 medals for 2009. In their previous best years (2007, 2008) they won 4 medals. In all, Rocky Creek Winery has won 16 medals in 4 years of operation including 4 gold medals. Every wine in their current portfolio, including two yet to be released, have won medals.
The medal winners include:
Pinot Gris 2008 Gold(All Canadian Wine Championships) Silver (Northwest Wine Summit)
Pinot Noir 2007 Silver (All Canadian Wine Championships)
Ortega 2008 Silver(Northwest Wine Summit)
Robin’s Rose (Pinot Noir 2008) Bronze (All Canadian Wine Championships)
Blackberry 2007 Bronze (Westcoast Wine Competition) - California
Blackberry 2008 Bronze (Northwest Wine Summit)
The competitions are some of the most prestigious and respected in the wine industry. The Northwest Wine Summit judged 1280 wines in 2009 and is the biggest wine competition specifically focused on wines from the Pacific Northwest and includes entries from Oregon, Washington State, Montana, Idaho, British Columbia, Alberta and Alaska. The All Canadian Wine Championships is the oldest and largest competition specifically for Canadian wines. A total of 1071 wines from 173 wineries were entered from across Canada. The West Coast Wine Competition is one of the largest competitions held each year in the U.S. and is open to wines produced in Arizona, California, Hawaii, Idaho, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Washington, Baja California, British Columbia, Australia, and New Zealand. Over 1700 entries are received and judged by some of the world’s top wine judges.
“It shows our commitment to making only the highest quality wines” says owner Linda Holford. “All of our wines have been viewed as being among the best – in Canada, the Pacific Northwest & the western hemisphere. From whites, to reds, even rose and fruit wine, we consistently make top quality wines that represent great value.” “Very few wineries can say that every wine in their tasting room is an award winner. We can. We may have started as one of the smallest wineries in BC, but in a way that gives us an advantage – we can really focus on the quality of each individual batch of wine and ensure it achieves the highest quality possible.”
“I’m very proud of our Pinot Noir winning silver, as it shows our ability to make really great red wines on Vancouver Island, even in years when the weather doesn’t co-operate.” “Vancouver Island is a great place to grow Pinot Noir, and we can produce velvety soft Pinots that rival the best anywhere in the world.” says Mark, the winemaker and co-owner. “It’s also the best result that a Vancouver Island grown Pinot Noir has achieved in the past 8 years at this competition.” “Winning awards for all our wines, even with cool summers the past two years is a great accomplishment. It’s not as difficult making great wines in great growing years, but producing great wines in mediocre years is much, much harder. It’s also not just us winning awards to showcase the region but other wineries on the island here also did very well at these competitions. The Wine Islands is the place to taste great wines and you don’t have to go very far.”
These award winning wines are available direct from the winery or can be found in many private wine and beer stores across Vancouver Island and in the lower mainland. See our website for a directory of stores selling our products.
Rocky Creek Winery is a family owned and operated winery located in Cowichan Bay on Vancouver Island. Since their first vintage in 2005, they have won 16 medals, including 4 gold medals. They produce wines only from Vancouver Island grapes and local wild blackberries. For more information, please see our website www.rockycreekwinery.ca or contact us at (250) 748-5622.
Rocky Creek Winery is open 4 days a week (Thu – Sun) from 11 am to 4 pm until they close for the fall harvest season.