As Ontario celebrates Wine Week from June 15 to 19, medals are pouring in for Canada’s first and only commercial Teaching Winery, including gold for two sparkling wines from prestigious competitions at home and abroad.
Most notably, Niagara College secured a Decanter World Wine Awards Gold for its Dean’s List Blanc de Blancs (2019) and an Ontario Wine Awards (OWA) double gold for its Dean’s List Blanc de Noirs (2019). The double gold win automatically qualifies the wine for the prestigious 2026 Lieutenant Governor Award for Excellence in Ontario Wines.
Along with the top sparkling honours, the Teaching Winery picked up five provincial medals. Silver medals were awarded to the Dean’s List Riesling (2025), Dean’s List Cabernet Sauvignon (2022), and Dean’s List Chardonnay (2025). Bronze medals went to the Dean’s List Cabernet Franc (2023) and the Balance Cabernet Rosé (2024).
“Taking home top honours from both the Decanter and the Ontario Wine Awards is a monumental achievement that proves our student-driven facility can compete with the finest commercial wineries anywhere,” said Gary Torraville, Senior Director, Enterprises at NC. “This isn’t just a win for our cellar; it is the ultimate testament to the power of applied learning. By working directly on world-class, award-winning vintages, our students gain an unmatched competitive edge and the elite skills required to lead the global beverage industry.”
Head Winemaker Allison Findlay, an alumna of NC’s Winery and Viticulture Technician program, noted that this recognition shines a well-deserved spotlight on both the province and the College. Findlay pointed out that the Teaching Winery has been refining its sparkling program since 2012 under the direction of its former Head Winemaker Gavin Robertson. Findlay took the reins in 2022 as the first female head winemaker at the facility.
“Since 2012, we have had a strong focus on teaching and crafting high-quality, terroir-driven, technical sparkling wines,” said Findlay. “These awards give worldwide recognition to the dedication that has been given to the wines and wine students for years.”
Robertson, who is currently Professor and Coordinator for the Winery and Viticulture Technician program- also an alumnus – recalled how the cool and wet conditions during the 2019 growing season posed challenges for traditional red winemaking but proved favourable for sparkling.
He noted that the success of Blanc de Noirs, sourced from the Teaching Winery’s Concession 5 vineyard, and Blanc de Blancs, sourced from a stellar 1996 Chardonnay block on campus, is deeply intertwined with NC’s learning enterprises model.
“Those sparklers are gifts that keep on giving,” said Robertson. “I specifically remember three separate early morning student picks to bring in the Pinot for the 2019 Blanc de Noirs.
“Students engage with both their own small-scale pilot projects and with the larger commercial lots, ensuring that they graduate with real-world skills and can adapt easily to industry realities.”
Sparkling into global acclaim
The Dean’s List Blanc de Blancs (2019) was announced as a gold medal from the Decanter World Wine Awards on June 17. The sparkling wine earned a score of 95, a rating that indicates an outstanding wine of great complexity and character.
Established in 2004 by the British wine magazine Decanter, the competition is known as the world’s largest and most influential wine assessment, using a rigorous blind-tasting process judged by top international experts. This year, a panel of 245 leading wine professionals evaluated nearly 17,000 entries from around the globe.
The 2019 Dean’s List Blanc de Blancs is a traditional-method sparkling wine made from 100% Chardonnay grapes harvested from the Niagara College Teaching Vineyard, located on the St. David’s Bench Appellation. It features a pale lemon colour with a persistent mousse, notes of green apple, soft brioche, and subtle yeast, with a palate driven by minerality and fresh acidity.
“This wine was made in a cooler vintage, so there is beautiful natural acidity and great aging potential,” said Findlay. “At this point, the wine has been on the lees for 72 months and is still extremely fresh and youthful tasting, with just enough development to make it a complex sparkling.”
Staff from the Niagara College Craft Beverage Centre were bubbling with excitement with news of the international gold.
“Winning a gold medal at the Decanter World Wine Awards confirms that we are not only providing a world-class educational experience but also producing wines that can compete on the international stage,” said Amanda Baldinelli, Hospitality and Events Manager of the Niagara College Learning Enterprises. “It is a testament to the exceptional talent and dedication of our winemaking team and students.”
Winemaker Allison Findlay is ready to raise glass to award-winning sparkling.
Six-medal provincial triumph
On June 16, the NC Teaching Winery was recognized with six medals at the Ontario Wine Awards held at George Brown’s Chef School in Toronto. Founded in 1995 by Order of Canada recipient Tony Aspler, the Ontario Wine Awards celebrate the very best VQA wines in the province.
NC’s Dean’s List Blanc de Noirs (2019) sparkling secured the prestigious Double Gold. Produced from a single vineyard, vintage, and variety, the 100% Pinot Noir sparkling wine was aged for 54 months on the lees. The grapes were gently whole-cluster pressed to avoid any pick-up of colour or hard phenolics, fermented in stainless steel, and then placed in a 750 mL bottle for tirage, secondary fermentation, and aging.
The resulting wine is bright and straw-coloured with a toasty, apple nose. It is dry, medium-bodied, and long on the palate with a red apple flavour rounded with oak spice, finishing on a lemony note.
“This is a super fun wine in the portfolio,” said Findlay. “It is the partner to the 2019 Blanc de Blancs that received great recognition last year at the National Wine Awards, so I am glad to celebrate the Blanc de Noirs this year.”
Earlier this year, the OWA announced a shared hosting partnership between George Brown Polytechnic and Niagara College. While this year’s event was held in Toronto, hosting duties will rotate annually between the two institutions, creating expanded opportunities for students to take part in mentored judging and gain invaluable, hands-on experience behind the scenes of a premier wine competition.
-
- Six wines from the NC Teaching Winery won medals at the Ontario Wine Awards.
-
- NC President Sean Kennedy speaks at the Ontario Wine Awards.
Explore NC Craft
Both gold-medal sparkling wines, as well as the award-winning Cabernet Franc and Cabernet Rosé, are currently available for purchase at the NC Craft Beverage Centre (formerly the Wine Visitor + Education Centre) at the Daniel J. Patterson Campus in Niagara-on-the-Lake, and online at nccraft.ca.
Visitors can also find a variety of other student-crafted products from the Teaching Winery, Teaching Brewery, and Teaching Distillery – which were all the first facilities of their kind in Canada.
Related
George Brown Polytechnic and Niagara College announce the return of the Ontario Wine Awards in 2026
NC Craft is served: Historic new brand unifies College wine, beer, spirits and cider
The post Teaching Winery pours on the gold during Ontario Wine Week appeared first on Niagara College.
