We are delighted to be awarded the Trophy for Best Canadian Sparkling Wine last night at The Champagne and Sparkling Wine World Championships in London England for our Seven Stars Polaris 2016 Sparkling Wine! Polaris was also a finalist in both the Classic Blanc de Blancs category and in the Supreme World Champion category, which were ultimately won by highly venerated global Champagne powerhouses. The CSWWC is the most important international competition dedicated exclusively to sparkling wines, with this year’s Championships seeing a record number of entries and awards. Competing wines were sampled in a blind tasting with the goal to find those stellar, standout wines in the highly competitive world of champagne and sparkling wine.
Township 7 Seven Stars Polaris 2016 was honoured with a Gold by the CSWWC this past summer and Best in Class Canadian Sparkling last evening at the CSWWC award’s ceremony. The winery’s Blanc de Blanc was described by the Championships as “a fresh, complete, and very tasty sparkling wine with some autolytic complexity on the nose and fresh, pristine fruit on the palate and a soft mousse.”
Founder and head judge Tom Stevenson said at the CSWWC awards dinner, “Every year the standard of Champagnes and sparkling wines entered just keep on getting better and better. The bar was set high from day one and the Trophy count certainly reflects this. However it is not only our mission to promote world class wines, but also to discover and reward new and exciting wines from established and emerging regions across the world.”
“We’re blown away to receive this honour for Polaris at the most respected, comprehensive and rigorous international sparkling wine competition in the world,” commented Mike Raffan, Township 7 Vineyards & Winery General Manager. “Township 7’s sparkling program began two decades ago with our inaugural vintage of Seven Stars 1999 and we’re thrilled with the reception of our cuvées over that time. With Mary’s extensive expertise in traditional method wines we’re excited to continue this sparkling future adding other bubbly to the Seven Stars collection in the coming years.”
Winemaker Mary McDermott, Township 7 Vineyards & Winery said, “this honour demonstrates British Columbia’s ability to produce world class wine. We’re proud to be named not only Best Sparkling in Canada but also to be included in the distinguished company of the leading international champagne brands. Polaris was a finalist in both the Classic Blanc de Blancs category and in the Supreme World Champion category, with Champagne Palmer and Co and Dom Pérignon respectively, winning those titles.”
Township 7’s Seven Stars collection includes a unique family of five cuvées. This year the winery released 2016 Seven Stars Polaris – its flagship blanc de blanc; 2016 Seven Stars Eclipse – a Chardonnay with a complex dosage, and 2015 Seven Stars Equinox – a sparkling Rosé. Next year look for a new aromatic traditional method sparkling Viognier, and in 2021 an ultra premium, 2015 Langley estate sparkling that will have been en tiriage for 5 years. Polaris is a traditional method wine crafted from 100% Chardonnay grapes. This vintage has pleasing aromas of freshly baked biscuits along with bright fruit scents of Granny Smith apple, peach and lime. The mousse is creamy for a round and beautifully well-balanced wine. The wine was left en tirage for 18 months to ensure the development of classic autolytic characters. Only 598 six bottle cases made. It is available at the two wineries and online.
