Wine lovers wanting to buy some of the best wine in British Columbia can find guidance from judges at the 2014 B.C. Wine Awards.
They selected See Ya Later Ranch’s 2012 Rover Shiraz-Viognier as the best wine in B.C. and four others as runner-ups that were also categorized as Platinum-class winners. 
Best of all for consumers is that See Ya Later’s Rover sells for a surprisingly low $22 per bottle at government liquor stores as well as B.C. Vintners Quality Alliance (BC VQA) stores. Private stores may carry the wine and charge a higher price. Plenty of supply remains as the wine is just being rolled out. Many stores are still selling the 2013 vintage, which has a dramatically different label.
Rover is a big red with the robust flavours to be expected from a Shiraz. The splash of Viognier just adds that extra zing.
The two other big reds that won Platinum status were the $40 Quail’s Gate Syrah and the $27 Baillie-Grohman Estate Winery Cabarnet Franc 2012.
Quail’s Gate’s Syrah is only available at the winery although winery staff will mail a maximum of two bottles per person to those willing to spend the $20 shipping charge.
The winery rarely makes a single-varietal Syrah but it did so in 2012 to mark its 25th anniversary.
Creston-based Baillie Grohman’s win is significant because it is the only platinum-award-winning wine to come from outside the Okanagan.
Principal Petra Flaa told Business in Vancouver that she just send a shipment of wine to the British Columbia Liquor Distribution Branch (BCLDB)’s Richmond warehouse so BC VQA stores in Metro Vancouver are likely to have some in stock.
SpierHead Winery’s 2013 Pinot Gris can be found at BCVQA stores as well as on the winery’s ecommerce website for $20. Supplies are dwindling fast for both it and Silkscarf Winery’s platinum-winning Viognier 2013, which sells for $20.90. Good luck getting some. Silkscarf’s website lists it as being sold out.
