Entry Rules
Cold Climate Wine
Awards 2025
Purpose
- The purpose of the CCWA is to celebrate, showcase and promote wines made from 100% cold climate grapes grown in Canada and the United States.
Criteria
2. The CCWA is open to commercial wineries licensed to manufacture and sell wine in Canada or the United States.
3. The wine must be made from 100% recognized cold climate grapes (listed in Appendix A) grown, vinified and bottled in Canada or the United States.
4. A minimum of 300 bottles of the wine (750, 500, or 375 ml size) must be available for sale or release in 2025.
5. The wine must have a label that identifies the name of the winery and wine, vintage year, alcohol percentage, residual sugar (g/L), and cultivar (or if blended, the percentages of each cultivar in descending order).
Entry and Shipping
6. There is no limit to the number of wines that may be entered.
7. A wine can only be entered in one category listed on Enofile Online Wine Competition Management at https://enofileonline.com/ (under the CCWA 2025 listing).
8. Wineries must be able to provide evidence of production and provenance of a wine (if required).
9. Wineries entering wine are required to:
9.1 Submit two (2) bottles of each wine in the category entered.
9.2 Pay the entry fee of $35.00 cdn (plus tax = $39.55 cdn) for each wine entered and deliver the wine on or before May 1, 2025 to:
Canadian Entries United States Entries
Cold Climate Wine Awards Cold Climate Wine Awards
c/o Stonehouse Vineyard c/o Thousand Islands Winery
21065 Lochiel Road Suite #1
Alexandria, ON 43298 Seaway Avenue
KOC1A0 Alexandria Bay, NY
13607
9.3 Canadian wineries/entries can make electronic payment by e-transfer to info@ccwa.ca or https://ccwa.ca/store/
9.4 American wineries/entries can make electronic payment at https://ccwa.ca/store/
9.5 Ensure wine is packaged and shipped in sturdy materials (without the use of styrofoam chips or noodles).
10. The CCWA has the discretion to modify wine categories depending on the number of wines submitted.
11. The CCWA has the discretion to transfer a wine from one category to another if it has been incorrectly classified or as part of modifying wine categories depending on the number of wines entered.
12. Wines that are submitted are for use in judging at the CCWA and will not be returned (and any unopened bottles may be used by the CCWA for educational or charitable purposes).
13. The CCWA assumes no responsibility for wine damaged or lost during shipping.
14. Entry fees will not be refunded after the wine has been delivered to the CCWA.
Judging
15. Judging will occur for:
15.1 United States wine entries on May 6, 2025, at Thousand Islands Winery in Alexandria Bay, NY; and
15.2 Canadian wine entries on May 8, 2025, at Stonehouse Vineyard, in Lochiel ON.
16. The same panel of judges, arranged by the Lead Judge, will evaluate both the Canadian and United States wine entries and will be experienced in cold climate wine tasting.
17. The serving and judging of the wine will be blind (i.e., neither the servers nor judges will know the identity of the wine).
18. Each wine will be assigned a score and the judges will decide whether it merits an award.
19. Depending on the number of wines entered, judges will also award Best in Class for each category of wine (e.g., Best White, Best Orange, etc.), and an overall winning Best Wine for the CCWA.
Winemakers' Select
20. On the date(s) of judging, a winery that has submitted a wine to the CCWA will also be eligible to have a representative (e.g., winemaker) participate in a separate blind tasting (with other representatives) of submitted wines to identify the wines they consider worthy of special recognition as Winemakers’ Select.
21. A Winemakers’ Select wine will be able eligible to use a special sticker reflecting its selection.
Cold Climate Wine Indication
22. Wines submitted by a winery are also eligible (at no extra cost) to be evaluated for the recently created CCWI.
23. The purpose of the CCWI is to:
23.1 recognize, celebrate, showcase, and promote quality wines made from the 100% cold climate grapes;
23.2 grown in areas that experience periods of cold (i.e., -20c/-4f or lower) in the winter; and
23.3 provide assurance that wine made from 100% cold climate grapes is of good quality.
24. The judges will undertake a sensory evaluation of each wine on its merit and will determine if it is without unacceptable faults or defects.
25. The sample wine is presented blind to the judges and will only be provided with information regarding the:
25.1 vintage;
25.2 cultivar content; and
25.3 if applicable, specific vinification methods that may impact the sensory evaluation process (e.g., unfiltered, bottled with lees, sparkling, aged in barrels previously used for aging other alcohol products (e.g., bourbon)).
26. If any unacceptable fault or defect is identified in the wine, the judges will provide a description.
27. A majority of the judges must agree that the wine meets the sensory evaluation.
28. The winery will be provided with a copy of the sensory evaluation of the judges (if requested).
29. If a cold climate wine meets the criteria for the CCWI, it will be permitted to use the indication sticker or logo on the approved wine.
Appendix A
CCWA
Eligible Cold Climate Grape Varieties
Cold Climate grapes are those that do not require winter protection. It does not include “warm” climate grapes (i.e., vitis vinifera (e.g., Reisling, Cabernet)) or “cool” climate grapes (i.e., French interspecific cultivars (e.g., Vidal, Marechal Foch, Leon Millet, Lucie Kuhlmann) or North American interspecific cultivars (e.g., Traminette, Chambourcin)). If a variety is not on the list, the CCWA may be contacted to determine eligibility and any decision is final.
| White | Red |
|---|---|
| Adalmiina Brianna E.S. 10-18-14 (Chardonette) Frontenac Blanc Frontenac Gris Itasca Kay Gray L'Acadie Blanc La Crescent La Crosse Louise Swenson Osceola Muscat Prairie Star St-Cliche St. Pepin Swenson White | Baltica Crimson Pearl Frontenac (Noir) Marquette Petite Pearl Pionnier Radisson Sabrevois St. Croix Veritage TP 1-1-12 Verona |