It's fitting that a wine named after the brightest star in the evening sky won 'wine of the year' at last night's BC Wine Awards in Penticton.
Sirius is the most dazzling star and the Township 7 Seven Stars Sirius Late Disgorged sparkling was judged the best of the best of 300 wines at the competition that launched the 2025 Fall Okanagan Wine Festival.
'Wine of the year' is the highest distinction, the pinnacle honour, bestowed by the BC Wine Awards.
After the trophies were handed out, people who bought tickets to the event were treated to a party and tastes of the winning wines.
“It is such an honour for Township 7, the team, and me to be awarded this prestigious award," said Township 7 winemaker Mary McDermott.
"Our Seven Stars Sirius is the crown jewel of our sparkling program, and this accolade is a testament to the dedication of our entire team. We are humbled to receive this recognition, which would not have been possible without the support of our loyal customers.”
Sirius' win is also a historic first.
While it's called the BC Wine Awards, the reality up until now is an Okanagan Valley vintage has always won the coveted 'wine of the year' title.
The Sirius is now the first non-Okanagan wine to be BC Wine Awards' 'wine of the year' because it was made at Township 7's winery in Langley of Chardonnay and Pinot Noir grapes grown at its South Langley Estate Vineyard.
Township 7 has two wineries -- the one in Langley and another on the Naramata Bench, where most of the brand's other wines are made.
In fact, Township 7's Seven Stars series is made up of, naturally, seven sparkling wines all named after stars, including Sirius (regular), Nebula (rose), Polaris, Aurora, Rigel and Vega.
By the way, the 'late disgorged' in the winning Sirius' name refers to the sparkler being aged for an extended period of time (in this case 72 months) on lees before the lees are removed (or disgorged) from the bottle.
Lees are dead yeast cells left over from the fermentation and second fermentation in the bottle that gives sparkling wine its bubbles.
While dead yeast cells don't sound very appealling, they are actually integral for an excellent sparkling wine because they impart a creamy texture and opulence and some yeasty aromas and flavours reminiscent of fresh-baked brioche while maintaining a clean acidity.
Besides that brioche profile, the Sirius Late Disgorged has aromas and flavours of baked apple and honey with a delicate, soft and creamy mousse (bubbles).
The aforementioned second fermentation in the bottle and time on the lees is the way Champagne in France is made.
Thus, Sirius Late Disgorged is Champagne-style or so-called traditional-method.
Another thing the Sirius Late Disgorged has in common with Champagne is that the Langley winery and the Champagne region are both at 49 degrees latitude, which is perfect cool-climate positioning to grow the pristine Chardonnay and Pinot Noir grapes that make ideal sparklers.
Also in common, the price of the Sirius Late Disgorged is a premium $80 a bottle, the same as Champagne.
Only 2,478 bottles of the 2017 Sirius Late Disgorged were made, so act quickly if you want to buy any because the 'wine of the year' win will make the bubbly a hot commodity.
Check out: https://township7.com/
The BC Wine Awards also selected Top 50 wines.
See the full list here.
Wineries up and down the Okanagan Valley are putting on Okanagan Fall Wine Festival events.
The festival's marquee and inaugural Sunset Drive Fall Outdoor Wine Tasting is the afternoon of Oct. 11 in the plaza at Waterfront Park.
Some tickets are still available for $80 at: https://www.
