Road 13 Vineyards Shines in the Gold Medal Plates Competition
Gold and Bronze Medals earned with a little help from the Golden Mile winery
In late October, the Edmonton, Vancouver and Calgary Gold Medal Plates competitions took place. Road 13 Vineyards is honoured to have their wines featured with two of the Gold-medal-winning recipes, and one from the Bronze-medal winning category.
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Gold Medal Plates takes place in six cities across Canada this fall, and features outstanding wines and leading chefs in each city, paired with Canadian Olympic and Paralympic athletes, in a competition to crown a Gold, Silver and Bronze medal culinary team in each city, and subsequently nation-wide. The goal of Gold Medal Plates is to raise funds for Canada’s high performance athletes, while celebrating Canadian excellence in food and wine as well as in athletics. Road 13 Vineyards is proud to have been among the wineries selected in the competition.
In Edmonton, Bistecca Italian Steakhouse chef Sonny Sung earned the Bronze with a smoked Alberta lamb rack accompanied by the Road 13 2007 Syrah.
In Vancouver, Cactus Club chef Rob Feenie captured the Gold, with a dish that started with a parsnip pear and pineapple sorbet that paired perfectly with the Road 13 Viognier, Roussanne and Marsanne 2008. The dish’s main feature was Virginia Jacobs’ duck confit set atop the sorbet, with chicken boudin noir sausage enriched with foie gras, fig and truffle.
At the Calgary event, chef Jan Hrabec of Crazyweed Restaurant from Canmore was the Gold medal victor. Her braised duck leg in a bright, fruity orange curry sauce with notes of ancho chile, cardamom, star anise, and coriander was partnered with Indian spiced sweet potato and wilted chard with a crispy shallot garnish and was an outstanding match to the Road 13 Pinot Noir 2008.
Michael Bartier, winemaker at Road 13 Vineyards, is flattered to see his wines alongside the top plates. “I’d like to congratulate all the hard working teams in each city,” he says. “We are proud that our wines could help complement those winning dishes.”
Road 13, launched in 2008, was previously named Golden Mile Cellars. Owned by Pam and Mick Luckhurst since 2003, the wines express the special character of the South Okanagan’s renowned Golden Mile Bench. Their motto, “it’s all about the dirt” reflects their belief that great wines start in the vineyard. Winemaker Michael Bartier crafts award-winning wines in three distinct tiers: a rose , and red and white blends called Honest John’s; a varietal series of red and white wines under the Road 13 label; and a premium tier of small lots and blends called Jackpot. Road 13 is located south of Oliver, BC on Road 13 off Highway 97. Open year round, the wine shop offers small lots and back vintages in addition to current releases. To find out more, please visit www.road13vineyards.com.
