Top 10 Canadian Wines of 2024! Plus Honourable Mentions and Top Value Wines

January 1, 2025 Carl Boucher

I’m thrilled to present my list of the top wine discoveries of 2024! I tasted over 1,350 wines from across Canada, representing regions as diverse as BC (Vancouver Island, Fraser Valley, Okanagan Valley, theSimilkameen Valley, Thompson Valley) and Ontario (Lake Erie North Shore, Niagara Escarpment, Niagara-on-the-Lake, Prince Edward County), Quebec, and even the beautiful Gaspereau and Annapolis Valleys of Nova Scotia.

The depth and breadth of Canadian winemaking continues to astound me, and 2024 has truly been a banner year.

Now in its fourth year, my Top Wines of the Year list has evolved in exciting ways, and I've noticed some trends that deserve a mention before diving into the wines themselves:

Winemakers Sharing Their Very Best

Increasingly, winemakers and wineries are sending me their most prized creations—sometimes limited to extremely small production and unavailable elsewhere. This has made my selection process more challenging (so many great, highly rated options for a Top 10 list!) but also more rewarding.

A Bigger Benchmark Pool

With more wineries submitting samples, I had a much larger benchmark to compare and evaluate around. As a result, the competition for a spot on this list was fiercer than ever.

Varietal Marathons

This year, our live varietal marathons created a spotlight on Rosés, Chardonnays and Red Blends. These live events involved a total of over 267 wines tasted over a period of nearly 18 hours of live recordings. This focus slightly skews the representation on my list but ensures I identified the very best we could find in these categories. In past years, I've spotlighted other varietals during our live tasting marathons, like Pinot Noir, Cabernet Franc, Merlot, Syrah, Cabernet Sauvignon, Sauvignon Blanc, Bubbles and Riesling.

My Selection Criteria

Choosing the top wines involves more than just high scores (and you can read all about my 100 point scale here). Here are the key guidelines I followed for this list:

One Wine Per Producer

To keep the list diverse and inclusive, I limited it to one wine per producer, even though some wineries could have easily dominated the entire top 10.

No Back Vintages Over 5 Years

Except for sparkling wines, I avoided back vintages older than five years. While I’ve tasted some extraordinary older vintages in 2024, I prioritized wines that are accessible and reflective of what’s currently available.

Regional and Style Diversity

My aim was to balance representation across regions, varietals, and styles. While it’s tempting to focus on a specific area or type of wine, I wanted this list to serve as a well-rounded guide to Canada’s top offerings in 2024.

My Top 10 Wines of 2024

Here’s the list you’ve been waiting for!

Each of these wines left me absolutely speechless in its own unique way. These wines are “blow your socks off” wines that make almost any one with any palate say “wow!”

Prices listed below are current as of January 1, 2024. They’re tax in prices which reflect the HST/GST holiday. While availability may vary, I’ve made every effort to highlight wines that you, our members, can seek out and enjoy.

2020 Leaning Post “Clone 548” Chardonnay | ON, Niagara, VQA Lincoln Lakeshore | $47.20
2019 Da Silva “Nobreza” Meritage | BC, VQA Okanagan Valley | $115.60
NV D’Angelo “Dolce Vita Rosso” Tempranillo (Fortified) | BC, Okanagan Valley, VQA Naramata Bench | $59.50
2020 Ferox “Silver Lion Cuvee” Merlot | ON, Niagara, VQA Niagara Lakeshore | $57.35
2020 O’Rourke “Twisted Pine” Chardonnay | BC, Okanagan Valley, VQA Lake Country | $77.10
2021 Bachelder “Wismer-Parke, Wild West End” Pinot Noir | ON, Niagara, VQA Twenty Mile Bench | $66.57
2019 Painted Rock “Red Icon” | BC, Okanagan Valley, VQA Skaha Bench | Not Currently Available | $92.10 previously
2019 Dobbin Chardonnay | ON, Niagara, VQA Twenty Mile Bench | $66.57
2020 Southbrook “Poetica” | ON, Niagara, VQA Four Mile Creek | $62.15
2020 Muscedere Syrah | ON, VQA Lake Erie North Shore | $43.50

Honorable Mentions

2020 Fred Wines “Bolero Reserve” | ON, VQA Niagara Peninsula | $57.50
2021 Stratus Red | ON, Niagara, VQA Niagara-on-the-Lake | $48.87
2021 Tantalus “Old Vines” Riesling | BC, VQA Okanagan Valley | $47.93
2017 Noble Ridge “The One” Grand Reserve | BC, Okanagan Valley VQA Okanagan Falls | $55.09
2023 Seven Directions “Tractor & Vines” Pinot Noir Rosé | BC, VQA Okanagan Valley | $35.30

Top Value Wines

2020 Burnt Ship Bay “Reserve Red” | ON, Niagara, VQA Niagara-on-the-Lake | $21.73
2022 13th Street “Expression” Riesling | ON, VQA Niagara Peninsula | $18.15
2022 Mayhem Cab-Merlot | BC, Okanagan Falls | $26.98

Let Carl’s Wine Club be your personal shopper and get these wines with winery direct prices here. Very limited quantities available.

Looking Ahead to 2025

I hope this list serves as a guide and inspiration for your wine journey in the coming year. Canada’s winemakers are producing some of the most exciting and world-class wines in our history, and I can’t wait to see what 2025 has in store.

One trend to watch for is in BC. With the vine death and crop loss of the last two vintages (as much as 80% of BC vineyards had no grapes at all in 2024) we will see BC wineries releasing wines made in BC, but with grapes or juice from Ontario, Washington State, Oregon, California and beyond. This is a huge shift. It will be very interesting to see what the creativity of our Canadian winemakers can produce.

I am also sure that there will be some fascinating stories and collaborations that emerge from these limited edition wines, and I’ll be on the front lines bringing you these stories, news and wines to taste!

In 2025 you can also expect to see us at the third edition of the Pan-Canadian Masterclass on June 21^st – an event that allows you to experience Canada’s terroir from Coast to Coast. We will be premiering our first ever TV series in Fall of 2025: Cellar Confidential, on the Telus Optik TV network. We will also celebrate our soon to be elected Member’s Choice Winery of the Year in both BC and Ontario with in person events on both sides of the country slated for Fall 2025. I can’t wait to continue to grow our community of raving fans of Canadian wine!

Please remember to share this blog post with another wine lover and invite them to join the club for free. Let’s grow the Carl’s Wine Club community in 2025 – our 5^th anniversary year!

(Carl Boucher, Chief Wine Officer)

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