Tourism Kelowna would like to acknowledge a number of awards that have been bestowed on our stakeholders during the first part of 2018.

Earlier this year, Predator Ridge won Gold for Excellence in Marketing at the 2018 Tommie Awards.

In early March, Kalala Organic Estate Winery earned the number two Gold medal spot at the 2018 Chardonnay du Monde Awards, for its 2016 Kalala Chardonnay Icewine.

Also in early March, Bram Bolwijn, of Mission Hill Family Estate Winery, was awarded the Customer Service Award, presented by Go RVing Canada, at the B.C. Tourism Industry Conference & Awards

The Finger Lakes International Wine Competition awards were handed out at the end of March, with the hatch winery taking home 5 awards, including Gold and Double Gold medals. Indigenous World Winery and Kalala Organic Estate Winery also took home Silver and Bronze medals.  

In April, Grizzli Winery won several awards at the 2018 Pacific Rim International Wine Competition, including Best of Class and Best in Category amongst all Dessert Wines for their 2013 Sauvignon Blanc Icewine, along with the Gold medal for Best Label Series for three of their wines. For the full list of award winners, including several Silver and Bronze medal winners from the Central Okanagan, click here.

Wine Glass with View Horizontal

The Great American International Wine Competition took place at the end of April, with Indigenous World Winery taking home 6 awards, including 4 Gold medals.

Several Central Okanagan wineries were winners at the 2018 British Columbia Best of Varietal Wine Awards, held at the beginning of May as part of the 24th Annual Spring Okanagan Wine Festival. The winning local wineries were 50th Parallel Estate, Arrowleaf Cellars, Gray Monk Estate Winery, Indigenous World Winery, Quails' Gate Estate Winery, Sandhill Wines, Summerhill Pyramid Winery, The View Winery, and Wayne Gretzky Okanagan. Click here for the full list of winners, including the wine varietals.

Also in early May, Patrick Moros of Best Western Plus Kelowna won the Hotel Motel Association's inaugural 2017 Heart of Hospitality Award.

Recently, Distinctly Kelowna Tours was awarded the Wine Tour Operator of the Year Award in Kelowna by the Luxury Travel Guide, The Americas Awards 2018.

This past week, Quails' Gate Estate Winery announced that its 2015 The Boswell Syrah received a Gold medal at the Decanter World Wine Awards. The winery won two Gold medals at the competition, as did Mission Hill Family Estate. Click here for the full list of award winners, including several Silver and Bronze medal winners from the Central Okanagan.

Congratulations to all the award winners! Please share your notable achievements or award wins by emailing our Visitor Experience Co-ordinator, Melissa McCluskey, at melissa@tourismkelowna.com.