British Columbia’s Spearhead Winery Named Winery of the Year
At the 2024 WineAlign National Wine Awards, the small Kelowna winery won big.
On the heels of top-10 finishes the previous two years, Kelowna, British Columbia’s Spearhead Winery has been named the 2024 Winery of the Year at the 2024 WineAlign National Wine Awards of Canada. Taking home a total of 12 medals (three platinum, one gold, five silver, and three bronze) and a nod as Best Performing Small Winery alongside its Winery of the Year nod, Spearhead experienced one of the single best trophy hauls in a single category in National Wine Award history. Even the judges themselves were astounded by Spearhead’s success—as wine writer Anthony Gismondi says, “I’m not sure we ever imagined a single winery being awarded three platinum medals in one year, which would crown them number one in the country and, because they produce less than 10,000 cases, the Best Performing Small Winery in the country at the same time.”
Spearhead winemaker and general manager Grant Stanley, who trained in his native New Zealand as well as Oregon before bringing his talents to the Okanagan in 2003, thinks that scope has played an integral role in the winery’s success. “Our commitment to staying small and focused on pinot noir is paying off,” he says. “Many producers I admire worldwide limit their production to focus on quality over quantity.” Producing fewer than 10,000 cases a year using just five grape varieties, Spearhead, which has been owned and operated by Bill and Marina Knutson since 2010, is living proof that when it comes to fine wine, sometimes less is more.
Among Spearhead’s winning wines were eight pinot noirs, including the three platinum winners: 2022 Pommard Clone, 2022 Saddle Block, and 2022 Club Consensus, a wine club members-only wine crafted following input from the members themselves. Other noteworthy winners include the gold-medal-winning 2021 Golden Retreat pinot noir, silver-medal-winning 2022 Braided Hill pinot noir, and the bronze medal winner, 2023 gamay rosé. Made in ultra-limited quantities, these and all of Spearhead Winery’s other award-winning wines are likely to sell out quickly following the historic win.
