Downey's Framboise Raspberry wine is tops again

John Downey holds up a bottle of the award-winning Framboise Raspberry Dessert Wine.

Downey's Estate Winery has done it again, winning the coveted Fruit Wine of the Year prize at the Annual Canadian Wine Awards.

This was the second time the Caledon winery won the award, sponsored by Wine Access magazine, coming after an unprecedented sweep in 2003 (their first year in the wine business).

The awards were announced in the December - January issue of the magazine.

Downey's Estate 2006 Framboise Raspberry Dessert Wine was named Fruit Wine of the Year. As well, it received the only gold medal this year in the fruit wine category. This was the latest in a virtual cornucopia of prizes the wine has taken since its introduction four years ago.

"It's definitely our flagship wine," declared John Downey, president of Downey Estate Winery. "It's the one people in the wine world know us for and it's the one we've earned the most bragging right for. After all, we grow raspberries here on the farm, hand harvest only the best variety for the wine and we ferment and bottle everything on site."

There's more than two pounds of our raspberries in every bottle, so it's literally a taste explosion when you try it," he added.

The judges said it's "a wine of piercing, pure and rich raspberry aroma, but it also manages the elegance and textured finesse required of a great wine of any style."

Downey and his three sons, Greg, Ian and Dave, banded together in 2002 to open Caledon's very first estate winery, and they haven't looked back since. it has brought a host of visitors, anxious to explore the world of fruit wines.

"They're very popular throughout Europe and the United States, but Canadians have been slow to pick up on the trend," commented Greg, manager of production and owner of Berryview Farms, located across the road from the entertainment farm.

As well, the winery picked up a silver award at the competition for its Strawberry Sunset, a sweet dessert wine that is said to be like dipping into a bowl of fresh strawberries. And they won bronze medals for their Maple Gold and Maple table wines, the first tie a winery ever won an award at this competition for wines made entirely from maple syrup.

The Canadian Wine Awards is Canada's leading national wine competition from wines that are completely Canadian grown, fermented and bottled. Fifteen judges from across the country scrutinized 815 entries.