Results from the 2026 Nationals – Fortified

Announcing the Results from the 2026 National Wine Awards of Canada

The 2026 Nationals took place in Niagara, Ontario from June 12th to 18th. Today, we are pleased to announce the winners in the Cider, Mead & Non-fruit, Fruit wine, Fortified, Maple wine, Icewine and Late Harvest categories. Category results will be rolling out throughout the rest of July, concluding with the Winery of the Year announcement on July 31st. We hope that you will stay tuned to follow the results!

Category Overview by Elsa Macdonald, MW

Fortified

Go straight to the winners.

This niche category had 9 entries which garnered 6 medals, including one GOLD, two silvers and three bronzes. Five of the six were based on grapes and one was from blueberries. The term ‘fortified’ means to strengthen and in this case, that strength comes from adding a neutral spirit to wine at various stages of fermentation. The earlier in the fermentation, the more fruit driven the style and the sweeter the final product (further blending aside). Many of these wines are then aged so flavours can integrate and the fiery nature of the added spirit can settle in. Some are aged in oak barrels to allow evolution through slow oxygen exposure or to gain complexity from new oak.

Try the gold winner for a Canadian version of a global classic based on the Muscat variety; La Frenz N/V Liqueur Muscat, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia. Serve it with a cheese and nut board after a meal.

For something less familiar in a fortified style but from a well-loved variety (Cabernet Franc) and vineyards (Wismer-Foxcroft), try Morandin Wines 2024 Fortificato Wismer-Foxcroft, Twenty Mile Bench, Niagara Peninsula, Ontario. The winery fondly describes it as a ‘fruit bomb’ which suggests to me it could be sipped all on its own or that it would go well with flaky pastries or with vanilla ice cream and toasted nuts.

Turn to this category when the evenings start to cool down and you want to linger outside to squeeze pleasure out of every last moment of late summer.

And the winners are…