Results from the 2026 Nationals – Mead & Non-Fruit

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 wine, 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!

Mead and Non-Fruit

Category Overview by Janet Dorozynski PhD, DipWSET

Go straight to the winners.

Mead & Other Non-Fruit-Based Wines: Innovation Beyond the Vineyard

One of the competition’s most distinctive categories, Mead & Other Non-Fruit-Based Wines, continues to showcase the creativity of Canadian producers. This year, the category attracted 17 entries, with two silver and ten bronze medals awarded. Representing approximately 1% of both total entries and medals, the results reflect a small but increasingly accomplished segment of Canada’s beverage landscape.

The category highlights a uniquely Canadian spirit of innovation. Rather than relying on grapes, producers work with honey, flowers, botanicals, and other agricultural products to create beverages that express local ingredients in unexpected ways. Mead is one of the world’s oldest fermented drinks and has enjoyed a resurgence in recent years, while flower wines and other alternative fermentations are attracting adventurous consumers seeking distinctive, locally crafted products.

This creativity is particularly evident in regions where specialty agriculture flourishes. Alberta emerged as a standout performer, led by Spirit Hills, whose wild rose and flower wines earned multiple medals. Ontario’s Rosewood Estate continues to demonstrate the quality and aging potential of premium mead, while producers from New Brunswick and other parts of the country underscore the category’s growing national reach.

Although no Gold medals were awarded this year, several noteworthy trends emerged. Floral wines made from ingredients such as dandelion, wild rose, butterfly pea flower, and violet are pushing stylistic boundaries and introducing consumers to entirely new flavour experiences. At the same time, mead producers are adopting increasingly sophisticated winemaking techniques, including solera aging, oak maturation, and carefully sourced varietal honey. Rosewood Estate’s Solera Mead, one of the category’s two silver medal winners, exemplifies this evolution.

While still a niche category, the strong medal performance points to rising expertise. Rather than imitating grape wine, Canada’s mead and other non-fruit-based wine producers are embracing the unique character of their raw materials and local landscapes. The result is a growing collection of distinctive and authentic products that will expand consumer horizons and could position the category for wider recognition in the years ahead.

Cheers to Canadian craft and creativity!

And the winners are…