There is one immeasurable piece of advice that I learned from the Vancouver International Festival Wine List Awards. CedarCreek is one word. You heard me correctly, one word.

CedarCreek Estate Winery is one of the largest and oldest wineries in British Columbia. Until last year, it was still owned by the Fitzpatrick family. They make excellent wines, in particular the Platinum Reserve Series is the bomb. Bought last year by the other largest BC winery, Mission Hill, it will be interesting to see where the new ownership takes these wines.

But who knew that the word, with it’s two capital C’s, is in fact, one word? This was one of the points made by DJ Kearney, wine educator and writer, who MC’d the wine list awards this year. She warned all sommeliers to make sure that there were not spelling errors on their wine lists. In particular, she bemoaned the incorrect spelling of CedarCreek. Why is it one word?

There is a distinct row of cedars that grow along the creek behind the winery. Cedars are not native to the dry Okanagan desert. Senator Ross Fitzpatrick, the original owner, took this as a sign to confirm that this land is indeed a unique and special place. But why did he choose CedarCreek and not Cedar Creek? I asked Anahita Pouget, Marketing Manager for CedarCreek. The answer is simple, another winery in Washington took the name Cedar Creek. Now, there are at least 5 other wineries that have the same name in the United States.

So for all you sommeliers out there that want to win an award for your wine list, make sure your wines are delicious and well chosen. And make sure that you are spelling CedarCreek Estate Winery, correctly on your wine list.