UBC Reports | Vol. 47 | No. 02 | Jan. 25, 2001

Century's best Chardonnay to uncork $1-million prize

Wine researcher hopes to raise B.C. wineries' profile

UBC's board of governors has approved a plan to establish an International Wine Trust at the university to administer a global competition for the best Chardonnay produced in the world in the past 100 years.

The first-place prize of $1 million will be raised entirely through entry fees and private sponsorship.

"It is unprecedented in the world of wine -- an opportunity for wine producers from around the world to compete with each other for the prestige of earning the largest prize ever offered," says Agricultural Sciences Prof. Hennie van Vuuren, director of the B.C. Wine Research Centre at the university. He is the creator of what is being called The Chardonnay of the Century $1-Million Challenge.

An enormous increase in the interest around wine has resulted in a corresponding growth in wine competitions for gold medals he says. As a result their impact has been devalued and virtually every winery has won medals, van Vuuren says.

Organizers estimate there could be as many as 3,000 competitors for the challenge which will be held in spring 2002 in Vancouver.

The competition is one component in van Vuuren's ongoing campaign to bring a higher profile to Canadian wines and provide research and education that will benefit B.C.'s growing wine industry.