Generally speaking I love going down to the Niagara wineries, with one exception. Thirty Bench. I find their staff arrogant and pretentious, the only winery down there that I have found like that. Odd. No idea why. Their web site says it all “Premium wines”. Alright enough of that onto the wine. My sister gave me this one for Christmas along with the Organized Crime I previously blogged about. The wine is quite pale in color with a mild typical Riesling bouquet. Rieslings really can vary a lot but there are some Niagara ones that are fabulous. On the mid pallet the wine is quite nice and crisp. The wine is medium on the finish with a nice tartness and minerality to it. I would give this one a 90. Smack on varietal Niagara Riesling, and just the way I like them. I paired it with pan fried sea scallops and it went well.
From the LCBO web site THIRTY BENCH RIESLING 2008 VINTAGES 24133 | 750 mL bottle Price: $ 18.70
Wine, White Wine, 11.0% Alcohol/Vol. Sugar Content : D This is a VQA wine
Made in: Ontario, Canada By: Andrew Peller Limited
Release Date: Oct 10, 2009
Description
Thirty Bench is a Riesling specialist. The 2007 vintage of this wine won a Gold Medal for Best Dry Riesling at the 2009 Ontario Wine Awards.
Tasting Note
This is the entry level Riesling from the estate, a blend from the vineyards, in a house style. An attractive nose of lime-citrus and subtle mineral notes. It has zippy acidity on the palate to go with refreshing citrus fruits in a dry style. Score – 3 1/2 Stars (out of 5). (Rick VanSickle, www.stcatharinesstandard.ca, June 18, 2009)
