I love travelling down to Niagara, touring the wineries, meeting the enthusiastic people that make up the wine industry. I have to say, Thirty Bench is one of my least favorite. So much so I have skipped them many times. I’ve found the staff to be pretentious, the wines to be average and the price to be high. A poor combination indeed. But I decided it was time to give them another try. This time around we got an amazing, well informed, and personable server! What a great start to changing my view of Thirty Bench. Recently I reviewed the 2013 Small Lot Chard and loved it. It was shockingly good. I would put it up there with Hidden Bench chards of years past. So much so I coughed up the $30 for the bottle. So next up we have this wine.
12 months in French Oak, only 212 cases made. They do mean small lot. This time around Thirty Bench was sampling almost exclusively small lot wines. The wine is garnet in color with a nice rustic nose. On the mid palate the wine displays beautiful varietal pinot fruit notes including soft red berries and lots of rustic flavors dancing in the mouth. On the medium length finish the wine displays some nice smooth tannins and acidity. I would give this wine an 88+ Very nice indeed and a great example of how well Niagara can do pinots. I have to say my visit to Thirty bench is starting to change my opinion of them. The wine was $35 a bottle and I actually coughed it up for the collection!
From the winery’s web site:
2013 Small Lot Pinot Noir
$35.00 per bottle
Ruby red colour with a bouquet of cherry, raspberry, red plum and smoke. Medium-bodied, elegant and fruit-forward. Juicy, fruit flavours of red berry and cherry fill the mouth. Red berry tea, pomegranate and red currant notes linger on the finish.
Pinot Noir grapes were hand-picked and hand-sorted from our own Thirty Bench vineyard and fermented in open top wood fermenters. Barrel aged in French oak for 12 months.
Serve at a cool room temperature of 15 to 17˚C. Pair with venison and a red wine cherry reduction; veal steaks; beef tenderloin; mushroom based dishes; pheasant; quail; duck breast. Enjoy with a selection of cheeses which may include Peau Rouge, La Sauvagine and Reblochon. This wine will age gracefully through 2020.
