Canadian Wine Guy

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.

Pale in color with a nice crisp nose. On the mid palate the wine is a nice crisp dry bubbly. Lovely citrus notes. The bubbles are nice and fine. The medium length finish has some nice acidity. This is a very food friendly wine. I would give it an 88-89.

From the winery’s web site:
Varieties: Pinot Meunier (49%), Chardonnay (42%), Riesling (9%) Region: VQA Ontario Country: Canada Vintage: 2013 Alcohol: 12.0% Acidity: 9.15 Bottle size: 750 mL
The fine, “creamy” bubbles lightly dance on your tongue delivering a distinct, enlivening
and bright citrus chorale. Clear notes of fresh apple, peach and pear whisper almost undetectably from the wings in this effervescent presentation of subtlety and nuance. A mouth-watering acidity ensures this sparkler is enjoyable as a solo or as the perfect pair for oysters on-the-half-shell and other fresh seafood. Celebrate life as you drink in this liquid Ode to Joy!

Winemaker: Brian Schmidt
Winemaking notes: Service Temp.: 8 – 10˚C Enjoy now.
Retail: $28.00

Pale in color with a lovely varietal nose. On the mid palate the wine matches the nose with some lovely varietal apple/pear coming through. Beautiful fruit! On the medium length finish the wine displays some nice butter and vanilla. The wine is a bit on the creamy side in texture. The alcohol and acidity are well under control. This really is a nice well made California style chard. 12 months on the lees. I would give it an 89. Yumm

From the Winery’s web site:
2013 Small Lot Chardonnay
$30.00 per bottle
Hand-picked and hand-sorted from our own Thirty Bench vineyard. This Chardonnay has a bouquet of ripe apple, grilled lemon, toasty oak, vanilla, spice, almond and a hint of floral. This medium-bodied wine has a rich mouthfeel with flavours of lemon, pineapple and apple are balanced beautifully by toasty oak and biscuit notes. Lemon and spicy oak notes linger on the finish. Barrel fermented and aged ‘sur lie’ in French oak for 12 months. This wine will age gracefully through 2018.
Pair with cream sauces on pasta and seafood, turkey with mushroom stuffing and creamy mashed potatoes, salmon wrapped in puff pastry, chicken pot pies, mushroom risotto, smoked Gouda and truffled Brie cheeses with artisanal breads.

Dark in color with a nice red/black berry nose along with some dried fruits. On the mid palate the wine displays some firm black cherry notes backed almost immediately by some some firm acidity, tannins and dryness. The cab franc in the blend is definitely noticeable. This wine is a bit on the young side and is displaying some green notes. I would give it an 88 or so. Be sure and pair this with something hearty because it’s definitely a bigger wine. We bought this one at the winery $28.95 per bottle. The blend is 40% Cab Franc 20% cab sauv and 40% Merlot.

From the winery’s web site:
2011 CABERNET MERLOT
Blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Cabernet Franc, carefully sourced from select vineyards. Aged 18 months in French oak, this rich wine displays layered notes of cranberry, strawberry and a hint of lavender.

Pale in color with a nice citrus nose. On the mid palate the wine matches the nose with some lovely citrus notes, and pink grapefruit coming through. On the medium length finish the wine displays some lovely fresh acidity. A very nice sauv blanc. Especially for the price $14.95 at the winery. A very food friendly wine. We paired it with a chicken stir fry and it went well. I would give it an 88+.

Dark color with a mild nose of dark berries. On the mid palate the wine displays some nice dark berries to match the nose. On the medium length finish the wine displays some nice firm tannins some noticeable acidity and dryness. There’s a hint of pepper and the firm dryness builds and lingers in the mouth especially without food. There’s a hint of mocha coming through subtly. I would give it an 88 or so. We paired it with chicken schnitzel and it went well. And particularly well with the chocolate brownies which were dessert. Yumm ….

From the LCBO web site (for a different year):
13th Street Cabernet/Merlot 2012 — VINTAGES#: 56598
Style – Medium-bodied & Fruity  ›
Drawn from two vineyards in the Creek Shores sub-appellation, this rich blend shows the exceptional growing conditions of 2012 for Ontario reds. The fruit is ripe and concentrated, and here it makes for a layered, quite plush mouthfeel that’s consistent right through the palate and through the very good finish. The acidity is well calibrated, cutting through the density of the fruit effectively, and the tannins are supple and moderate. It’s well integrated now, so drink it through to 2017 to appreciate it while the fruit is primary-fresh. Score – 4 Stars out of 5. (Rod Phillips, winealign.com, Nov. 13, 2014) $19.95

Release Date:
June 27, 2015 Alcohol/Vol 12.0% Made in: Ontario, Canada By:
Thirteenth Street Wine Corp. Sugar Content: 6 g/L Sweetness Descriptor: XD – Extra Dry Style:
Medium-bodied & Fruity. This is a VQA wine.

I love Sauv blancs, they are so versatile and food friendly. There flavors are all over the map from mild to wild. Niagara has been making some good ones recently. This one is pale in color with a mild nose. On the mid palate the wine displays some lovely mild grape fruit notes. On the medium length finish the wine displays some nice crisp dry citrus notes along with some nice acidity. This is a well made smooth food friendly sauv blanc. I would give it an 88 or so. Very nice a great example of Niagara’s potential in this space!

From the winery’s web site:
Our Sauvignon Blanc originates from vineyards situated along gently sloping hillsides of the Niagara Escarpment overlooking Lake Ontario. In this area, the combination of limestone-clay soils, elevation and moderating on-shore breezes allow us to produce a wine that exhibits the crisp, herbal character typical of this noble, cool-climate variety. $16.95

From the LCBO web site:
Cave Spring Sauvignon Blanc — LCBO#: 529933
Style – Light & Crisp  ›

Pale straw; quite fragrant, with a floral, grapefruit, gooseberry and grassy/herbal nose with a hint of peach; dry, delicate, crisp with good fruit and moderate length. $16.95

Alcohol/Vol 13.0% Made in: Ontario, Canada By: Cave Spring Cellars Ltd Sugar Content: 2 g/L Sweetness Descriptor: XD – Extra Dry
Style: Light & Crisp

We travel down to Niagara frequently. The experience in the Niagara’s winery’s is awesome. The people, the wine, the food, the Inns are all an amazing way to spend time (oh and some money :)). Vineland estates has one of the most picturesque restaurants in Niagara. Lovely ambiance. They also have on display a beautiful collection of art all made from wine done by Melissa Proudlock. Very unique.

Bill Mochoruk spent some time with us telling us all about some of the innovative things Vineland is doing. It’s the dedication of Vineland and others in the region that is continuing to elevate the status of Niagara wines. Bill was telling me about one of the new gadgets Vineland is employing, an optical sorter. They use it to remove the under size grapes that can impart a green, bitter, vegetal flavor. Very cool. Thanks Bill for all your time.

If there is one thing Niagara is well known for it’s Cab Franc. This wine is 89% cab franc, 10% cab sauv and 1% Merlot. The wine was aged 16 months in oak. The wine has 13.5% alcohol and has 6.5 g/l sugar, so dry. Reserve in this case refers to the quality of the grapes used (Vs longer in oak). The optical sorter was not used on this wine because they didn’t have it yet.

Ok onto this wine. Dark in color with a mild nose. On the mid palate the wine displays some classic varietal cab franc notes. But where this wine lives is in the finish. On a medium to long finish the wine displays some firm tannins, and some lively acidity. This is a classic, big, yet approachable, cab franc that will easily age and soften with time. We paired it with a striploin and it went really well … I would give it a solid 89. $40 at the winery.

From the winery’s web site.
It is the perfect sensory storm. This wine comes at you full on and envelopes you in a wave of flavours that leaves you drenched in luxury. The fine, firm structure of resolved tannins amply supports the lively dark berry notes while underpinning the broader tones of leather, coffee and bittersweet chocolate. The intriguing complexities of this wine are artistically interlace to give a wine of, shall we say it – epic depth, power and longevity.

Winemaker: Brian Schmidt

Niagara make some great Cab Francs. The ones from Niagara on the lake (which this is) tend to be softer than those from the Escarpment. This one has lovely dark cherry on the nose. On the mid palate this displays some varietal cab franc notes, dark cherries and some nice mocha notes. On the medium length finish the wine displays some soft tannins and some nice dryness that build in the mouth along with some nice acidity and a hint of pepper. This is a smooth soft cab franc with some nice complexity in the finish. I would give it an 88-89. $24.95 a bottle at the winery.

From the Winemakers web site:
Paul Bosc and Amélie Boury’s Winemaker’s Notes
Cabernet Franc is one of Niagara’s signature grape varieties and this is an excellent example of how it can be made into a complex wine with aging potential. The grapes are hand picked and then undergo temperature-controlled fermentation so the wine does not come across as “over extracted”. It’s then aged for one year in 1-2 year old French oak barrels to add an extra layer of flavour but not mask the essence of the wine. It’s ruby coloured, with flavours of raspberry and pipe tobacco. Although this wine is ready to drink, it will continue to develop in the bottle for at least 5-10 years.

Miguel Fontalvo’s vineyard manager’s Notes
We are fortunate to be able to work with the St. David’s Bench Vineyard. It is an incredible site. Because it is so far from the lake and nestled against the Escarpment, we are able to achieve full maturity and ripeness in our reds. We do a lot of hand-work in the rows to help the vines concentrate their flavours. This site also features underground sreams that carry limestone off the Escarpment. The vine roots access this water and we believe it is what gives wines grown here their signature minerality.