2007 Miscellaneous afternoon in the Niagara Region

It's been almost three years since I've been in this wine region and even then it was for a very brief visit. I found an afternoon to take off while I was in Toronto and drove the hour or so to get down here.

Overall, it was an eye opening visit as the wines are much better overall than before. Of course the icewines are solid. The cabernet Sauvignon and Franc icewines were incredible, the dry/off dry Rieslings were fantastic and a lot of the reds were solid. Having said that, other than the icewines, there were very few "exciting" wines. So much money has been spent in the region, beautiful wineries but still some ways to go to make more unique wines.

The wineries visited:
Thirty Bench:
Hidden Bench (closed but I took the effort to find it just in a pretty area)
Konzelmann
Strewn
Jackson Triggs
Stratus
Trius / Hillebrand

Quite a bit of work done in an afternoon.

BTW, the area is simply GORGEOUS in the autumn. It was harvest time so the vineyards were full of action, the maple trees in the area were in the full fall regalea. The sky was blue with some moody clouds,...it was just a beautiful afternoon. It was quite as it was mid week. I fully enjoyed myself....perhaps way too much It's been almost a year since I've been in a vineyard area and I could not believe how much I had missed it.

Okay so the tasting notes ... by varietal...they are short as I was not taking much care of the notes at all. Sorry in advance if they are more than kryptic

Chardonnay
2007 Jackson Triggs Chardonnay Reserve, very pale color, nice floral nose, green apple, some tropical fruits, oak is not overpowering.

Rieslings and Gewürztraminer
2007 Thirty Bench Riesling Very pale straw in colour, very pretty, nose of peach pear, and on the palate, medium density of flavours, peach, pear, nice dose of went rock, lifting tartness, very fresh, almost mouth puckering level, high tone acidity. Solid wine but needs food $18CDN.

2007 Thirty Bench Small Lot Riesling Wood Post Vineyard. Much deeper in colour than the regular blend, light golden. Nose is entirely different, moving towards green apple, tart citrus, minerals. On mouth, a much denser wine, great mouth feel, more round, but still a nice high toned acidity, very fresh but more dear at $30CDN.

2006 Konzelmann Gewürztraminer Reserve, Very light pale gold in colour. Raisiny, spicy, hints of lychee, peach, hint off dry. Good again with food. Solid but nothing special

2006 Konzelmann Riesling Reserve. Pale straw in color, Nose of peach and pear. Wine is very dry, good balance, and tastes as it noses, of peach pear and honey. Nice high tone acidity again makes it refreshing. $15 and it is a good buy

2007 Konzelmann Riesling x Traminer, pale straw in colour, very light in nose, very simple, just off dry, fresh. Wine is VERY clean, Bits of pear and citrus, medium finish and refreshing but simple drink. I was surprised as I was hoping that this hybrid which was created on the property, would mix the best of both worlds of Riesling and Gewürztraminer but instead it seemed to do the opposite. Lack in any real intensity of wine experiences and plenty else to drink for the price.

2006 Strewn Two Vines, Gewürztraminer. Was not a fan of this wine. Thin, peppery, stone fruit, shot finish and high acidity put things out of balance

2006 Strewn Riesling dry. Better, dry, per stone fruits, good roundness to wine but short

2007 Stratus Riesling. This was my second fav of the day! Nice pale colour with hint of green apple and citrus. Very focused wine in style versus other Niagara region Riesling. Great balance, very refreshing, a touch simple but very focused.

2006 Hillenbrand Riesling, Deeper and fuller than many others today. Peach, high acidity, green apples and a nice good grip on the wine.

Red Blends / Meritage

2006 Thirty Bench Red, Very aromatic nose, perfumey woods, slightly off dry, smoky red fruit, tobacco. Noticeably high level of acidity. Nice drink but at $22CDN, would not be able to compete in the US Market.

2007 Strewn 3 Terroir Barrel Sample Blend, 43% cabernet Sauvignon, 39% Merlot and rest consists of Cabernet Franc and remaining in other varieties (cabernet Sauvignon) This one again shows the basic ripeness and balance of the 2007 vintage. High tone acidity remains with the high ripeness levels and this shows very very very well. AT $29 it is a good buy in Canada (equal to the standard $20 in the US).

2005 Stratus Red. Very elegant nose, great potential for balance. On nose and palate, hint of pencil shavings, oaks that had not yet been resolved, ripe red fruits, medium tannic. At $45, it would be a tough sell in the US, but in Canada incompetition with Oculus, Nota Bene, Osoyoos Larose (all from BC), this is very reasonably priced.

Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Francs and Merlots

2006 Thirty Bench Cabernet Franc. Very nicely balanced wine, good red fruit, bell pepper, spices, bit herbal, black tea good high level of acidity again but balanced by tannins. $?? Not sure but winery only I think

2007 Strewn Cabernet Franc Terrior Barrel Sample. While still a barrel sample, this wine was delicious. It ahs a lushness that Ontario wines are not known for but still retains a nice acidity. Hints of chocolate. It's as if the Italians grew Cabernet Franc. It like this one a lot and it would be competitve at $29cdn.

2007 Strewn Cabenet Sauvignon Terroir Barrel Sample; Another solid 2007. This one was juicy, rich, lush red and black fruits everywhere but still a nice acidity backbone. Long finish $29 and a very good buy

2007 Strewn Merlot Terroir Barrel Sample, This one is even more lush, nice density of flavours, red ripe fruits, cherries, great mouthfeel. Long finish.

2006 Jackson Triggs Delany Vineyard Merlot, deep dark color, nose was simple though with ripe red and black fruits,. Remained same on palate. Simple and solid but nothing special.

2002 Hillenbrand, Showtime, Nice color, deep garnet purple. Perfummy woods but not all together. Not all integrated but doing well at the 6 year mark.

2000 Trius Grand Red, nice to use the data to provide additional structure to the class. Very tannic, lacks balance now but has the stuffings to go and be better.

Syrahs
2006 Jackson Triggs Syrah Propretor's Reserve,very lush but medium bodied wine. Great style, nose and taste of strawberries, ripe red fruit, tannic, hint of smokiness, nice value drink

Icewines
2006 Konzelmann Riesling X Traminer Icewine. Now this is more like it. Nose of pure honey, very pretty color of light gold. Wine is very focused, lots of tropical fruit and has a great acidity to keep things light and fresh. Good price at $30 for 375mL but not outstanding.

2007 Konzelmann Cabernet Sauvignon Icewine. Colour is like a tawny port but what a nose. Pure Ribena Black current drink (after opening up with water), and strawberry jam. It is an incredible wine and my wine of the day. Nice high tone acidity keeps things very fresh. Worth every penny of the $40 for a 200mL bottle.

2004 Jackson Triggs Cabernet Franc Ice wine. Tawny port in color, very sweet, again, common theme today, high toned acidity that kept it refreshing.

2007 Stratus Riesling Icewine – another great icewine! Lighter gear towards moderate drinkers. Nose of Honey, but very pure and clean. super mouthfeel, super clean, no drying vinyl like mouthfeel. Very very pure.

2008 Hillebrand Cabernet Sauvignon, Pure strawberry jam on the nose. Acidity is balancing the rest of the wine.

2004 Showcase barrel Vidal Icewine. – Tawyne Port in color. Nose and palate of over ripe Lychee, and other fruits. I did not particularly care about this one.

Sounds like a nice visit to the Niagara-on-the-Lake region. I agree that progress is being made in Ontario, and also agree that wines are still very much hit or miss, and often overpriced. I worry that more money seems to be going into visitor centres than to the wine themselves. Stratus seemed to be an example of that, although some of their wines were quite nice, if rather pricey. I liked their Cab Franc too.

I like the Beamsville area a little more, as it's less touristy, and there are even better wineries (and scenery - although the Niagara River is great!).

John,

thanks for that. Iw as kicking myself not having a camera in hand. I might get to go back in a few weeks through so hopefully the leaves will still hang around. Thanks for the heads up in Beamsville. I've been inside there on previous occasions and have loved the area as well. AS I will be heading to Jordan, I'll probably stay in the area adn in Beamsville next time.

Mike

Jordan is right beside the Beamsville Bench area, so you'll have great access to lots of wineries. Be sure to try Royal DeMaria, an icewine only maker, if only to marvel at some of the prices they are charging! Their icewines are defintely interesting, being made from almost every variety possible (e.g., syrah, cab sauv, chardonnay, etc). Cave Spring, Crown Bench, Flat Rock (great view and steady QPR wines) and Malivoire are also interesting wineries in the area.

Jordan is right beside the Beamsville Bench area, so you'll have great access to lots of wineries. Be sure to try Royal DeMaria, an icewine only maker, if only to marvel at some of the prices they are charging! Their icewines are defintely interesting, being made from almost every variety possible (e.g., syrah, cab sauv, chardonnay, etc). Cave Spring, Crown Bench, Flat Rock (great view and steady QPR wines) and Malivoire are also interesting wineries in the area.

Thanks again! I'm looking forward already.

I've been to Royal deMaria few years ago. It was the funniest visit. The winery at the time was (not sure if it has changed) essentially a 2 by two stories up in light blue colour Steel wall exterior. The wine maker was still working as a hair stylist at the time. We drove into a almost surreal family scene. The grandfaterh was playing with the children and the mother hushed them away when awe arrived for our tasting. The spouse opened admitted that she was not a fan initally of wines and that John was the wine guy. She went through an entire line tasting with us (which if you know the wineries, it is over a dozen icewines). They are great (both wines and the people) and the wine maker walked back in the house after a long day as a stylist and then back into the winery mode. We must ahve drove by the winery like 8 times looking for a large facility. Instead, there was jsut a few flag poles, a nicely tended garden and a dirty road up to the front door. We thoroughly enjoyed that visit and purchased a large number of bottles, many that we still have.

We also went to Cave springs, Creekside, adn a few others in the area.

Many thanks for bringing up the memories.

Great description - I find it a rather surreal place to visit!