WTN: 2005 Hillebrand Estate Seyval Blanc (Ontario VQA)

<table align="right" valign="top"><tr><td><img src="http://www.wineloverspage.com/forum/village/userpix/70_HillebrandSeyval_1.jpg" border="1" align="left"></td></tr></table>It's been a long time since I've been able to just pop over to a retail outlet, LCBO or otherwise, and purchase quality estate-grown Seyval from the Niagara Peninsula. In the late '90s they were more common, but have become increasingly rare. What is interesting about this wine in particular is that up to now, I had never heard of Hillebrand Estate even making a varietal Seyval - this large winery in Niagara-On-The-Lake has done as most others have, focusing on vinifera. Having said that, I am pleased that they have produced this elegant bottling of varietal Ontario Seyval as it keeps this climatically suitable variety in the vinous spotlight.

12.5% alc. Crystal-clear light straw colour with a youthful greenish glint. Swirling brings out intense minerally green-apple and pineapple aromas with secondary hints of guava and raspy citrus rind. Light and crisp on the entry, but gentle in texture; totally bone-dry (I'm smiling already). Citrusy, minerally, clean, cleansing and crisply dry Seyval - excellent when chilled but not too cold. Exceptionally well balanced. A good, dry white table wine that will work in all conceivable dry-white-wine situations. The finish is clean and again, perfectly dry.

As a final note: I purchased this wine for all of $9.95 at the famous Cheese Boutique in west Toronto. This store is the place to go if you want to buy rare and artisanal cheeses. Owner Fatos Pristine has recently handed the reigns over to his sons. Rare cheeses, teas, spreads and other imported foods are the norm there and the place is a foodie's delight. I've been shopping there for well over 25 years and love the place.

Good note Paul, might find it around here. Bone dry eh.

Great note Paul. I too have had a harder time tracking down Seyval. The examples I've seen on shelves are a few years old (have you any luck with bottle aged Seyval?). I wonder if the grape is falling out of favor and being replaced by the next generation of Hybrids. What are you seeing in the way of new Hybrids coming to maturity? Will the 2006 vintage introduce any newcomers?

Prost!
Bill

Bob, if you can find it out West, definitely give it a try. Yes, and it's perfectly dry - I really like it because of this. Too many wineries that make Seyval love to sneak in 1 or 2 percent residual sugar, if not more, to appeal to mass tastes. But I find that Seyval made from properly cropped vines and adequately ripened does not need residual sugar to mask flaws that are otherwise allowed to exist.

Bill, I think that Seyval (in Ontario at least) fell to the pendulum of name cachet. You see, Seyval just doesn't command the same return financially as does Chardonnay, Riesling or Gewürztraminer. Seyval takes a disciplined hand to make correctly, however; the vine is prone to setting too large a crop and crop thinning must be carried out, or the wine will be watery and boring. Good Seyval is not neutral; it has plenty of structure and appley flavours, so I don't find fault with the grape per se (though personally, I admit a preference for Vidal as a table wine - it has more estery fruit on the nose which I really enjoy).

Some new-generation hybrids are already in the ground all across the Midwest, with Minnesota being home to many of them. Grapes such as Prairie Star and Louise Swenson have been used for a few years already, but finding out about them is almost as hard as finding their wines! We have to keep the faith.

Grapes such as Prairie Star and Louise Swenson have been used for a few years already, but finding out about them is almost as hard as finding their wines! We have to keep the faith.

Here, here Paul! Thanks for the info, I'll certainly keep my eyes open.


Prost!
Bill

...I wonder if the grape is falling out of favor and being replaced by the next generation of Hybrids. What are you seeing in the way of new Hybrids coming to maturity? Will the 2006 vintage introduce any newcomers?

Prost!
Bill

I like Seyval, but I like it better if blended, to add a bit more complexity. My guess is that plantings of Seyval have decreased over the past 10-15 years - not replaced by other white hybrids, as much as white vinefera and reds. The demand for reds has increased and growers have learned to handled vineferas better (better clone selection also), so they're not as risky to grow. Traminette is becoming more popular in NY State. I tasted a new red hybrid recently and have one bottle in my cellar. It is excellent and very Syrah-like. 2005 Presque Isle Noiret. I'll post a TN when I get around to opening it - perhaps some night when I have friends for dinner.

The examples I've seen on shelves are a few years old (have you any luck with bottle aged Seyval?).

Oops, sorry Bill - I overlooked that part of your post.

I haven't had any experience with Seyval that's more than a couple of years old. My gut feeling is that a well made Seyval could hold up in bottle for several years, but that it wouldn't necessarily get any better or more interesting. This might not be the case if it were skin-fermented and had more phenolics, but no winery I know would make Seyval this way.

Suffice it to say that the world of wine holds many surprises, and experimentation would really be the only way to find the answer. For example, I'm sure that many in the wine biz would have dismissed Foch as making an ageworthy wine - yet as recently as five years ago or so, we heard of remnant bottlings of Inniskillin's inaugural 1974 Foch still being alive! And, I must add, that back at NiagaraCool '05, I had the pleasure of trying a '78 Chancellor from Johnson Estate that was supremely drinkable - very evolved and not likely to evolve further, but still a most enjoyable wine.

Thanks for the note Paul, and for the observation that good Seyval Blanc is much more difficult to find in Ontario.

I had thought it was just my imagination, but when I was first getting into wine, I drank quite a bit of Ontario SB and, it seemed to me, there was a lot more of it in the stores.

Bruce, my pleasure. I had been waiting to open this Seyval and take notes on it.

You know, the one good thing about Seyval is that being a relatively winter-hardy grape, it is most suitable as a backyard grape throughout much of southern Ontario. If I had the space I would probably put in a couple of vines of Seyval and maybe plant some Cayuga alongside or maybe Vidal, and make a three-way white hybrid blend, likely co-fermented. Of course it would be bone-dry and oak-free.

Business being business, I assume that they have pulled much of the Seyval simply because the cost of making the wine is the same, but the returns are necessarily less due to the lack of name cachet behind Seyval.