For this year one thing I will be adding to www.andrewinereview.ca are expanded tastings from my visits to wine country. I am very pleased to have Hidden Bench be the first winery to be profiled. The owner of the winery is Harald Thiel. I have had the pleasure of bumping into Harald at various wine events, most recently at the walk around tasting hosted at the ROM. Every time I have had the chance to taste what Harald is pouring I have enjoyed the wines immensely. When I tasted the Pinot Noir that was being poured at the Rom Event I immediately asked for a Magnum … which had to be picked up at the winery. So I made Hidden Bench a priority stop to pick up my bottle of wine.
Other than the Pinot Noir I have always connected Hidden Bench with the fantastic Riesling that they produce. I had the opportunity to taste through three current wines all from the same vintage. As I am writing this blog post it is -14C and all I can think about is pairing this wines with some of my Grandma’s Hungarian and German Cuisine. Chicken Paprikash, Potato Pancakes and Perogies with Sausage. If you’re not looking to pair these wines with anything it would be fun to pick up all three bottles and do a side by side tasting.
2012 Romans Block Riesling – ****+ – $32.00 – Very clean and crisp with bright vibrant flavours of lemon and lime in the glass. There is slight sugar on the finish that is offset with great acidity. The reality is that this wine only has 9.43 g/l sugar, so even though you can taste the sugar it is barely there.
2012 Felseck Block Riesling – **** – $28.00 – The flavours are very similar to Romans block but a little softer. What you really notice on this wine is a nice chalky note on the finish that punched right through the clean acidity on the finish of this wine.
2012 Estate Riesling – **** – $23.95 – Softer on the nose and in the mouth. This has nice presence of lemon and lime and slight mineral on the finish… but not as intense as with the Felseck Riesling. Perfectly balanced with nice acidity on the finish.
The Chardonnay from Hidden Bench is oustanding. They are big and complex. While for me I have a hard time not serving Riesling with food when it comes to a big complex Chardonnay I prefer not to pair it with anything. I like to serve them cold (like right at the fridge temperatur) in a big glass and let them open up in my glass like a flower blossoming.
2011 Tête de Cuvée Chardonnay – ****1/2 – $45.00 – Massive and wonderful. The nose is vanilla and buttered popcorn. The flavours are deeply orange and roasted pineapple with nice vanilla on a finish that lasts for ages. Unless you are an Iron Chef it would be a damned shame to pair this wine with anything but good company.
2011 Felseck Vineyard Chardonnay – **** – $38.00 – There is a pronounced mineral note on the nose. You will also find Citrus and a less potent Vanilla on the nose. Flavours are more citrus with vanilla. This wine is good and balanced with a more pronounced acidity on the finish. The higher acidity would let this pair well with creamy pasta dishes or roast chicken, duck or turkey.
2011 Estate Chardonnay – **** – $28.75 – The nose on this wine is apple and mineral. As with the estate Riesling this is the softer side of Hidden Bench Chardonnay. There is apple and citrus flavours in the glass. This is very easy drinking and has nice acidity on the finish making it the most food friendly of the three.
Pinot Noir is the reason I planned my visit to Hidden Bench in the first place. I had the chance to taste the Estate Pinot Noir at an Event hosted at the ROM last fall and Harald told me that they had it in Magnum. I told him I would be by in the New Year to pick it up. Pinot from the Bench is a beautiful thing. It isn’t quite as fruit driven as the delicate Pinot Noir from Prince Edward County and it isn’t as earth driven as the Pinot Noir from Niagara… just like Goldilocks and the Three Bears it’s just right.
2012 Estate Pinot Noir – **** – $29.75 – There is a heavy damp deep floral nose on this wine… It’s like a garden in spring right after a rainfall. The flavours in this wine still have some subtle elements of the floral from the nose but also cherry with a good earthiness on the finish.
2011 Felseck Pinot Noir – **** – $38.00 – There is Clove, Violet and Ripe Cherry and Raspberry on the nose and in the glass. Typical of all the Felseck wines there is a touch of mineral on the finish. This is very fruit driven but still strikes a nice balance between earth and fruit on the finish.
2011 Locust Lane Pinot Noir – ****+ – $45.00 – The concentration of the fruit flavours are just incredible on this wine. This is a very fruit driven Pinot with lots (and I mean lots) of Cherry and Raspberry that fill your whole mouth right to the cheeks until the last drop rolls off the back of your tongue and you get a bit of earthiness on the finish.
oh and BTW … I ended up buying a Magnum of the Locust Lane Pinot Noir instead of the Estate.
