Thirty Bench Wine Makers 2007 Triangle Vineyard Riesling - 91+pts

Thirty Bench Wine Makers 2007 Triangle Vineyard Riesling (Beamsville Bench) Niagara Peninsula - Ont

Availability: Sold out. Contact winery for library release
Cost: $30
Alcohol: 11.9%
Production: 528 cases
Date Tasted: May 28th, 2011

Tasting Notes: This single vineyard Riesling from Niagara Peninsula winery Thirty Bench Wine Makers offers good complexity balancing its delicate fruit aromas with austere, mineral and petrol notes effortlessly. Slight residual sugar pairs nicely with citrus acidity and flavours creating a tangy, sensual mouth feel and a long finish. Show no signs of peaking anytime soon and should age well for another 2-3 years with some development. Drink 2011-2015.
 - Liam Carrier ©copyright 2011 IconWines.ca

For the ultimate terroir experience taste the winery's 3 single vineyard Riesling side-by-side and compare for yourself the difference land, aspect, soil and clonal variation makes to the finished product.

Thirty Bench Estate Winery 2007 Small Lot Chardonnay - 91pts

Thirty Bench Estate Winery 2007 Small Lot Chardonnay (Beamsville Bench) Niagara Peninsula - Ont

Availability: Direct from winery. LCBO vintages
Cost: $30
Alcohol: 13.6%
Production: 547 cases
Date Tasted: August 1st, 2010

Tasting Notes: A superb example of a restrained, complex and very tasty Beamsville Bench Chardonnay. This wine is a master-class on the balance of sugar to acid and the balance of fruit to mineral flsvours and aromas. Both are done beautifully.

The nose offers subtle aromas of apples, lemon rind, ripe pears, steel and malalactic notes. The ever-so-slightly off-dry palate dazzles with flavours of mellons, butter, vanilla, lemon, oak spice and tart citrus acidity. The wine is tasting great now but has the structure to age. Drink now through 2015. www.thirtybench.com
 - Liam Carrier ©copyright 2010

Thirty Bench Estate Winery 2008 Red - 88pts

Thirty Bench Estate Winery 2008 Red (Beamsville Bench) Niagara Peninsula - Ont

Availability: Direct from winery. LCBO stores.
Cost: $24
Alcohol: 13.2%
Production: 2300 cases
Date Tatsed: August 3rd, 2010

Tasting Notes: The Thirty Bench "Red", a blend of Merlot (38%), Cabernet Sauvignon (31%) and Cabernet Franc (31%), may not be the powerhouse Meritage blend that fellow Niagara Peninsula producers like Tawse and Hidden Bench produce but at half the price, you get a solid sipper that over-delivers.

Dry, but with the sense of sweetness coming from the concentrated blackberry and dark fruits. The nose offers youthful aromas of cassis, dark berries, dark cherry, leather, pencil shavings and oak spice. Treated with a year of aging in French and American oak and full malolactic fermentation. The end result is a lovely wine with silky-smooth tannins and a moderate-plus finish with lingering oak spice. Well done. Drink now through 2013.
 - Liam Carrier ©copyright 2010

Thirty Bench 2007 Red - 88pts

Thirty Bench 2007 Red (Beamsville Bench) Ontario

Decanted: 1/2 hr (plus Vinturi)

Cost: $24.00 (Direct from winery)

Tasting Notes: Thirty Bench has become one of my favourite wineries from the Niagara Peninsula. The winery was rated 3rd overall in the 2008 Canadian Wine Awards based on the wineries that submitted wines and it does not disappoint. Their Reislings are something to behold.

The Red is a blend with tremendous value. The wine is concentrated and opaque with notes of raspberry, pencil shavings, and leather on the nose (I could smell this forever). The palate is dry with tight tannins with the persistence of raspberry through the medium length finish. This wine could age to mellow out the tannins. Overall the Red is great value for a premium Ontario blend. HC