Thirty Bench Winery

I had read about Thirty Bench Winery's award-winning Rieslings in Vines Magazine recently. Vines, whose senior editor is Master of Wine John Szabo, considers the Thirty Bench Riesling 2006 one of the top wines released this year.

Located outside of Beamsville, along the Beamsville Bench stretch of the Niagara Escarpment, Thirty Bench has soil of clay loam, which slopes gently up towards the Escarpment. This slope gives the vineyards excellent drainage - it rained hard when I arrived, a few weeks before harvest, but nobody was concerned. Along with the draining soil, the even climate tempered by nearby Lake Ontario helps make for predictable harvests.

Thirty Bench has a lovely new tasting room, with separate bars for each taster and their guide. Surrounding windows look out onto each vineyard, which are divided into small lots, each named for a geographic feature and all of them growing 25 year old vines.

As a result, you see three different Rieslings, each from a different vineyard, plus a fourth, blended from all the others. And what a difference! Despite being only a few feet apart, each lot produces wines unique in its own way. Of them all, I liked the blend best - it manages to incorporate the best features of each growth.

I happened to visit on the day that Thirty Bench was releasing two wines: a Merlot 2007 and a Cabernet Franc 2007. Thirty Bench is a small producer, so they routinely sell out of their products, often before they are released. None of their wines is carried by the LCBO.

The tasting rep I met with was unable to tell me about the fining process of the wines, so I don't know whether they are vegan. I intend to contact winemaker Natalie Reynolds and ask her, so I hope for an answer in the future.

Thirty Bench Winemaker's Riesling 2007
This has a delicious, complex nose, with notes of steel and lemon followed by some vegetal notes. On the palate, the grapefruit is tempered with medium acidity.

Thirty Bench Small Lot "Triangle Vineyard" Riesling 2007
With a light golden hue, this smells like hay and limes - very surprising! It's extremely tart, with a long lemon-lime finish.

Thirty Bench Small Lot "Steel Post Vineyard" Riesling 2007
This is a nice, Alsatian-style Riesling with notes of lemon, petrol and steel, especially on the finish.

Thirty Bench Small Lot "Wood Post Vineyard"
I had difficulty finding the nose on this (it was served very cold), but eventually found minerals, petrol and st aw. It has a high acidity and a long steel finish.

Thirty Bench Small Lot Pinot Gris 2007
With warm sweet melon, spice, honey and cinnamon, I expected this to be off-dry. But it's not, and the rich melon and dry pear flavours, and full body contribute to a lovely experience. I bought some bottles of this one.

Thirty Bench Small Lot Gewurztraminer 2007
Aged in American oak for 12 months, this has a classic Gewurz nose of big floral and fruit notes. But the palate is something else: honeydew melon, with medium acidity and a dry mouthfeel.

Thirty Bench Winemaker's Red 2006
Blended from 40% Merlot, 30% Cabernet Sauvignon and 30% Cabernet Franc, the winemaker suggests this be cellared a couple of more years, but drank by 2012. It's very interesting, with a strong Merlot nose (plums, raisins, figs, and a secondary note of chocolate) but a Cabernet Franc palate of coffee, chocolate and dark forest berries.

Thirty Bench Small Lot Merlot 2006
Just released, this had 18 months in French oak. It has a lot of texture, but the rough tannins and high acidity point to the need to be cellared for another 3-5 years before drinking. The plum and raisin notes are highlighted with a touch of cedar, and it's mouthwateringly tart, with rough, chewy tannins.

Thirty Bench Small Lot Cabernet Franc 2006
Similarly, this needs to be cellared before drinking. It has a nice cigar-box, dark fruit and coffee-chocolate nose, but is quite sour before you get to the chocolate-espresso bean finish.