Hinterbrook Winery

Last weekend, Chris, Kerri and I headed to Hinterbrook Winery in Niagara-on-the-Lake.  Now, if you read my blog regularly, you may have noticed that everyone in my life is named Kerri.  To clarify, this was not Carrie from work who has appeared on Newlywined a few times, nor was it Chris' sister Kerri, who is way too pregnant to be doing wine tours just now.  This is childhood-best-friend turned maid-of-honour Kerri who lives in BC but was home for a visit.

Anyhow, a few months ago, the Wagjag deal of the day was a $25 passport of tastings at five wineries for two people.  Of the five wineries, Hinterbrook is the only one I haven't reviewed here before.  It's quite close to Palantine Hills, and, like its neighbour, also houses some 1812 war relics, so I imagine the vineyards in that neighbourhood were once strategically important, despite being closer to the lake than to the river.  The winery property is interesting, as you drive through the vineyard and around the estate's residence, both quite elegant and stately, before arriving at the wine store, essentially a big shed.  Our host for the visit, Rick, was very passionate and knowledgeable about Hinterbrook's products, reminding me of Maleta.  Like Maleta, Hinterbrook also focuses on a limited number of quality wines that aren't available in the LCBO.

The first wine we tasted was the 2011 Pinot Grigio, not a wine I would usually drink and not a cool climate grape partial to Ontario.  It features a surprising aroma and taste of banana, reminding me of the regular harvest vidal we'd tried last winter at Magnotta, only not so sickly sweet or candy like.  (The winery's tasting notes do mention candy floss though!)  It definitely makes for easy drinking, so for the $14 price tag we bought a bottle that will ultimately become boat wine.

The next wine we tasted was the 2011 Franc Blanc, Hinterbrook's specialty that no one else bottles.  (I meant to ask, but I assume the process is patented because it doesn't sound difficult and the result is yummy.)  They start with cab franc (red) grapes but remove the skins immediately after pressing, before fermentation.  The result is a peachy-coloured wine  that smells and tastes like a white but feels like a red.  A big part of its appeal is that it plays with your expectations.  For example, you wouldn't anticipate this big of a mouthfeel, a slightly chewy texture, the medium-long finish, or such substantial legs on a wine this colour. Similarly, I found the scent and taste both hard to describe because I had nothing to go on, but since we bought two bottles, I've since had a couple of glasses at home "to clarify".  The nose is not particularly big and changes dramatically as the wine warms up out of the fridge.  A vigorous swirl will reveal a chalky or musky smell reminiscent of lavender and dew.  As it gets warmer, but still well below room temperature, candy floss is also detectable.  The various citrus flavours, plus a banana undertone, marry well and are hard to identify separately, sort of like Five Alive.  (I do find it odd that banana and candy floss ended up in two of their wines made from very different grapes; what's going on in their soil?)  Overall, I'm impressed with the complexity of this wine for what is basically a novelty wine.  It's like boat wine, but more sophisticated.

Before leaving, we also tasted Hinterbrook's Deeply Red and its Merlot, but I'll save those reviews for another day.

The Farmer's Feast

We recently celebrated our 2nd wedding anniversary at the Hillebrand Winery Restaurant, which we highly recommend.  In addition to the delectable food and well matched wine, Hillebrand provides an elegant atmosphere without being stuffy or pretentious.  Its various creative and well-designed seating arrangements can accommodate romantic tables for two or large corporate events at the same time with no interference from each other.  Our patio table at dusk overlooked the vineyards until the sun set and the nearby fountains and barrels lit up.  The level of service was absolutely top-notch.  Knowing the purpose of our visit, we were greeted with an anniversary card and a complementary glass of sparkling rose brut.  The servers were both affable and professional, knew their menu and wines well and truly augmented the overall experience.  Of course, this isn't TripAdvisor, so I should probably get onto the food and the wine.

We opted for the Farmer's Feast, a five course tasting menu with accompanying wine pairings.  I must admit, I was a little hesitant, as nearly every course featured an ingredient that I don't normally love, and certainly would not tend to order: beets, mushrooms, duck, and lobster.  At the same time, though, I knew that award winning chef Frank Dodd would probably work wonders with these ingredients so this was the time to experiment.

Amuse

Course 2

Course 1

Amuse - From left to right, beet macaroon, candied beet and beet-burger.  Accompanied by Sparkling Rose Brut, to be reviewed this week on Zippy Sauce.

Course 1 - Mushroom and truffle broth over Ontario mushrooms and mushroom and goat cheese ravioli, paired with Trius 2011 (lightly oaked) Chardonnay.  Interesting combination as the wine took away much of the broth's saltiness.

Course 2 - From front to back, honeyed duck breast, duck sausage on sweet potato ravioli and duck neck croquette, with Showcase 2009 Pinot Noir.  The breast and the sausage were rich and sweet but the croquette was too bitter, almost metallic tasting for my liking.  The wine was a good pair, but I have had better 2009 Ontario pinot noirs at the same price point of $30 per bottle.

Course 3?

Course 4 sides

Course 3? - Once contained lobster carpaccio with apple cucumber sorbet and tempura zucchini blossom that was too pretty and tasty to wait for a photo!  This course offered the best pairing of the evening, as the Artist Series Limited Edition 2011 Sauvingon Blanc brought out absolutely all of the flavours.

Course 4 sides - From left to right, candied carrots, the best gnocchi I've ever eaten, and bok choy with corn.

Course 4

Dessert

 Course 4 - Thirty-five day dry-aged Wellington County beef ribeye with buttermilk onion rings and Trius Red 2010, a blend predominantly featuring merlot.  Chris would have gnawed on the bone if it were socially acceptable!

 Dessert - From left to right, strawberry consomme, strawberry strudel and strawberry sorbet, paired with 2008 Cabernet Franc Icewine, one of the best I've had and comparable to Jackson-Triggs.  Of the three desserts, the strudel played the best off of the wine.

New Vintage Festival (Vineland Estates)

The New Vintage Festival is a similar structure to the Icewine Festival in January; for $30, you get 6 tastings at any of the participating wineries.  Because June was a hectic month, Chris and I split a passport, and spent one Sunday afternoon touring  Vineland Estates, returning to Hillebrand Estates and shopping once again at Tawse Winery.  Although Chris and I had never toured Vineland, we knew it was our friend Carrie's favourite stop on the wine route and now we can see why.

The winery entrance takes you through the combined wine boutique / gift shop which is definitely on the higher end, not to mention eclectic end, of those we've visited.  It's a fun one to just wander around, and when you're done, head up to the market area in the loft.  There you'll find an impressive assortment of fresh local cheeses and meats, including bresaola.  That's a big deal, as this is the only store in Ontario I've found that regularly keeps it on hand, and I've been looking for 3 years!  The market's shelves also offer an array of high quality oils and vinegars.

The festival tasting was set up in the production facility.  We tasted two chardonnays, the 2011 Unoaked Chardonnay and the 2008 Chardonnay Musque, which is also unoaked.  I previously didn't know that chardonnay musque is actually a different kind of grape; I thought it had something to do with the wine making process.  A toasted pita crisp with warmed strawberry-rhubarb compote and Guernsey Girl cheese accompanied the wines.  We both liked the musque better than the regular chardonnay, but we're unsure if this is due to the grape or the age.  Either way, Chris found it fruitier, and I found is bigger bodied.  Although these were not our favourite two Ontario wines, (or even Ontario chards,) we will be back to shop at the market and to dine at its world class restaurant, so I'm sure we'll sample many more of Vineland's wines.

As an unexpected bonus, the server took us through the winery's barrel cellar, giving us a lesson about the kinds of oak used for aging wine.  He explained that Vineland prefers French over American Oak.  Apparently, oak trees in more northern climates grow slower, resulting in a tighter wood grain, and ultimately having a smoother influence on the wine, often imparting a vanilla like flavour.  He suggested that we should look for that flavour in Vineland's reds.  He also explained that the odd shaped structure surrounding the barrel cellar is actually a sewer casing; apparently the family that owns the winery is in that line of business, so knew it would provide the optimal temperature and humidity for both the barrels, and for the other treasures stored there.  Once you walk to the back of the cellar, past all of the barrels, you can see Vineland's wine library, a selection of its wines dating back at least to the early 1990s.  There may have been older ones but we were asked not to pick up any of the bottles as both vibration and body heat can damage the wine.  As you can see from the dust on the bottles, it looks like guests have been respecting that rule for a long time!