Cuvee at Thirty Bench

 I get Thirty Bench and Hidden Bench mixed up a lot, especially since I haven't blogged about either of them. When we pulled into the parking lot, though, I remembered that Chris and I had stopped there once before.  Unfortunately, a large group in a limo had arrived just prior to us and we decided not to wait.  This time, we were the large limo group set to inconvenience others instead!

Thirty Bench arranged a vertical tasting of 4 years of its Small Lot Triangle Vineyard Rieslings.  In the tasting area, several counter-height tables were arranged with place settings and bar stools overlooking the sloping vineyards.  (Really, the views are fantastic at nearly all of the wineries on the Beamsville bench.)  This allowed us to take the time to truly appreciate each wine; it also allowed me to take decent notes on all four!

2011 - This is a very crisp, complex wine with a nose of pineapple and a little petrol.  The predominant taste is of white grapefruit.  It's mild on the tongue, meaning I found it less sour and slightly less acidic than my standby riesling from Tawse.  Its finish is medium length. 

2010 - The nose on this one is smokier, and less fruity, with a barely noticeable petrol note.  It made me think of gouda cheese, and would probably pair nicely with it.  It's taste was even smoother than the 2011, with even less sourness and acidity.  Its finish was longer, and not as dry.  Several in our party chose this as their favourite wine of this stop, and some even for the entire day! 

2009 - Instead of a lot of pineapple and a little petrol, like its younger cousins, this wine smelled like vasoline with a hint of tropical fruit in it!  Erin accurately described the flavour of gruyere cheese.  On the lengthy finish, the pineapple flavour more fully unfolds.

2008 - Compared to the earlier three, this vintage had less petrol and less fruit.  The gruyere was still evident throughout the palate, but strongest on the finish.  The smell of  mold or dirt, 'wet stone' according to our host, was prevalent.  This was the driest of the four.

Depending on how you like your rieslings, any of these four could score a 90.  (I'm at 91 for the 2010.)  Surprisingly, it seems like all four are still available for purchase, but you'll need to specially order the three library vintages.  In my opinion  it was a big business mistake to not have all 4 available for purchase during the weekend.  To be fair, they did offer to ship the 2010 to me free of charge, but I had noticed the staff were pretty slow at the checkout, and I didn't want to take the time to place an order when we were on a schedule and this was only the first stop of the day. 

To their credit, since Wes doesn't like white wine, they allowed him to taste some reds instead, and he bought a bottle of their 2010 Red (blend).  No other bottles were purchased.  At the end of the day, though, various people mentioned regretting this, admitting they had been hesitant to begin buying with four more wineries left.