Graze the Bench (Hidden Bench)

Since we'd finished our first wine and food combination, we picked up our festival glasses and walked down the hill, through the vineyards, around a pond and into our second winery of the day.  You only have to walk ten steps off of Organized Crime's property to be able to see Hidden Bench Vineyards and Winery.  This was where I figured out that the event pricing wasn't quite as good as I'd thought.  The initial passport, which we'd picked up at Organized Crime, cost $25 per person and included admission to the "graze" areas at all 6 wineries, one glass of wine, one food choice, and a wine glass to take with you door to door.  Additional food and wine was to cost $7.  It didn't say "each!"  So we re-jigged our plan, spend another $14, and got one more glass of wine and one more food plate.  (I drank most of the wine and Chris ate most of the food.)

Of the two wine choices available, I picked the 2011 Chardonnay.  The smell to me was smoky, but lightly so, sort of like the smell of birch bark kindling.  Chris smelled bubblegum; Chris always smells bubblegum in chardonnay.  The winery's own notes say perfumed orange blossom and citrus oil so we'll go with that.  The wine has a nice balance between feeling crisp and feeling oily.  There's only a hint of lemon in the taste, and the most concentrated, distinct flavour, that of hazelnut cream, comes at the back and sides of the tongue.  For a chardonnay, it has a very long finish, but that's when the taste of alcohol surfaces.  We argued over the rating for awhile, settling somewhere around 88.  It's price is $32.

The food accompaniment this time was an oak-smoked beef brisket sandwich, which was an incredible pairing for the chardonnay.  The oaks played off of each other, as did the oils, with excellent results.  Unfortunately, we did not enjoy the music as much at this venue, first because it was too loud and second because the lead singer was not all that pleasant to listen to. Nevertheless, we will definitely graze the bench again next year, but this time will remember sunscreen, a hat, and walking shoes!