Hidden Bench offers quality unmatched
Acute attention to detail in the vineyard pays off
I admit I hadn’t ever visited Hidden Bench Estate Winery although I’ve tasted and owned several bottles. I was impressed with the immaculate estate tucked away in a cluster of Beamsville wineries.
The mid-sized winery is in its 15th year and owner Harald Thiel admits it’s been a good ride.
I was offered up a tasting of the portfolio of what Thiel calls their entry level wines.
But don’t be mistaken, the entry level is still what might be perceived as premium, and he chose vintages to show the quality that even their base wines possess.
Going back, before 2003 when the winery opened, it was a neartragedy that he credits with his decision to open the winery.
It was a friend’s life-or-death situation that made him think about his own life and promise to start up his own business. He jokes that he still blames his friend for his decision every time he sees him.
We are poured a traditional method sparkling made from Chardonnay that he says is a new product for them.
“I never thought we’d be so successful, we made 3,000 and it sold out, this year we produced 6,000 and it’s almost gone.”
In fact, they don’t seem to have a problem selling out some of their wines sitting on the shelf for little more than a month.
“We try to make wines that are reflective of the Beamsville Bench, we’re 100 per cent estate grapes, we don’t buy fruit from anyone else, so we control the process from vineyard to the bottle,” says Thiel.
“In bad years we use the European model where you make less wine. It (Mother Nature) isn’t driving the quantity of wines, it’s driving the quality.”
Talking with Thiel and viewing the tasting notes, you immediately
feel the amount of pride he feels and the effort made in maximizing the quality of the grapes and of course the wine.
“We haven’t changed our mission since we started,” adds Thiel. “Our focus is expressions of terroir in the three varietals, Riesling, Chardonnay and Pinot Noir.”
We pause our chat as we taste the Fumé Blanc, a delightful surprise as I have begun to really enjoy some of the Sauvignon Blancs from the Niagara region.
Thiel says that the wine spent seven months in barrel, adding some creaminess and a touch of smokiness to an otherwise bright wine. Layers of depth take this to another level.
Like all their wine, it is bone dry, with no sugar additions.
Thiel says it makes a great seafood wine.
Back to our talk, it’s their acute attention to detail in the vineyard that has time after time rewarded them at wine competitions.
This past year, at the National wine awards they were awarded nine medals as well as recognition of being number 2 in the top 10 small wineries in Canada.
“A lot of effort in the vineyards, all the whites, are handpicked, all whole bunch pressed never destemmed,”
says Thiel. “It’s slower, it means you have to invest more, more presses, but the effort is seen in the wine.”
He admits the wines are not inexpensive here, but they’re not perceived as being expensive overseas.
Exporting to the U.S., Quebec, Germany, Switzerland, Denmark and Japan, Thiel says the quality relationship is fantastic from the perspective of other countries but it has yet to catch up in Canada.
“I don’t know how many times I have customers come in and say I’ll taste your whites but I don’t drink Ontario red, that’s a challenge for me because we’re known as a red winemaker and usually when they leave they’ve bought three or four cases of red wine.”
“Our generation,” says Thiel as I start to think about the grey in my whiskers, “has been burned too often, how many times have we gone and tasted Ontario wine and it’s not good.”
“Young people now are embracing local the innovation and quality of wines that are being made here.”
“I’ll pour my Chardonnay blind, against any Burgundy at the same price point or any California
Sonoma Valley and I’ll kill it blind.”
“We should be able to get what our product is worth.”
Yes, the Chardonnay is elegant with just a hint of oak.
“For me, oak in chardonnay is like makeup: a little bit is fine, too much is just too much,” says Thiel.
“All of our wines have weight and length in the mid-palate. For me there are three components to wine, the attack, the weight in the mid-palate, I like to have wines that have some meatiness in the mid-palette, and the finish is so important.“
Hidden Bench has 85 acres of certified organic and no one else in Ontario has as much, according to Thiel.
All their wines are certified organic, and Thiel cites a recent report that in Europe 20 per cent are organic, in North America only four per cent.
“Systemic chemicals are absorbed into the plant,” explains Thiel. “We believe they eventually get their way into the juice. We don’t know what half of the long-term impacts are and we believe you can taste it.”
We follow with Pinot Noir and then Terroir Caché and it hits me that there is no weak spot in this portfolio.
From sparkling to Rosé to the Bordeaux blend, they are all very enticing, full flavoured and approachable.
Which brings me to the Riesling.
Poured second, it has left a lasting impression.
Note that I like dry wines, whether they be red or white or rosé.
But this is an excellent example of Bench terroir.
Light in colour, the wine shows peach on the nose with a surprisingly lengthy palate, something not often associated with light white wines. Citrus, with a slight mineral note at the end, will keep you salivating for another sip, or perhaps another glass.
“My mission is to convert people to like Riesling,” says Thiel. “Too many people think it’s too sweet.”
I see myself buying this wine many times over.
“People want to have lower alcohol wines that have flavour, and they don’t want to wait five years to enjoy a bottle of wine,” says Thiel. “Here at Hidden Bench, our goal is to over-deliver value for the price, not to be the least expensive but to over-deliver.”