Could it be safe to say that Cabernet Franc and Pinot Noir are amongst the royalty of Ontario red wine? But it would seem Gamay deserves to be admitted to the royal court?
We try a Hidden Bench 2020 Gamay from Niagara. It spent 9 months in French oak 14% new, 24% second fill and the rest third fill and older.
Aroma: Unless you decant the wine for at least 30 minutes expect some barnyard. After the animals have left the glass expect some ripe strawberry, raspberry, blackberry and gentle smoke.
Palate: Mildly tannic with some thin raspberry and red cherry as a first impression. One expects a broader and more concentrated fruit structure in the wine. Such expectation is not met here. Speaking of expectations and perhaps Dickensian “Great Expectations” where is the purity and freshness of organic wine here? In a nutshell there is nothing terribly wrong with this wine. It just failed to meet my royalist expectations for the wine that is!
Personality: What…is the reviewer some monarchist chatting up all this royalty stuff? I can imagine he is an avid subscriber to the “Hello” magazine overly concerned with what Charles and Camilla ate for lunch probably because as a young buck he covered their visit to Canada always at least a hundred yards away. He questions my brilliance I’ll expose his royalist obsession.
Food Match: Stuffed Niagara field tomatoes, zucchini and St. Davids eggplant. Get em quick before we in Ontario are relegated to a gulag diet of cabbage, turnip and butternut squash.
Cellarbility: With this 2020 vintage one can’t argue the wine is sleeping and will magically open up with time. I think it is what it is and will be. It will not improve with age but will cruise into the end of 2024 nicely.
Price: $29.95.
RKS 2023 Wine Rating: 88/100. Wine Align 90.
(Hidden Bench 2020 Organic Gamay, VQA Lincoln Lakeshore, Beamsville, Ontario, 750 mL,12.5%).
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