Hidden Bench Estate Pinot Noir 2020

Canada, Ontario

93 JG

92 WA

Hidden Bench produces some of the most structured, age-worthy Pinot Noirs in Niagara. This wine is just getting better and better!
The 2020 vintage reflects a hot, perfect growing season - densely packed with structure, trannins and deep flavours. Delicous now with aeration but built for years to come.

Country	Canada
Province	Ontario
Region	Niagara Peninsula
Sub-Ava	Beamsville Bench VQA
Producer	Hidden Bench Estate Winery
Vintage	2020
Color	Red Wine
Varietal(s)	Pinot Noir

¥6,270 (incl. tax)

Country	Canada
Province	Ontario
Region	Niagara Peninsula
Sub-Ava	Beamsville Bench VQA
Producer	Hidden Bench Estate Winery
Vintage	2020
Color	Red Wine
Varietal(s)	Pinot Noir

Data

Closure	Cork
Volume	750ml
Alcohol	13.5%
Product Code	A020R00120
UPC	878102001016
Inventory	In Stock (80)

Owning & Enjoying

Tasting notes

Pale brilliant ruby in colour, this vintage displays a rich and fruit forward nose of ripe black and red cherries, red currant, violet florals with beetroot, earthy tones highlighted by a pleasant, lifted fresh herbal character. The ripe character of the fruit leads to a surprising and refreshing dryness and acidity on the palate, and flavours that further elaborate on accords found on the nose. Tart and ripe red fruit, fresh savoury herbs, all-spice, forest floor and brown mushroom notes intermingle on the palate with a lingering finish filed with surprising depth and impact. This vintage is calling for pairings of classic steak tartare with cornichon and sourdough toast, and a creamy mushroom tarte with savoury herbs.

Pairing

Try wild mushroom risotto or planked salmon. Enjoy simply with soft cheeses too.

Cellaring

Enjoy through 2028

Press

93Wineanorak (Jamie Goode)

This is ripe and fruit-driven – you can taste the warmth in the vintage here. This is so expressive and ripe with good concentration and a bit of structure, showing pure black cherry fruit. Lots of colour here, and lots of fruit, but has nice structure. Supple and delicious.

92WineAlign

Michael Godel - Fruit is a great concern out of 2020 and structure equally so with both vying for immediate supremacy. A floral vintage too, all parts moving from strength to strength and through poignancy. Hard to know where to land, stay to concentrate and be ready to move on. So much happening here, head’s on a swivel, palate in perpetual motion. Need time, to think, rest and return. All this with thanks to a most impressively drawn, coaxed and rendered estate pinot noir. Drink 2024-2028. Tasted April 2022.

Production

Appellation

VQA Beamsville Bench

Viticulture

The fruit for our Estate Pinot Noir comes from select parcels in all three our estate vineyards (Locust Lane, Felseck and Rosomel Vineyards - 100% organically certified).

At fruit set bunches were exposed to sunlight, with leaf removal on the East side of the canopy to maximize ripening, leaving the West side covered to protect against sunburn.

Vinification

Brix at harvest: 23.8
Harvest Dates: September 24-30, 2020
Blend and grape source: 100% estate grown certified organic fruit from our Locust Lane, Felseck and Rosomel Vineyards
Residual Sugar: 0.26g/l
T.A. 6.20 g/L
100% De-stemmed
Vine age: Planted 1990 to 2010
Oak regime: 100% French Oak: 26% new, 23% 2nd fill, 11% 3rd fill and the rest (40%) neutral for 10 months.
Time in barrel: 10 months Un-fined. Unfiltered. Certified Organic by Pro-Cert.

Producer

Producer Description

About Hidden Bench Estate Winery Owner

Harald Thiel's uncompromising attention to detail has landed Hidden Bench in the Canadian Wine Awards' top 10 every year since the winery opened in 2007 - with Nuit Blanche named Canadian White Wine of the Year. This small, yet modern and sophisticated, estate winery is tucked away on Locust Lane in the Beamsville Bench appellation, essentially hidden by vines. HB's primary focus is to showcase the terroir of the Beamsville Bench through their award-winning Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and Riesling offerings.

Each and every wine at Hidden Bench is made under strict conditions:

Sustainable practices, which means 100% organically certified fruit from only estate vineyards.
Individually bunch sorted white wine varietals and bunch sorted and then individual berry sort all of the red wine varietals.
Non-interventionist, minimalist winemaking approach with gentle handling of the wine throughout the winemaking process.
All wines are made with wild yeast and anything that doesn’t ferment naturally is inoculated and declassified into the winery’s bistro label.

VINICULTURE

All grapes are handpicked from their estate vineyards into 10kg baskets and then carefully sorted at the winery by their “triage team” so as to ensure that only the cleanest and best fruit is used to make their wines. All white wine grapes receive a single “triage” and then are whole punch pressed to assure the gentlest extraction of juice. All red grapes, particularly Pinot Noir, are bunch sorted and destemmed and then receive a secondary individual berry “triage” prior to being placed in their oak and stainless steel fermenters.

The winemaking team benefits from all the latest technology, such as geothermal cooling and heating with precise temperature control installed in all tanks to permit extended natural settling and natural yeast ferments of whites and appropriate pre-natural ferment, cold maceration of the reds.

As estate winegrowers their goal is to have ther wines reflect the unique individual terroir of the Beamsville Bench sub-appellation parcels that they call home. Accordingly, they eschew non-organic additives and commercially selected yeasts and strive to bottle their wines un-fined and unfiltered whenever possible. All wines are bottled with minimal sulphur dioxide (SO2) to preserve their freshness and quality and to permit them to age gracefully. This approach has permitted the vast majority of theri wines to be vegan friendly and to be certified organic by Procert as of 2015/16.

We believe that real “Natural Wine” has its origin in certified organic and/or biodynamic estate fruit and a non-interventionist approach in the cellar with an acute and precise attention to detail from vineyard to bottle.

Jay Johnston - Winemaker

Following an inspiring food and wine trip to Canada’s west coast in 2002, Jay returned to Toronto with one thing in mind: Leave the software industry behind for a life in vines and wines. Since then Jay received his formal wine education through Niagara College’s Viticulture & Winemaking program, graduating in 2005. Jay was a part of the Hidden Bench team previously, and we are thrilled to welcome him back as our winemaker. Passionate about cool-climate varietals, with their finesse and their delicacy, Jay feels back at home to be focused on Pinot Noir, Riesling, and Chardonnay in the HB estate vineyards. With a deep passion for terroir, a desire to farm our vineyards to their greatest potential and a profound respect for cellarwork, Jay is extremely excited to be returning to the Hidden Bench family.