(Re-Tasted June 2013) ... What was suppose to be a weekend of Riesling turned into the weekend of interesting reds, starting with this flight of three Hillebrand wines from their flagship Trius line. My brother invited us for a BBQ on Saturday night and because him and my sister-in-law aren't huge white wine fans I switched my wine-drinking tact for the weekend to be all red. I thought it quite apropos to bring these bottles to my brother's as he was the first person to buy me a bottle of Trius wine, a 2001 Red, so I knew it was a name he recognized and would be interested in trying. Finally, I picked these three vintages for a really simple reason: they represent the last three great red vintages in Ontario.
The 2005 version of this wine is obviously the oldest, but it still had some interesting characteristics that made it very drinkable, and still able to age another few years. The nose was vanilla-cinnamon dominated with dried black cherry being the fruit most noticeable. The palate showed an element of wood, mainly cedar, with vanilla and spice/dried cassis and blackberry ... but as it sat in the glass the dried fruit became fuller in the mouth and started to give the wine some nice complexity and not just dried-fruit rubbed wood (which is where it started). Within about three-quarters-of-an-hour the wine was overtaken by licorice and dried fruit, with the cedar, vanilla and cinnamon notes all taking a backseat. By the end of an hour-and-a-half the wine had turned into a mocha-coffee treat. An interesting roller coaster of a taste experience, and the one I elected to take the furthest (meaning I was the one to finish this bottle).
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| All corks in excellent condition |
The 2007 wine seemed to be the smoothest and most accessible of the three wines. The nose was red fruit dominated, with cherry and raspberry leading the charge; they were followed up by some licorice notes that hid in the background. Palate was almost juicy with the merest hint of tannins on the back palate, some might call them silky, but at times it was as if they weren't even there. Strawberry came through on the mid-palate along with raspberry, anise and a nice touch of cinnamon. As the wine opened in the glass more aromas and flavours emerged like vanilla, clove and nutmeg, but always with those red fruit taking center stage. This is the one wine that is drinking beautifully right now, and there is nothing harsh to get in its way. This was the wine my sister-in-law enjoyed the most.
Moving on to the 2010, this wine is still a relative baby, still holding onto some of that baby fat in the form of spice and fruit heft. The nose is blackberry, cassis, strawberry, cinnamon and spice ... the palate shows some cedar notes along with cinnamon and spice. There's plenty of dark fruit with hints of red starting to emerge, it also has quite the long finish that proves to be on the spicy/peppery side. My brother likes his wines a little bigger, brasher and bolder and so this is the one he latched onto.
Three different wines from hot vintages that show different degrees of complexity, but in the end all were good, every bottle was finished and everyone had a favourite; and surprisingly it wasn't all the same bottle.
