Trius Riesling Dry Hillebrand Winery Niagara Peninsula 1999

My friend Ray Graj bought me this big bottle, a magnum, a few years ago. I have been waiting for ages to open it up, needed a special occasion.

Well the occasion came and it happened to involve dinner with Ray and our darling wives, we decided on Brookside Thai. Riesling is a perfect wine for Asian cuisine. I was a little nervous, you never know how well white wines will age. This one was now 10 years old. The wine comes from the Canadian wine region called the Niagara Peninsula. It was delicious.

Rieslings can age very nicely as this one had. I opened the bottle early to give it some time to unfold. It poured like silk, the color a deep golden hue. The nose a bit reserved at first and then opened up like gentle early spring flowers.

The flavor of this Riesling revealed the true quality of the wine. Silky smooth and perfectly balanced. Light golden flavors of pear, lemon, lemon peal, slight apple. Very fruity as it opened in different places on my tongue and the top of my mouth. As it settled in there was a tiny bit of pleasant metallic flavor like gold coins in a wishing well.

In a younger state this wine is probably a brighter wine the wine maker describes it as palate of pink grapefruit and tropical fruit.  Lively, smooth and juicy, with green apple and mango on the finish. Trius Riesling Dry

Awards include:

88 points - David Lawrason, Wine Access Buyer's Guide.

GOLD - Grand Harvest Awards 2010

Hillebrand Winery
1249 Niagara Stone Road
Niagara-on-the-Lake, ON

By the way our dinner at Brookside Thai was wonderful. It is the best Thai in the area.

More on the Niarara Peninusla

It is the largest wine region in Canada, producing almost 75% of Canada’s grape- volume. There are Ten growing areas or sub-appellations within the Peninsula that have been identified including areas on the plains close to Lake Ontario and the bench lands of the Niagara Escarpment. There are two "super-appellations" have been created to regulate the use of these two popular names for Canada's wine region  Niagara-on-the-Lake and Niagara Escarpment.