Lost & Found: Hillebrand 2007 Showcase Pinot Noir, Clark Farm
05 Oct 2015- Details
- Category: Lost & Found / Taste it Again
(June 5, 2015) ... Hillebrand has never been known as a Pinot Noir house, there Red and Grand Red are staples in many Ontarians Cellars and a go to wine for many others: some say its the elegant bottle that makes it a great gift, others swear by the wine inside - but if I mention Pinot Noir, you're mind will not immediately go to Hillebrand ... butt tonight the lure of Pinot got me off the couch and into the cellar, where I discovered this bottle of Hillebrand Showcase Pinot from a very hot Ontario vintage. The wine started off interestingly enough with aromas of black raspberry, spiced cranberry, and lots of cedar ... The palate started well enough too with a smooth entry, lots of black fruit: spiced black cherry and tart cranberry on the mid-palate, but then the finish kicked in with a big whack of cedar ... And that is where the dilemma of this wine rested. An hour and a half later the cedar took over - especially on the palate and well onto the finish. It's a hard wine with plenty of rough edges and the loss of fruit by the 2 hour mark didn't help it either.
(May 25, 2015) ... 2009 was a great vintage for Pinot Noir and Riesling ... But mean to the Bordeaux varieties. Here we have what is considered to be a top of the line wine from Pondview, but now I ask: why a Franc in this vintage? The nose hints at what is to happen with its oak spice, cassis, tobacco, and spiced raspberry; very little in the way of a fresh fruit anywhere - but there does seem to be some. The palate is what shows the emperor has no clothes: it still has some real grit to those tannins, there's also spice and pepper everywhere and whatever fruit is available is all spiced-up with an aftertaste of vanilla, cinnamon and dried tobacco leaf - but even with an hour-plus in glass those tannins never seemed to smooth out. If you like your wines gritty and spicy this'll do the trick, sadly I think fruit here is thing of the past. I said in my original review "mid-term cellaring 2013-2018" - I thing the time to drink is now. I have another bottle and will be cracking it sooner than later.
