A friend of mine who is a chef at one of the local restaurants here threw a small gathering for some of his oenofriends - we spent quite a bit of time tasting some interesting wines blind. In any case, he threw this into the mix - served with moose sliders, mmmm - and I wanted to write about it because it was a pleasant surprise; it was perhaps one of a very small handful of Canadian reds that I've tried that were not green. Nose of sweet black raspberries, smoky blueberry, dark chocolate shavings, and cedar - very lush, inviting nose with no hint of bell pepper or any greenness. On the palate medium-bodied, focused berries and plums, well-balanced, nicely-integrated tannins, and overall structure that could hold up for another five years. Lasting finish. Great effort. 91+ points.
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. The 2007 Thirty Bench SL Pinot Noir is correspondingly nice. Strangely, I don't find the 2007 Benchmark Red to be as nice as the 2006, and they jacked up the price by $2 so I passed on it. The 08 Rieslings are very nice, especially the small lots. The 07 SL Cab Franc referred to by The Economist was sold out by the time I got to the winery in June - it was some kind of prize winner, I believe at Cuvee in March.