July 2, 2009

Hillebrand Winery 2006 Trius White

(Re-Tasted July 2009) ... If memory serves correctly this is the first year that wine maker Darryl Brooker concocted this blend. I remember it having Gewurztraminer, Riesling, Chardonnay and some Pinot Gris – but then sometimes my memory fails as to content – but I do remember this was a very nice wine. In my conversation with Darryl, I remember him saying it leaned more towards a drink-now style than anything meant to age. I have learned over the years that winemakers can be pretty conservative about their wine’s age-ability assessments (especially Darryl, who seems to undercut everything); but this time I think he was right on the money with his assessment. Don’t take that to mean the wine has gone bad, it just has lost a lot of the freshness that made this wine so damn tasty a few years back. Today the first smell was a bit on the sulphury side, but that blew off in a minute of two. Next up the nose were some melon and apricot smells, but not of the fresh variety, and hints of floral began to peak out the more air that got in. The palate showed signs of floral, apple and over-ripe peach, but left a rather unpleasant aftertaste behind and the acidity seemed fairly flat too. After about two hours some acidity returned and the flavours blossomed a little more, but by then most people were onto red and had no use for a wine that didn’t wow from the start. My advice would be to decant this one and take your chance.

No comments: