Hillebrand Winery -
Wine Blending Seminar
Undoubtedly the most pure fun we had during our entire trip to the Niagara region was the Hillebrand wine blending seminar. We talked about it every time we had time to hang out and relax, and we mentioned it to every other winery we visited. It was really that much fun. They hold it every weekend, multiple times each day, so there's really no excuse not to attend this at least once!
Attendance is very limited so make sure you call ahead to get your reservations in. When we went it was $25 a person. Believe me, this is money very well spent.
The blending experience is held in a building at the entrance to the Hillebrand complex. It is a small, intimate group, maybe 20 in total. People stand in groups of 3 or 4 around tables. Each table has a bottle of merlot, a bottle of cabernet sauvignon, and a bottle of cabernet franc. These are the main components in every bottle of Bordeaux and Meritage. Hillebran's version of Meritage is known as "Trius".
In addition to these bottles, there is a Riedel glass for each person, a measuring cylinder and notepaper. Wisely, the Riedel glasses are the style without stems :) It's time for the fun to begin!
The instructor explains about Meritage and Bordeaux. Bordeaux is a region of France where they only use certain wines to create their blends. The British call this type of wine a "claret". Officially the list of wine types they can use are Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Petit Verdot, Malbec, and Carmenere. However, most wines are actually made of just the first 3 varieties. Since a Bordeaux wine can only come from Bordeaux (makes sense, yes?) when US wineries began making a Bordeaux-style blend, they needed a name for their version. After a nation-wide contest, the name chosen was "Meritage", a blend between "Merit" and "Heritage". The name therefore rhymes with Heritage.
Winemakers begin by making the best wine they can out of each type of grape in their vineyards. Then, several months after harvest, they begin the blending process. They gather in a room with family and friends, mixing together different proportions of their barrel samples. They might add 1/3rd Merlot, 1/3rd Cabernet Sauvignon and 1/3rd Cabernet Franc. Does that taste too peppery? Too earthy? Then they try 1/2 Merlot and 1/2 Cabernet Sauvignon. Is that better? Worse? After hours of sampling and experimenting, they find the perfect Meritage percentage for that given year's harvest.
First, we began by tasting our component wines. Each were pure varietals that Hillebrand sells to great acclaim. The Merlot is light cherry in color. Its flavor has light cedar, cherry and red currant flavors, with mild tannins and gentle acidity. The Cabernet Franc was more earthy, with mint and green pepper flavors. I enjoyed the longer finish on this, but I admit freely to being a Cab Franc lover :). On to the Cabernet Sauvignon, which was more leather, tobacco, with rich earthy flavors and a full body.
Trius for this year was 50% Cabernet Franc, 42% Cabernet Sauvignon and 8% Merlot. We now knew what the winemaker had decided. What would we end up as our own ideal blends?
Using our measuring cylinder, we put together different percentages of the component wines, and sampled the results. It's like taking an eye test. Try mix A. Try mix B. Is B better than A? Worse? About the same? You realize just how hard a job a winemaker's task is - and how much fun! All of the variations tasted nice, as you might expect given the delicious Hillebrand starting wines. But which tasted better? Soon tables were comparing their notes and sharing insights.
We had all settled on our ideal percentages, and we reported these to the instructor. Now came the over-the-top part! She actually helped us BUILD OUR OWN BOTTLES. Each of us put together a full bottle of wine based on our own, unique blends. We then corked it, so the wine would get home safe and sound. Not only that, but we got to name our wine blends, and she created custom labels to put on our bottles! Mine was "Lisa's Wine". It was a real blast seeing my very own name, on my own wine blend, on a full bottle of my wine.
Hillebrand has an excellent offering here. Undoubtedly, between the wine we drank during our tastings and experimenting, the full bottle of premium wine we were able to take home, and the time of the instructor, we easily spent more than $25 in expenses. I would pay far more for this kind of fun. We were laughing and talking about this event every hour afterwards, for days and days. I highly, highly recommend this seminar to anybody who goes anywhere near the Niagara region. It is amazingly fun and gives you a once-in-a-lifetime souvenier.
Lisa's Wine
61% Cabernet Franc
32% Cabernet Sauvignon
7% Merlot
Hillebrand Winery Restaurant
Hillebrand Art Show
Wineries of the Niagara region, Ontario Canada
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Hillebrand Winery Official Website
All content on the WineIntro website is personally written by author and wine enthusiast Lisa Shea. WineIntro explores the delicious variety and beautiful history which makes up our world of wine! Lisa loves supporting local wineries and encouraging people to drink whatever they like. We all have different taste buds, and that makes our world wonderful. Always drink responsibly.