Hitching Post Wines - Results

This past Tuesday, Toronto Vintners Club was proud to present, the exclusive Canadian tasting of Hartley-Ostini Hitching Post wines, lead by the winemaker himself Gray Hartley.

As we were honored to have the wine make present for the evening, we ran the tasting slightly differently than what our members were used to.  Instead of a blind tasting of the wine, Gray lead us on a journey through them, regaling us with stories and anecdote about each in turn.

The tasting started with the 2011 Pinks Dry Rosé.  Some people assume that is wine was named after the colour of the wine, but in fact, the name came from an earlier part of Gray's life.  He spent the first half of his career, not making wine, but fishing for pink salmon in Alaska.  This fishing influence can also be seen in some of the other wises that we tasted: Cork Dancer was named after the lead fish in the salmon run, that would jump and seem to dance along the edge of the fishing nets. The Highliner name was given to best ship in the fishing fleet, so Gray though it was only fair to give that name to what they considered the best of the fleet of Pinot Noirs.

Gray also shared a couple great stories from the filming of Sideways and how almost on a weekly basis, they still see customers come into the restaurant and request to specifically sit in the seat that Miles (Paul Giamatti) sat in in the movie.

During the tasting, the club ranked the six Pinot  Noirs that were poured, here were the results:

Name of Wine (in order poured)	Group Ranking
A - 2011 Pinks Dry Rosé $20	NR
B - 2009 Hometown Pinot Noir $27	5
C - 2009 Cork Dancer Pinot Noir $35	3
D - 2009 St. Rita’s Earth Pinot Noir $49	1
E - 2007 Julia’s Vineyard Pinot Noir $42.50	6
F - 2004 Julia’s Vineyard Pinot Noir $59	4
G - 2007 Highliner Pinot Noir $ 50	2
H - 2009 Late Harvest Gewürztraminer	NR

Hartley-Ostini Hitching Post Winery in March

TVC is very very fortunate to have Gray Hartley, the co-owner and winemaker from Hartley-Ostini Hitching Post Winery located in California, fly to Toronto, Ontario to present an exclusive tasting of its wines to our membership on Tuesday, March 19.  The winery gained some fame and notoriety when its restaurant was featured as a venue in the winepic Sideways (2004) but its fame also derives from its wines which are mainly Pinot Noir but also include several other grapes.  Robert Parker Jr. has given high praise and scores for their Pinots.  We will be tasting the following wines:

2011 Pinks Dry Rosé
2009 Hometown Pinot Noir
2009  Cork Dancer Pinot Noir
2009  St. Rita’s Earth Pinot Noir
2007 Highliner Pinot Noir
2004 Julia’s Vineyard Pinot Noir
2007 Julia’s Vineyard Pinot Noir
2009 Late Harvest Gewürztraminer

A couple of the wines are being brought directly from the winery and you will get to taste others before they are released to the Ontario public. This opportunity to taste Hitching Post wines is exclusive to the Toronto Vintners Club and we hope you will join us for a fun and entertaining evening.  Seating is limited so please register early.

Date: Tuesday, March 19th, 2013
Time: Reception Wine: 6:00 PM, Formal Tasting: 6:20 PM
Where:  41 Willcocks St., Toronto, ON (U of T Faculty Club)
Cost: Members’ Fee: $59; Guests’/Non-Members’ Fee: $75
Register / Buy Tickets (ALL ticket sales are final!)