Leaning Post 2022 Chardonnay - Senchuk Vineyard

Nose: Classic, reductive aromas of wet-stone and lemon-curd lead to unfolding pineapple and nectarine, apple blossoms, followed by salted-caramel, toasted almond, spice, and honeysuckle.

Palate: Peach cobbler, spiced apple, lemon tart, and pineapple, followed closely by hazelnut, crème brûlée, sea salt, hints of crème-fraîche, and cardamom, all wrapped in a mountain-stream level of minerality.

Finish: The finish just goes on and on — a truly outstanding example of Senchuk Vineyard.

Pairs beautifully with umami-rich dishes such as grilled, seared, or roast shellfish like lobster and scallops, roast guinea fowl, dishes featuring wild mushrooms and slow-roast tomatoes, white truffle, or hazelnut-crusted chicken or fish.

Still very youthful and tightly wound at this stage; will reward 5-8 years of cellaring, with the potential to age further.

Senchuk Vineyard (estate) – 100%

A beautiful, warm vintage with a very tiny crop. Cooling breezes across the property preserved natural acidity and freshness to balance the season's heat, resulting in a concentrated, powerful, and tightly-wound expression of the vineyard.

From a beautiful warm vintage with a very tiny crop, the amazing terroir of Senchuk Vineyard shone through, with cooling breezes preserving natural acidity and freshness to balance the heat. Two Chardonnay clones — Clone 584 and Clone 96 — were hand-picked and hand-sorted separately.

Hand-picked and hand-sorted, the grapes were gently whole-cluster pressed into separate tanks for cold settling. After two days, the wine was racked into puncheons and barriques for fermentation and aging. Spontaneous alcoholic and malolactic fermentation took place, and once complete, the wine rested in barrel for 15 months before bottling.

Founded by Ilya and Nadia Senchuk in 2011 on 11 acres in Winona, at the far western edge of the Niagara Peninsula, Leaning Post Wines built its reputation on single-vineyard, sub-appellation-driven Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. Winemaker Ilya Senchuk sources fruit from a small circle of sites he knows intimately — the estate's own Senchuk Vineyard along with Grimsby Hillside, Keczan, Hemeris and Bock — farmed and vinified with minimal intervention so each site's character comes through clearly in the glass. Leaning Post was an early champion of the Lincoln Lakeshore sub-appellation designation and is Certified Sustainable by Sustainable Winegrowing Ontario. The wines have consistently ranked among Ontario's top producers and are poured in leading restaurants in Toronto, Montreal, London and Copenhagen.