Chardonnay

Mineral & Zesty

Husband and wife duo Ilya and Nadia started Leaning Post winery in Niagara over 10 years ago. Initially a virtual set up, the winery now located on Highway 8, has become a reference producer in Niagara.

The 2022 The Fifty Chardonnay is a blend of three different vineyard with four different picking dates. 100% of this wine was fermented in concrete with spontaneous fermentation. Once fermentation was completed, the wine was aged on full lees in concrete for 8 months. After lees-aging, it was racked, lightly filtered, and bottled on September 7 th , 2023.

The 2022 vintage was beautiful, warm and sunny throughout, but with very small yields. As a result, wines are very concentrated with great acidity. The nose of this wine is full of pineapple, nectarine, red apple, and orange blossom followed up with lemon meringue and crème fraiche. The palate has a refreshing reflection of the nose, adding lemon-curd, peach blossom, and spice, but it also showcases a mineral and wet stone characteristic that leads to the long, elegant finish.

This wine will age well for the next 5-8 years. Enjoy with brie, sole meuniere, and lemon-roasted chicken.

Creamy & Mineral

Husband and wife duo Ilya and Nadia started Leaning Post winery in Niagara over 10 years ago. Initially a virtual set up, the winery now located on Highway 8, has become a reference producer in Niagara.

Hand-picked and hand-sorted on September 15th, the grapes were gently whole-cluster pressed, and allowed to settle in tanks for several days prior to fermentation. The juice of Clone 96 was racked into barrels (2 puncheons; 2 barriques) for spontaneous alcoholic and malolactic fermentation, then aged in barrel for 18 months. After skillfully selecting the best barrel combination to highlight the unique characteristics of the clone, the 2020 Clone 96 Chardonnay was allowed to naturally settle before being bottled in June 2022.

This wine has incredible depth on the nose the evolves slowly, keeping interest as it unfolds. Tropical fruits like pineapple and mango lead to toasted almond and a sprinkle of sea salt.The palate has a rich and creamy texture followed by a delightful saline quality, the perfect balance of richness and brightness. The wet stone/mineral base is wrapped with lime zest and lemon curd with backing flavours of vanilla, cardamom, and cinnamon.The finish just goes on and on showing why this is a truly outstanding example of Senchuk Vineyard!

Pair with poached salmon with a buttery sauce, chicken, pork or pasta in a creamy sauce pair stunningly with this wine.

Toasty & Citrusy

Husband and wife duo Ilya and Nadia started Leaning Post winery in Niagara over 10 years ago. Initially a virtual set up, the winery now located on Highway 8, has become a reference producer in Niagara. The Chardonnay in this wine comes from a beautiful old vines (35+ years old) block, while the Pinot Noir is from a younger block on the same property in Beamsville Bench.

If you can imagine dipping a freshly baked lemon/herb croissant into a cloud then you have some idea of how this wine tastes! The toasty/biscuity and lemon-curd aspect leaps immediately out of the glass, with a background of crème-fraiche and flowers. The palate is full and round, with a very fine mousse showing fresh-baked bread, lemon meringue, roasted almond and unicorn-dust. The terroir and old-vines really come through on the finish with an amazing mineral/flinty core and very present acidity.

Enjoy now, but this wine will age gracefully over the next 8+ years if you want it to. Drink with fresh Malpeque oysters, hazelnut crusted halibut, and soft white cheeses.