347 products
- Red Wine
- Cabernet Franc, Merlot
- Sustainable, Vegan-Friendly
- Dry
- Medium Bodied
- 750ml
- 14% alc./vol
About the Winery
Leaning Post

A leaning post is what you find at the beginning of a row of grapes, anchoring the wires that are the frame-work for growing grapevines. It is the beginning of an obsession to translate a time and place into liquid. Leaning Post wines take you to that beginning by finding small, unique plots of land in Niagara and putting them in bottle. Because after stripping away all the fancy buildings and high-tech equipment you are left with a place on this earth that grows wine unlike any other. When you taste that in a glass you just know it. Nadia and Ilya have had to rely on the support of family, friends and financial institutions to make the dream of owning a winery a reality. Leaning Post began as a virtual winery and is so proud to now have the quaint tasting room at 1491 Hwy 8 on their home property in Winona, Ontario.
Ilya and Nadia are the brains and passion behind Leaning Post Wines. It started with a dream to take unique, interesting single vineyard blocks in Niagara and turn them into distinctive, terroir driven wines. Nadia and Ilya first met in their hometown of Winnipeg, MB where their passion for wine and each other was born.
Ilya has been a winemaker in the Niagara Region for the last 17 vintages working at Daniel Lenko Estate Winery, Foreign Affair and now at Leaning Post Wines. Ilya is also a consulting winemaker at the Good Earth Winery. Ilya’s true passion in life is to make world renowned wines from Niagara that really showcase the distinct terroir that Niagara offers.
Press Reviews
Wines in Niagara
94 points - Rick VanSickle
Cuvée Heritage is the third vintage of Leaning Post’s flagship red blend, but the first called Heritage – in homage to Ilya and Nadia’s Ukrainian heritage, and with an intention of building a heritage of “tremendous red blends at the estate.” The blend is Cabernet Sauvignon (29%), Syrah (27%), Cabernet Franc (25%) and Merlot 18%. The various components were aged separately in barrel for 20 months. It’s an extraordinary blend that grabs your full attention from the start with a nose of generous black currants, blackberries, figs, smoky red berries, meaty/peppery notes and fine oak spices. There’s a lovely savoury edge on the palate with a wall of ripe tannins and the full spectrum of generous red and dark berries, smoky/meaty notes, red and black peppercorns all leading to an echoing, long and finessed finish. Big time cellar wine that will keep evolving for a decade or more.
- Syrah
- Sustainable
- Dry
- Residual Sugar: 2.00 g/l
- Medium Bodied
- 750ml
- 13.50% alc./vol
Press Reviews
Cameron Douglas, MS
95 Points
Outstanding ‘A powerful bouquet driven by aromas of spices and dark red fleshed fruits, seasoned red meats and there’s layers of barrel and smoke, wood spices and pressed violets. Complex and youthful. Equally powerful on the palate with a firm taut texture from tannins and back bone of acidity; tempering and contrasting core fruit flavours of dark berries and spiced meats layer in complexity and mouthfeel. This wine needs more time, it is delicious already, dry and lengthy. Best drinking from very late 2023 through 2033
The Real Review
95 Points - Bob Campbell
Intense wine with an appealing seamless texture and lifted aromatics. Dark berry, cassis, dark chocolate, vanilla, anise, and black pepper are also evident. Elegant, supple wine—a pleasure to taste