White Wine
Chardonnay
Sustainable, Vegan-Friendly
Dry
Medium Bodied
750ml
13% alc./vol

Leaning Post Chardonnay Grimsby Hillside Vineyard 2021

Niagara, Canada

93 points - Wines in Niagara

$50.95per bottle ($611.40per case)
12 bottles per case

Creamy & 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.

A warm spring and warm summer lead to an uneven and wet fall, however good viticulture and good terroir still allowed these grapes to develop complex aromatics and structure without losing acidity or freshness. The blocks of two different Chardonnay clones: clone 76 and clone 96, were hand picked on October 17th. The clones were kept separate throughout pressing and oak aging. The fruit was whole cluster pressed and allowed to settle for a couple of days before being put into barrel for spontaneous fermentation. Once fermentations were completed, the wine remained in French oak barriques on lees for 15 months. This wine was skillfully blended with the perfect percentage of each clone to truly showcase this vintage, (63% clone 76 and 37% clone 96). We bottled this wine in June of 2023.

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

93 points - Rick VanSickle

This single-vineyard Chardonnay from the Frontier Block in the Grimsby Hillside Vineyard is sourced from two blocks with different Chardonnay clones: clone 76 and clone 96. The clones were kept separate throughout pressing and oak aging. The fruit was whole cluster pressed and allowed to settle for a couple of days before being put into barrel for spontaneous fermentation. The wine remained in French oak barriques on its lees for 15 months. This is much more subtle and elegant than the estate Chardonnay and shows overt minerality qualities such as seashells, flint and saline, then fresh pear, bergamot, lemon zest and savoury spices notes kick in as you swirl the wine in your glass. It shows pure elegance on the palate with lovely savoury (touch of reduction?) minerality, quince, lemon, subtle white peach and a big flinty, lifted and long finish. Can cellar through 2030.