Leaning Post whites
Monday, March 3rd: Nadia and Ilya Senchuck sent me six of their wines that will be offered to members of the wine club My Wine Canada.
Leaning Post Sauvignon Blanc 2024 (Niagara Lakeshore)
Pale straw in colour with a lime tint; grassy, green plum and grapefruit bouquet; medium-bodied, crisply dry, gooseberry and green fruit flavours with threat of minerality ending on a leesy note. Drink now and through 2026. (91)
Leaning Post Chardonnay 2021 (Niagara Peninsula)
Golden straw in colour with a green tint; toasty, spicy, apple nose with vanilla oak notes; medium-bodied, dry, richly extracted apple and peach flavours with a saline finish; beautifully balanced with well-integrated oak; lovely mouth feel. A seamless wine. Can be opened now but 1–2 years cellaring will help meld the oak. (93)
Leaning Post Chardonnay – The Fifty 2021 (Niagara Peninsula)
A blend of two vineyards. Bright, golden straw in colour; toasty, spicy, apple and pear bouquet with vanilla oak notes; medium-bodied, ripe yellow apple and Meyer lemon flavours; beautifully balanced, apple, peach and green pineapple flavours; lovely mouth feel and great mouth feel. Drink now and through 2026. (93)
Leaning Post reds
Leaning Post Gamay 2021 (Four Mile Creek)
Bright ruby in colour; cherry pit nose; medium-bodied, dry, cherry and red plum flavours carried on brisk acidity. Sustains well on the palate. Drink now and through 2026. (89)
Leaning Post Pinot Noir 2022 (Niagara Peninsula)
Ruby colour; lifted nose of raspberries with a note of violets; medium-bodied, dry; richly extracted raspberry flavour with toasty, forest floor notes; well balanced and finishing on crunchy tannins. Drink now or hold 2–3 years. (89–91)
Leaning Post Cuvée Winona 2021 (Niagara Peninsula)
80% Merlot, 19% Cabernet Franc, 1% Cabernet Sauvignon. Deep ruby in colour; cedary, toasty nose of black plum and blackcurrant; medium to full-bodied, dry, firmly structured blackcurrant and black fruit flavours, well-balanced and mouth-filling. Hold 1–2 years to soften the tannins. (89–91)
Thursday, March 6th: A book signing at Thistle, a local bookstore in Port Dalhousie (which is also a coffee bar and sells swag). Sold two copies of A Taste of Evil.
At Thistle Bookshop
Friday, March 7th: A dinner party at our house for our friends who live within walking distance – which was a good thing considering the number of bottles we went through.
Dinner party wines
I cooked an oxtail stew using a Jamie Oliver recipe which – if I say so myself – was nothing short of amazing. Deborah made carrot cake for dessert.
Oxtail stew
Deborah’s carrot cake
