Leaning Post, Senchuk Vineyard Pinot Noir 2019

2019 is the fifth vintage of our flagship Pinot Noir from our estate Senchuk Vineyard, and certainly the richest, and most full-bodied so far. The 2019 growing season started out quite cool but sunny and that continued throughout the growing season into the early fall.  With a slightly late start to the growing season there were concerns prior to harvest regarding brix levels and phenolic ripeness of the grapes.  However, with good vineyard management and a lot of work sorting, the Pinot Noir from Senchuk Vineyard came in beautifully ripe, with amazing mature skins and seeds and the moderate alcohol and relatively high acidity that our site is known for.

Hand-picked and hand-sorted on October 11, the grapes were partly de-stemmed (60% destemmed, 40% whole-cluster), partially crushed and left to soak on skins prior to fermentation.  After 3 days, fermentation occurred spontaneously in small open-top fermenters.  During fermentation, the skins were punched-down by hand 2 times per day.  Once fermentation was finished, the wine remained on skins for 5 days before being gently pressed. It was then transferred to French oak barrels (33% new, 16% 1-year-old, 51% older) and aged for 18 months.  The 2019 Senchuk Pinot Noir was bottled on August 11, 2021.

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.