To drink | Support Ukraine with its wine

In the Niagara Peninsula, winemakers Nadia and Ilya Senchuk have found a generous way to support their home country of Ukraine. Until March 12, all sales from their small vineyard will be donated to the Canadian Foundation for Ukraine. A portion of the proceeds from the sale of bottles at the SAQ will also go to the organization.

Karyne Duplessis Piche
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(Hamilton) The wine route was quiet Monday morning in the Niagara Peninsula. At the entrance to the wine country, on the outskirts of Hamilton, the comings and goings of cars were however sustained at the Leaning Post vineyard.

The owners, Nadia and Ilya Senchuk, had an unusual idea to support their home country, Ukraine, which is under attack from Russia. They will donate all of their sales made at the estate between March 5 and March 12 to support it. “We feel so helpless and useless,” says Nadia Senchuk, her voice charged with emotion. It’s a huge investment for a small vineyard like us, but it’s the best we can do. »

Customers responded immediately to the call. On Tuesday alone, the estate sold $14,000 worth of wine, or about 500 bottles. This is a considerable amount for an estate that sells an average of 72,000 bottles per year.

Leaning Post has recently been selling in Quebec. At the time of writing this text, nearly 400 bottles of his Riesling were donated to the SAQ and, for each bottle sold, until March 20, the owners and their agent Sélection Caviste will donate $4 to the foundation.

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In the old barn converted into a winery, boxes filled with clothes, toys and non-perishable food pile up in the hallways of Leaning Post.

Nadia and Ilya Senchuk are not only sending money to support Ukraine, the vineyard has indeed solicited donations and offers to ship the goods to the country at war.

“Our job is to ship wine every day,” adds winemaker Ilya Senchuk. We wanted our expertise to be used in a concrete way. »

Nadia and Ilya Senchuk’s family lives in western Ukraine, far from Kyiv. Fortunately, it is not touched by the Russian bombardments. The winegrowers keep in close contact and are ready to intervene if the situation degenerates.

Leaning Post isn’t the only Canadian winery operated by Ukrainian owners. Also in the Niagara region, in Beamsville, there is also the Rosewood vineyard.

Ukraine is not known for its wine production, yet the country cultivates almost 40,000 hectares of vines and produces wine in four different regions.

Great Riesling, great cause

Ilya Senchuk wanted to become a winemaker when he was 19 years old. His Winnipeg-based family didn’t drink much alcohol, but an article about wine piqued his curiosity. He moved to Niagara for his studies and after a few years as a consultant, he bought, in 2011, an abandoned vineyard near Hamilton with his wife, Nadia. Leaning Post now totals just under four hectares of vines. As is the practice in the region, the estate also buys grapes from other producers, including Riesling. The cuvée on sale in Quebec is very typical. Its aromas of flint and honeydew melon invade the glass. From the 2018 harvest, a hot year in Niagara, the wine does not have a very sharp attack. The round texture extends into a fragrant and subtly saline finish.

Leaning Post Riesling Niagara Peninsula 2018, $25.15 (14503354), 11.4%