92

'2022 is the year that Black Bank Hill showed us what Black Bank Hill is all about,' says Emerson. With the arrival of winemaker McLean, the completion of the winery and fruit primarily from the estate vineyard, Emerson pointed to the 2022s as the style of wines the winery will strive for going forward. The estate Cab Franc is a good example of that direction. The wine was wild fermented and aged for 20 months in a mix of used and neutral French oak barrels before being bottled unfined and unfiltered. I love this old-style Cab Franc with its nose of minty/eucalypt, fresh red berries, graphite, wild blueberries, herbs and lifted barrel spices. It's rich and concentrated on the palate and leaning more toward the darker fruits of anise, blueberries and plums, with that lovely minty accent, fine tannins, solid structure, black tea notes and spice on a lifted, long finish. Can hold this wine through 2033. Score - 93. (Rick VanSickle, winesinniagara.com, March 31, 2025)

This is the last vintage from sourced grapes (Wismer Wingfield on the Twenty Mile Bench) for the Chardonnay. Note the late vintage release, which is a theme with this winery. 'I like wines that are aged for a long time,' said Emerson, who prefers to hold back wines in bottle longer than most to show his wines at their best. The fruit is whole-bunch pressed, settled, and racked into second- and third-use French oak barrels for wild fermentation and 19 months of élevage (in used French oak barrels) on its lees. It's ripe and concentrated on the nose with poached pear, yellow apple, lemon curd, stony/saline minerality, a touch of toasted coconut and creamy spice notes. It shows opulent, generous stone fruits on the palate, chalky/stony notes, a creamy texture, vanilla toast, lemon zest, caramel, and spice with enough juicy acidity to keep it in balance. Drinking really nice at the moment but can hold until 2028. Score - 93. (Rick VanSickle, winesinniagara.com, May 8, 2024)

You ready? Here's the blend: 59% Cabernet Franc, 23% Merlot, 13% Pinot Noir, 4% Cabernet Sauvignon and 1% Syrah with 17 months of aging in used French oak barrels. It shows a light shade of red in the glass with a minty/savoury nose of wild berries, herbs, cassis, dark cherries, red currants, and spice. There's some structure and ripe tannins on the palate with notes of anise/fennel seed, black currants, savoury red berries, earthy bits, spice and a tangy, lifted finish. There are a lot of moving parts here, but somehow it all works. Drink or hold a year or two. Score - 90. (Rick VanSickle, winesinniagara.com, May 8, 2024)

Vinified with wild yeast and matured in French oak for 20 months, this wonderfully complex Cabernet offers suggestions of redcurrant, blackberry, rose petal, oregano, thyme, tobacco, clove, and baking spices. Graceful and finely structured with gently chewy tannins, it culminates in a long, layered finish.

This blend of 94% Cabernet Franc and 6% Cabernet Sauvignon saw 48 hours of skin contact before being co-fermented in stainless steel. It's floral, with zesty cranberry, watermelon, strawberry, cherry, cassis, garden herbs and rhubarb. Try it with Korean-style beef skewers, miso-glazed eggplant, or spicy chickpeas.[Winesinniagara.com reviewed and rated the 2022 and 2023 vintages but did not include a tasting note for the 2023.] Score - 90. (Rick VanSickle, winesinniagara.com, May 8, 2024)

This is the last of the purchased grapes before flipping over to the estate vineyard for Pinot Noir. It's sourced from two Twenty Mile Bench vineyards - Glen Elgin and End-of-the-Road. It's destemmed, lightly crushed, wild fermented and spends 18 months in neutral oak French barriques. It shows a profound perfumed/floral note on the nose with red currants, dark cherries, black raspberries, crunchy cranberries, and elegant spices. It's a bold Pinot on the palate with fine-grained tannins and some structure to go with earthy/savoury red berries, a touch of anise, umami/mushroom notes, elegant oak spices and a tangy, lifted finish. Can cellar this to 2030. Score - 92. (Rick VanSickle, winesinniagara.com, May 8, 2024)

Gotta be the first chardonnay out of the gates from the 2023 vintage and if this cracker example is any indication of what's coming then hold on to your senses. Recently bottled and even with an early (September) pick this saw less than 10 months of aging, but the mix of indelible lees and high voltage (8.5 g/L) total acidity put this in scintillant, dare it be said Blanc de Blancs styled territory. So very different to the Runway White (blend) because of its intensity but also warmth at 13.8 alcohol, not quite torridity, but a white peppery scorch nonetheless. Wild and exciting shift from vintner Taylor Emerson and winemaker Jonathan McLean. Will be hard to wait and anticipate what the next level chardonnay turns out to be. Drink 2024-2026. Tasted at i4C, July 2024. Score - 90. (Michael Godel, winealign.com)