By Lidija Biro
Spring has sprung at Black Bank Hill with the release of the wines from the 2023 vintage.
Nestled at the foot of the Niagara Escarpment, between Beamsville and Vineland, Black Bank Hill Winery was founded in 2017. This is its 5th vintage release and oh boy, it’s a good one!
The vineyard, planted between 2018 and 2020, now boasts 12 different varieties including a range of diverse clones. Owner/vintner Taylor Emerson and winemaker Jonathan McLean have devoted themselves to producing small-batch premium wines that have quietly garnered a cult following.
Wines in Niagara was invited to join the wine club-members-only tasting deftly organized in the wine cellar by sales manager, Meg McGrath, outfitted with table linens, sparkling glassware and delicious charcuterie offerings.
Emerson introduced the tasting by saying, “I am absolutely proud (of these wines) for a bunch of reasons … they’re showing the progress. A natural progress. Like, what happens when you keep chipping away at something every year, and you get a little bit more comfortable, and you learn a couple lessons, and you can implement little improvements and pivots. I am personally experiencing that in all of the wines. So, for me it’s a lovely vintage.”
This was only the second year Emerson and McLean got to produce all wines from the fruit grown in their vineyard. Hence, it provides a glimpse into what Black Bank Hill was designed to be and foretells future potential.
The 2023 Black Bank Hill wines
McLean presented the new wines starting with Chenin Blanc. “This is my first iteration with Chenin Blanc,” he said. “It’s been a long time since I’ve worked with it coming from the southern Okanagan. As with all my wines, I really like to play around with them. And so, this is no exception. I’m really trying to find out where Chenin should be situated (in Niagara). And so, this version is really nice and fresh. It’s got a beautiful vivacity, a lot of focus. For me, it is a really nice summertime drink. So, we’re releasing this, I think, at the perfect time. it’s going show really well throughout the summer months.”
Black Bank Hill 2023 Chenin Blanc ($25, 90 points) — Chenin is difficult to grow in Ontario — only a few have tried it successfully and Black Bank Hill has just joined that company. The fruit for this wine was whole cluster pressed to a combination of neutral oak and stainless-steel tank for fermentation, then aged in neutral oak barrels for 16 months with partial malolactic conversion. The aromas are quite floral with apple and orchard fruit, with whiffs of caramel, vanilla and yogurt (from lees) follow. The body is lithe, laced with bright citrus acidity, a satiny texture and a touch of spice on the finish. A good first vintage with Chenin. This wine writer is looking forward to an encore.
McLean then discussed Chardonnay. “This is my favourite wine that I’ve made in a really long time. I love this because it’s exactly sitting in that area of exotic luxury. There are really unique flavours, unique nuances to this wine, and opulence.”
Black Bank Hill 2023 Chardonnay ($50, 93 points) —This is a serious, complex and textured Chardonnay with well-integrated alcohol (14% abv). Half of the fruit for this wine was whole cluster pressed directly into neutral French oak barrels. The other half of the fruit was left to macerate on skins for 24 hours, then pressed and settled in a chilled tank before being racked into 2nd use barrels. Malolactic conversion was halted at 25% to preserve freshness and acidity while frequent stirring of lees was conducted to build texture and mid-palate weight. The wine was aged for 18 months, bottled filtered but not fined.
Tantalizing aromas of tropical fruit is followed by a luxurious mouthfeel, layered with citrus, green apple, quince and ginger spice.
Moving on to what both Emerson and McLean describe as “their flagship white,” McLean explained that “we’re really excited to show this because it’s not traditionally grown here in Niagara. We really want to be trailblazers here in Black Bank Hill. Both Taylor and I see an opportunity to introduce new styles and new types of wines to people here.”
“We don’t see lot of Marsanne, Roussanne or even Viognier for that matter. So, this is a very unique. I’m thinking, mushroom risotto would go really, really well with this wine or a cream-based broccoli soup.”
Black Bank Hill 2023 Liberté ($50, 94 points) — This is a traditional Northern Rhone blend. Here at Black Bank Hill, it’s 50% Viognier, 25% Marsanne and 25% Roussanne. The latter two varieties were whole cluster pressed directly into neutral French oak barrels for fermentation. Then Viognier was macerated on skins for 24 hours before pressing and racked to 2nd fill oak barrels for fermentation. Malolactic conversion was halted at 60%; some lees stirring helped to build body without overwhelming the wine’s focus. Élevage lasted 19 months, filtered and bottled (but left unfined).
The wine opens with honeysuckle, apricot, vanilla and marzipan aromas. On the palate this wine truly impresses — round, textured, with orchard fruit and spice.
Next, McLean revealed that he’s not as passionate about making Pinot Noir as many winemakers in Niagara are. He’s still playing with it, figuring it out.
“I’m still learning the nuances of the vineyard and this grape, and I’m also still learning the nuances of the clones that we have in this group. We have four different clothes here. I’m really excited to broaden my perspective of the types of clones I work with. Maybe try a different style, who knows. This Pinot Noir, for me, is more New World, more fruit forward, more oak, a little bit more tannic.”
Black Bank Hill 2023 Pinot Noir ($50, 92 points) — This wine is a blend of four Pinot Noir clones. The fruit from each clone was hand harvested, destemmed and gently crushed, then fermented separately in stainless steel tanks with regular punch downs. Each tank was pressed into mostly second-fill French oak and aged for 20 months. The wine was bottled unfiltered. Lightly hued, the wine’s aromas are a heady mix of rose petal, strawberry, mushroom, forest floor and a touch of vanilla. The palate is fruit forward followed by earthy notes and some oak spice. A refreshing streak of acidity is balanced with fine-grained tannins.
Introducing the 2023 Cabernet Sauvignon wine, McLean reflected on the terroir of Black Bank Hill. “We’ve got a beautiful, hot property that Taylor found, sitting on this soil that loves to grow red wines,” he said,
McLean worked with Cabernet Sauvignon in the Okanagan and noted that it requires a lot of sun and heat which makes it problematic to grow in many parts of Niagara. But McLean keeps the yields low to achieve ripeness and the vineyard seems to trap heat. “Compared to Cabernet Sauvignon wines I’ve made in B.C., I find it’s a lot more restrained, and you have to do a lot more work to pull out colour and flavours that I like.”
Black Bank Hill 2023 Cabernet Sauvignon ($45, 91 points) — Hand harvested fruit was destemmed and lightly crushed into stainless steel tanks where it was chilled to 2 C for an 8-day cold soak. Daily pump-overs helped to extract colour, flavour and tannins. The wine was pressed into French oak barrels (15% new), aged for 19 months and bottled unfiltered. The wine is deeply hued and perfumed with violets, blueberry, cassis, sweet tobacco and vanilla, The palate offers fresh acidity, firm tannins and flavours of blackberry, blackcurrants, tobacco and wood spice.
Emerson spoke about the winery’s success with Cabernet Franc as it has attracted quite a few fans. Their 2022 Cabernet Franc won a gold medal (95 points) at the 2025 Decanter World Wine Awards. It was also recognized as a top performer at the National Wine Awards of Canada (2025),
“This one I’m really excited to introduce, because I think it’s a step up. It’s got a lot going on. I think it straddles both Old World and New World style in this really cool way … I mean, plush fruit, some acid, restraint, and a little bit of herbaceousness. And I think it has all of that, but it needs a little bit more time.”
Black Bank Hill 2023 Cabernet Franc ($50, 92 points) — The fruit from three clones of Cabernet Franc was hand harvested, destemmed and gently crushed into stainless steel tanks and cold soaked for 10 days with daily pump-overs. The wine was then pressed into French oak barrels (19% new) and aged for 19 months before being bottled (unfiltered). This deep ruby wine is intensely perfumed with violets, raspberry, and vanilla. The palate is layered with dark berry fruit and savoury notes of tomato leaf and tobacco, fresh acidity and chalky tannins.
The team at Black Bank Hill also gave us a glimpse of the 2025 vintage.
“The red wines we made this year are going be some of our best” explains McLean. “And the white ones, we really worked very hard to pick as early as possible to retain the acidity and retain the character of what people have come to expect from us.” Can’t wait.
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