It’s not often I have the opportunity to taste wines from Niagara but the few I have tried have been top notch and Hoseshoe Cellars 2024 Kelson Block Riesling is no exception.
My introduction to Horseshoe Cellars all started from a simple Instagram post and a surprise response.
Hi Valerie,
We couldn’t agree more with your comment on bringing down the inter-provincial trade restrictions for the benefit of all Canadian wine and Canadian wine lovers!
In the meantime, we are happy to facilitate getting you a bottle to taste if you are interested, let us know!
Cheers!
John-Daniel Steele & Scott Woody
As it turns out John-Daniel and Scott are from Vancouver Island, which is where I live; so the wine made it to Mill Bay, where, on one of my frequent journeys between the Comox Valley and Victoria, I stopped to pick up my bottle of wine and meet John-Daniel’s proud father.
So here are my thoughts and what I have found out about the wine.
Horseshoe Cellars 2024 Kelson Block Riesling
Grimsby Hillside Vineyard
Lincoln Lakeshore VQA
Unseriously serious about good Riesling.
Terroir expressive Riesling from the Niagara Peninsula. We focus on intensity, complexity and balance.
Vineyard
Planted in 2008, the Kelson Block sits on the northern edge of Grimsby Hillside Vineyard. Warmer and drier through the summer, it produces fruit of notable focus and concentration, while its reddish clay loam and shale soils contribute structure and depth.
Winemaking
Our 2024 Kelson Block Riesling was hand harvested on September 28th and gently whole cluster pressed. After two days settling, the juice was rackedprior to inoculation with a non-Saccharomyces yeast strain,Torulaspora delbrueckii, to promote aromatic intensityand purity as well as to improve palate structure and length.Within a couple of days, the fermenting juice was re-inoculated in the stainless-steel tank with a cold tolerant yeast for a prolonged fermentation.For five weeks, the fermentation was temperature controlled between 10 and 13 degrees Celsius and was carefully evaluated and stopped after achieving the right balance.The wine rested on its fine lees for over four months before racking and fining with a light dose of bentonite.This wine was cross flow filtered and sterile filtered prior to bottling on March 26th, 2025.
Tasting Notes
A ripe, honeyed character, with tropical and stone fruit notes framed by a firm mineral spine. The resulting wine is generous, layered, and built for both richness and longevity.
My notes:
The wine presents as crystal clear and very pale in the glass and is super attractive.
Scents of my favourite, mildly diesel. Lightly floral with a hint of citrus, light stone fruits and dusty rose. Jasmine, freshly picked parsley and some cut grass.
On the palate, honey with a backdrop of tart acidity and a lingering mouth feel, great depth and complexity. A velvet silkiness that makes this wine perfect in every way. A Sophisticated wine.
Slightly off-dry but outrageously delicious. Finishing with sliced green apple notes. The wine feels sweet on the tongue but also citrus, salinity with perfect acicity, it is a classic Riesling.
This is a wine you want to savour.
$34.99 available at Collab Wine & Beverage
Horseshoe Cellars Wine
Focusing on Riesling, one of the region’s most distinctive and expressive varieties, Horseshoe Cellars was born from a shared passion for celebrating terroir in the Niagara Peninsula.
Since 2015, Horseshoe Cellars has explored small lots from unique vineyard sites across Niagara, including the Grimsby Hillside Vineyard since 2020, driven by a fascination with how Riesling captures the nuances of time and place.
What began as a passion project in a backyard shed and makeshift fermentation room has grown into a full-fledged virtual winery. Through it all, the focus has remained the same:crafting wines of intensity, complexity,and balance that speak honestly of their origin. For us, Riesling is more than a grape – it is both passion and obsession.
Every bottle from Horseshoe Cellars is an invitation to experience the beauty of Niagara through its truest voice.
Wine notes courtesy of the Horseshoe Cellars. My notes (in italics). Images: MyVanCity. I received a complimentary bottle of wine to facilitate this feature.