What: Nyarai Cellars
Where: A virtual winery, making wines at Calamus Estate Winery, 3100 Glen Rd., Jordan
Proprietors: Steve Byfield and Rodney Ingram
Winemaker: Steve Byfield
Specialties: Sauvignon Blanc, Cabernet-Merlot and whatever the vintage dictates.
Must try: Sauvignon Blanc 2009 is a pure, clean, fruit-driven white. The 2007 Cabernet-Merlot has fabulous depth of fruit.
Availability: Website, or you can ask for it at Calamus.
Website: www.nyaraicellars.ca
What: 2027 Cellars
Where: A virtual winery, making wines at Featherstone Estate Winery, 3678 Victoria Ave., Vineland
Proprietor: Kevin Panagapka
Winemaker: Kevin Panagapka
Specialties: Single-vineyard Rieslings and Pinot Noir
Must try: The Rieslings are stunning and built for aging. The 2027 Fox Croft Vineyard 2009 Riesling is a masterpiece. Also making some Pinot Noir.
Availability: Website only.
Website: www.2027cellars.ca
By Rick VanSickle
They are nomads. They don’t have a winery to call their own. They do not own vineyards. They do not have the capital it takes to put together a grandiose facility where they can sell their wines.
They are part of a small but growing class of winemaker who simply want to make small-batch artisan wines but don’t yet have the capital or desire to build the infrastructure needed for a full-fledged winery and tasting room.
Virtual wineries are nothing new, every wine region has them from France to New Zealand to California, but they are becoming easier to operate these days with wine sales and advertising but a click away on a website.
In Niagara, you can count on one hand the number of virtual wineries — Charles Baker Riesling (makes one superb wine), Daredevil Wines (one wine, a red blend) and the more ambitious Nyarai Cellars and 2027 Cellars, both of which make several different wines — toughing it out in the competitive world of wine.
I caught up with the proprietors of both Nyarai and 2027 recently to see how their virtual wineries are coming along.
Nyarai Cellars:
Nyarai, a South African girl’s name (pronounced na-rye) that means humility, was established in 2008 by Steve Byfield and partner Rodney Ingram.
Byfield is the hands-on proprietor of Nyarai. His background is in music education but fell in love with the making of wine while paying his way through university by working part-time at different wineries.
Byfield apprenticed as an assistant winemaker at Southbrook winery in 2001 and took chemistry classes to upgrade his skills while working there. In 2006, Byfield abandoned his music career and became the assistant winemaker to Arthur Harder, who makes wine for both Calamus and Ridgepoint Wines in Niagara.
He remains the assistant winemaker at Calamus and runs his virtual winery from that Jordan location.
Byfield started his winery with Sauvignon Blanc, which forms the backbone of his wine program and will always be the flagship wine at Nyarai. He also made a trio of 2007 red wines in his first year, including a Syrah, Cabernet-Merlot and Chardonnay.
Byfield has elected to not make any red wines in 2008-2009 and instead is concentrating on Sauvignon Blanc and a Viognierdominated white blend he calls Trois.
Here’s what we tried:
Nyarai Sauvignon Blanc 2009($19, tank sample, available late May on the web or ask for it at Calamus, 4 stars) — An attractive Sauvignon Blanc with floral-Jasmine aromas to go with mango, banana, peach, apple and tropical fruit notes. It’s bright and showy on the palate with a full array of fruits that are pure, clean and fresh.
Nyarai Trois 2009($19, tank sample, available late May on the web or ask for it at Calamus, 4 stars) — A mostly Viognier white blend with Pinot Gris and Sauvignon Blanc added in. Melon, pear, apple and spice on the nose. It’s juicy and broad on the palate with fleshy citrus fruit, orange peel, apple and a persistent finish.
Nyarai also has all three 2007 red wines available for sale, including the Cabernet-Merlot ($18, in Vintages in July, 4 stars) that shows cassis, black currants, pepper and dark cherry notes. Very well done.
2027 Cellars:
After spending six years working at various Niagara and New Zealand wineries, Kevin Panagapka decided to go it alone with his virtual winery.
The name for his winery comes from his grower number for a small half-acre Pinot Noir vineyard he owns. However, the bulk of 2027 Cellars’ wines are made from unique Riesling vineyard plots on the Bench that he tends, manages and harvests all on his own.
He has two conditions for the Rieslings he makes: They must be from Bench vineyards on the Niagara Escarpment and the vines must be grown from the Weiss clone. After sourcing and managing the fruit, the Riesling takes care of itself, Panagapka says.
The young winemaker rents space at Featherstone Estate Winery and helps with the fall harvest there. When he isn’t making his own wines or tending the vineyards, Panagapka is on the road handselling his wines to restaurants in Toronto, Ottawa and Niagara.
2027 Cellars Falls Vineyard Riesling 2008($25, web, 4.5 stars) — Panagapka admits that he builds age-worthy Rieslings but sells them young and hopes that consumers will tuck some in the cellar to watch how they develop. This Riesling is sensational with plenty of peach, citrus and mineral notes on the nose. It’s mouth-puckering on the palate with orange-peel, lime, citrus, wet stone minerality and laser sharp acidity.
2027 Cellars Fox Croft Vineyard 2009 Riesling($25, web, 5 stars) — 2009 is fast proving to be a blockbuster vintage for Riesling. This is a phenomenal wine with grapefruit, petrol (already showing!) and crazy-beautiful citrus zest and minerals on the nose. It’s explosive on the palate with bracing acidity to go with citrus, underlying minerality, and a finish that goes on and on.
Enjoy!
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