Note: Wine review ratings have changed to a 100-point system. The reason for the change is explained in this blog posting here.
To say things are going good for Kevin Panagapka is a bit of an understatement.
The owner and winemaker at 2027 Cellars was awarded Ontario’s top riesling at the Cuvee Awards for his Fox Croft Vineyard 2009, his 2027 Featherstone Vineyard 2009 is presently in wide release at Vintages with the Fox Croft to follow later this year and he’s just now released his first Pinot Noir, another wine that’s sure to wow his growing legion of fans.
Not bad for a guy who doesn’t own his winery, have a retail store or any staff to help him make or sell his wines.
Panagapka is member of the small, exclusive “virtual” winery club in Niagara. A group that includes Charles Baker, marketing and sales director at Stratus Vineyards, who makes only one wine, his namesake riesling, and Nyarai, owned by Steve Byfield, who makes a variety of wines from the best of what the vintage offers. Byfield also picked up a Cuvee Award for his red blend called Nyarai Cellars Veritas 2007.
All three virtual wineries were featured in Vintages March wine release.
Panagapka 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 hand-selling his wines to restaurants around Ontario.
He’s definitely happiest babying his unfinished wines that he has tucked away in a tiny corner of the Featherstone winery.
He’s working on his first barrel fermented chardonnay, called 19th Street, from a 15-year-old vineyard in Jordan, a 75-case production from the 2010 vintage. Panagapka says the key to this wine, and all his wines, is in the fruit selection, minimal intervention in the winery and, with the pinots and chardonnays, the different quality French oak barrels he uses to vinify the wines separately before bringing them together in the final blend.
His chards and pinots are all wild fermented and finished unfiltered and unfined.
“Elegance and length on the palate is a lost art form,” he says, drawing a barrel sample of the chardonnay to taste. “I’m looking for mouth feel, texture and length.” The chardonnay is exquisite with gorgeous flavours developing and slowly soaking up the fine oak nuances.
He adds that his method for making wines, without filtering or fining, can only be successful “with really good fruit.” And Panagpka has shown he has a knack for sourcing great grapes.
His three rieslings from 2009 are terroir driven wines that show the fruit of the vineyard beautifully. The Fox Croft, which I gave 94 points to and named it Niagara’s white wine of the year, is a brilliant and “showy” wine. He calls Featherstone his most age-worthy riesling and his Falls Vineyard Riesling the most mineral of the three. All sell for $25 (his Featherstone is at Vintages now, Foxcroft will arrive in May or June, and he has some Falls online at 2027 Cellars).
His newest baby, just released through his website, is the 2027 Cellars Queenston Road Vineyard Pinot Noir 2009 from St. Davids Bench.
Panagapka rushed his first pinot to retail a little before he hopes people will actually drink it. It needs a bit of time to open up. At the very least, consumers should decant for at least two hours before enjoying.
“I can’t find pinot on the Bench as good as this,” says Panagapka. He uses 30% new French oak (Vosges, Allier and Never), 30% one-year-old barrels and 30% two-year-old barrels for aging his pinot because he “doesn’t want to over extract or over oak the wine.” The end result is one stunning Pinot.
2027 Cellars Queenston Road Vineyard Pinot Noir 2009 ($35, online only, 93 points) — All fruit is hand harvested, hand sorted and de-stemmed whole berry. It is wild fermented over 19 days and bottled unfined and unfltered. The youthful nose shows lightly spiced cherry fruit, truffle, cedar, floral, beetroot and vanilla. It’s amazing in the mouth with penetrating, persistent red fruits, vanilla, sweet oak and spice. It’s a graceful, elegant wine that shows its range of flavours and silky tannins through the finish.
Also released this month at Vintages was the Nyarai Veritas. Here’s a review:
Nyarai Cellars Veritas 2007 ($25, 90 points, Vintages) — This is winemaker Steve Byfield’s attempt to showcase terroir driven wines. Veritas (truth), he says, encapsulates the essence of the Niagara region. This reserve blend consists of 33% cabernet franc, 27% cabernet sauvignon, 27% merlot and 13% syrah from the ripe and exciting 2007 vintage. It starts with black currants, cherry and cassis aromas with mocha, vanilla and pepper spice. It’s drinking beautifully at the moment with meaty-beefy fruits, tar-licorice, oak, plum and earthy flavours. Drinks more like a warm-climate red blend. Can cellar for a couple of years.
And a couple of other Niagara wines enjoyed recently:
Tawse Quarry Road Vineyard Riesling 2010 (Not available but in the $22 range, released May long weekend, 89 points) — This is Canada’s first certified biodynamic/organic riesling. The nose is intense with pure, fresh citrus, lime, green apple and wet stone minerality. It’s focused and balanced between tart-sweet fruit on the palate, showing apple-citrus fruits, and pronounced minerals. Juicy acidity through the finish.
Jackson-Triggs Gold Series Fume Blanc 2009 ($24, winery/Wine Rack, 90 points) — A lovely style that shows vanilla, toast, grapefruit and quince on the nose. Love the feel of this in the mouth with creamy fruits bolstered by racy acidity and oak-vanilla-spice highlights. Great sipping wine.
Enjoy!
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