By Rick VanSickle
Redtail Vineyards in Prince Edward County has set its sights on creating one of the leading wineries in Prince Edward County.
On a tour there this summer, the newly hired winemaker, Kevin Panagapka, showed us the grand vision of owner Thomas Stallinga, who has accumulated a staggering 250 acres of land for vineyards, a Nordic style spa, winery, and tasting/retail facility in Consecon. Stallinga, who purchased Redtail in 2018, and his partner Brad Smith believe the foundation of winemaking excellence “begins with the vines” and scoured the local terroir for the best grape growing lands.
Also in this report, a review of the stunning 2027 Cellars Blanc du Blancs and our pick of the Niagara wines from the Vintages release Saturday.
Panagapka (above), an accomplished Niagara winemaker who owns the 2027 Cellars brand, was hired to shepherd the project’s grape and viticulture side of the business.
The plan for Redtail is to make clean, classic wines focused on the unique terroir of Prince Edward County, but it won’t be until 2023 before the first County wines from estate grapes will be ready for sale. For now, Redtail is up and running with grapes sourced from both The County and Niagara.
Redtail opened its new “state of the art” production facility in the fall of 2021. In addition to the standard stainless and oak tanks generally used in wine production, Redtail imported new cement tanks from Europe. Unlike stainless and oak tanks, the cement tanks remove any influence of the tank on the fermentation of the grapes, leading to a true reflection of the local terroir in the wines. The new facility features high-tech equipment, common to the leading vineyards in Europe.
We tasted a series of wines sourced from Niagara grapes with Panagapka during our tour of Redtail this summer and more recently, tasted two wines made from grapes sourced from Hubbs Creek in Prince Edward County. Panagapka told us he is looking forward to working with the estate fruit. The home vineyard (very top photo), located where the current tasting and retail facility are, is a gorgeous site that should reflect the true nature of that County terroir that is emerging in the region. The best is yet to come.
Here is what I liked from the two new wines now available at the retail store:
Redtail Hubbs Creek Vineyard Chardonnay 2020 ($30, winery, 91 points) — Panagapka finished both the wines reviewed here after he took over from the previous winemaker at Redtail and didn’t have many details on the winemaking behind the wines other this Chardonnay spent 18 months in Burgundian oak, all one-year-old barrels. He suspects it was whole cluster pressed and wild fermented. It shows a golden colour in the glass with a smoky/flinty nose of ripe pear/quince, golden apple, subtle citrus zest, and nicely integrated oak spices. It’s mineral-rich and complex with ripe pear fruit, bin apples, caramel, savoury notes, toasted oak spices, moderate acidity and a lifted finish.
Redtail Hubbs Creek Vineyard Pinot Noir ($35, winery, 92 points) — This was also aged in one-year-old Burgundian oak for 18 months. Panagapka says it was likely wild fermented, cold soaked, and fermented in oak cuvées. Both wines are reflective of the warm 2020 vintage, but that influence is felt more in this Pinot than the Chard. It has a deep and rich nose of black cherries, strawberry tart, a touch of cassis and elegant spice notes. The palate reveals mount-filling red berries, chalky minerality, some earthy-savoury notes, medium+ tannins, cedar, spice, and tingly acidity on a lively finish. Some light tannins add a bit of structure to this lovely Pinot. Can cellar 5+ years.
A bubbly from 2027 Cellars
2027 Cellars Wismer Vineyard-Fox Croft Block Blanc de Blancs 2017 ($45, winery now, 94 points) — Sparkling wine is a category that continues to raise the bar in Niagara and Ontario. The best examples are coming from those winemakers who employ long lees aging and minimal sugar added, such as this beauty from Kevin Panagapka. The wine spent 4.5 years on the lees and is made in a “brut nature” style, in other words, zero sugar added in the dosage. This is a thrilling sparkling wine with a flinty nose of pear, lemon curd, pure salinity, leesy/autolytic notes and a persistent, elegant bead in the glass. It’s a lovely, caressing bubble in the mouth with creamy notes, tart apple, fresh pear, lemon peel, tingly acidity and length through a lifted and bright finish. It’s bright and lively, yes, but nicely mature with elegance, grace, and poise with room to gain fat in the cellar.
Vintages releases for Oct. 22
There’s a fairly robust crop of Niagara wines coming to Vintages on Saturday. Our pick of the crop is the thrilling Henry of Pelham top bottling from the Short Hills Bench producer’s deep Riesling program.
Henry of Pelham Speck Family Reserve Riesling 2020 ($30, 94 points) — The Speck Brothers do a lot of things right from their Short Hills Bench estate, but Riesling is a cut above all the rest and this top cuvee is consistently one of the best Rieslings made in Niagara. The vineyard where this Riesling is grown was planted in 1982 to the famed Weis 21b Clone. It has a racy, saline nose of gushing lime, grapefruit, lemon blossom, green apple, tangerine, stony minerality and a subtle note of ginger. There is an interesting tug of tension between sweet and tart citrus then wet stones, lemon pith and ginger with a dry impression on a finish that’s long and fresh. The racy vein of acidity should carry this wine to even greater heights for 15+ years. A cellar must for collectors of Niagara Riesling.
Also released, but not reviewed by Wines In Niagara:
• Cave Spring Select Late Harvest Riesling 2017 ($25 for 375 mL)
• Henry of Pelham Vidal/Cabernet Franc Icewine 2018 ($40 for 200 mL)
• Charles Baker Riesling 2019 ($20)
• Organized Crime Wild Ferment Riesling 2019 ($21)
• Redstone Chardonnay 2020 ($20)
• Stratus Tollgate Chardonnay 2019 ($25)
• 13th Street Cabernet/Merlot 2020 ($22)
• Henry of Pelham Speck Family Reserve Cabernet Merlot 2019 ($45)
• Leaning Post Pinot Noir 2020 (price NA)
• Tragically Hip Fully Completely Reserve Red 2020 ($25)
• Thirty Bench Winemaker’s Blend Cabernet Franc 2020 ($25)
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