By Rick VanSickle
The first few perfect rows of Cabernet Sauvignon, planted on a rare west-facing shelf at Rennie Estate’s Heron Pond Vineyard. is reserved for the crème de la crème.
The grapes are perfectly plump and shimmering on this day, see photo below, and getting primed for a long, leisurely march into fall until it’s ultimately time to be harvested and sent down the road to the Niagara Custom Crush Studio in Vineland for processing. In three years or so it will become the 2024 version of Graham Rennie’s flagship red wine — the Super G.
The 50-acre Heron Pond Vineyard and estate that sits on a perch spectacularly overlooking Lake Ontario and Toronto in the distance belong to Graham and Christine Rennie. While most of the grapes are contracted to Arterra, Rennie takes what he feels are the primo Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc and Merlot grapes for his own brand called Rennie Estates, a benchmark appassimento style line of wines that also includes premium Chardonnay and Pinot Noir made in the classic style.
Two years ago, Rennie saw a need for a growing collective of independent wineries in Niagara, and he and several business partners purchased the Stoney Ridge winery and completely transformed it into a one-stop brand development winery, tasting room and retail store for myriad wines that are made, aged, bottled and sold at the state-of-the-art facility. It has been a game-changer for small, premium wine brands getting their start and thriving in an environment that fosters success.
After touring Rennie’s vineyard, we zoom to The Crush where the winery is buzzing with activity. Grapes are pouring in; brands are busy sorting and crushing grapes and sending them to various vessels for fermentation and aging to be enjoyed at some point down the road.
There are now at least nine winemaker clients, including 2027 Cellars, Rennie’s own label Rennie Estate, Stoney Ridge (and Tragically Hip), The Long Way Home, Bonsang, Unscripted, Inferno Stallion (the debut wine reviewed in this post) and Therianthropy, among others. Ontario’s first custom crush pad is a multi-brand operation that has transformed the former winery into a home for small to medium brands to thrive under one roof, one retail location and one destination for consumers to enjoy a varied and eclectic array of Ontario-made wines.
A $3.7-million major renovation and expansion of the winery at the existing Stoney Ridge winery and retail facility was completed earlier this year, which expanded the former estate to 17,000 square feet of production space (from 4,700 square feet) with a new state-of-the-art retail and tasting room to support a range of winemaking clients who have signed up with the Niagara Custom Crush Studio, located at 3201 King Street.
Also, this year, The Crush announced that award-winning winemaker Kevin Panagapka, with over 25 years of experience and one of Ontario’s first virtual winemakers, has become a shareholder at The Crush and takes on the role of chief operating officer (COO) and head winemaker. Panagapka is overseeing all winemaking activities and will move his wine company, 2027 Cellars, to The Crush to offer wine lovers another ultra-premium brand to consider.
Rennie and Panagapka are teaming up this weekend to offer tours of the Heron Pond Vineyard, a behind-the-scenes look see how the Niagara Custom Crush Studio works and exclusive tastings of the latest vintages from Rennie Estate and 2027 Cellars paired with artisanal cheese pairings from the in-house fromagerie.
The tours and tastings take place on both Oct. 5 and 6 from 3-6 p.m. For more information and to book your spot, go here.
Wines in Niagara had a chance to taste some of the new releases from Rennie and 2027 Cellars in advance of next weekend, and we offer reviews below. We also had a sneak peek at the debut wine from Inferno Stallion that was just released and is available at The Crush as of Oct. 1. Here’s what we can recommend, starting with Rennie Estate Winery.
Rennie Estate Winery
Rennie Estate Short Rows Reserve Chardonnay 2021 ($45, available to taste and pre-purchase at the release event, but not labelled yet, 92 points) — This style is a first for Rennie and is being released at the same time as the more traditional “Christine” Chardonnay 2022 below. No malolactic fermentation was used in this wine, but the wine spent 24 months on its lees in French oak barrels, 30% of which was new oak. The nose bursts with baked apples, ripe pears, lemon tart, a subtle floral note with integrated spice notes. It’s rich on the palate, but vibrant, with ripe pear/quince, yellow apple, a touch of lemon zest and spice with a creamy feel on the long, luxurious yet lifted finish.
Rennie Estate Christine Chardonnay 2022 ($45, available to taste and pre-purchase at the release event, but not labelled yet, 93 points) — The Christine (named after Rennie’s wife) Chardonnay is a more traditionally made wine than the wine above, with 12 months in French oak, 30% new oak, and full malo. This is a full-on Chardonnay with persistent and rich aromas of poached pear, apple pie, lemon chiffon, citrus zest nibbling on the edges and spice box. It has a dense array of orchard fruits on the palate with chalky/flinty minerality emerging to go with rich spice notes and a finish bolstered by a rousing vein of acidity.
Rennie Estate Winery The Colleen Cabernet Franc 2020 ($125, 95 points) — In the Rennie world of his appassimento wines, the Super G (below), made from 100% Cabernet Sauvignon from vines located on a select, west-facing shelf at the estate’s Heron Pond Vineyard, is his flagship wine for this style. The Colleen, which debuted with the 2016 vintage, now shares the spotlight (in my opinion), expressing itself from a Cabernet Franc point of view. Both are fabulous, benchmark wines made from grapes that spend 82 days on drying racks and 29 months in French oak barrels. The grapes are picked at 25.5° brix and come out of the drying chamber at 29.2° brix with a maximum abv of 17.5%. So, yes, these are big wines for those with big appetites and shining examples of the Amarone style. The wine is named after Colleen Rennie, the daughter of Graham and Christine. I tasted this wine with Rennie at The Crush and retasted it a day later at home. It is a marvel on the nose with incredibly rich, powerful notes of blueberry compote, cassis jam, raspberry/cherry tart, campfire and tar notes, sweet herbs and perfumed spice box. On the palate, it’s highly concentrated, layered and structured with ample tannins followed by a rich mix of compoted dark berries, jammy/ripe red berries, espresso bean, dark chocolate, touches of herbs and eucalypt, fine oak spices and a long, luxurious finish that lasts for minutes. This extraordinary wine should improve for a decade, and maybe even fit nicely in the cellar to 2039.
Rennie Estate Super G 2020 ($125, 94+ points) — Super G is “my favourite wine and the one that really tells me what the vineyard can do,” said Rennie during a tasting of a different vintage of this wine with him. The Super G is the first full appassimento wine Rennie and winemaker (at the time) Shiraz Mottiar made, called Gaia in 2010 and crafted from Merlot. This version is 100% Cabernet Sauvignon, Rennie’s favourite grape from his estate, with everything is similar to the way the wine above was made and finished. The only difference is the variety and amounts made — two barrels of The Colleen and only one of the Super G. This Cab Sauv appassimento is a bit more subtle and shut down at the moment than the Cabernet Franc above, but as we swirled it and came back to it, it certainly woke up in a hurry. It reveals a hedonistic nose of ripe black cherries, black currants, anise, compoted red berries, subtle dried herbs, plums, tar, perfumed spices and toasted vanilla bean. It’s thick and rich on the palate with a core of ripe, firm tannins to carry the highly concentrated array of black and red berries, kirsch, tar, smoky cedar, nutmeg/mocha spice, and herbs that all come at you in layer after layer. The finish is long, lifted and echoing to the very end. A beautiful wine that can improve and evolve to 2034 and beyond in the cellar.
2027 Cellars
2027 Cellars Brut Rosé 2020 ($45, 93 points) — Winemaker Kevin Panagapka sources the 100% Pinot Noir grapes from the Victoria Avenue Vineyard on the Twenty Mile Bench. No oak is used in this traditionally made sparkling wine that spends 48 months on the lees with zero dosage, so, bone dry. The nose opens with fresh red berries, saline minerality, lemon curd, biscuit, white flowers and apple skin and an energetic bubble that follows to the palate. Such lovely freshness and elegance on the palate with creamy/brioche notes to go with raspberries, currants, red apples and lemon peel with a touch of flint on a lifted, vibrant finish. Can cellar until 2030 for further development.
2027 Cellars Wismer Vineyard Foxcroft Block Riesling 2023 ($25, previously reviewed, 93 points) — Wismer Fox Croft tends to be slightly warmer than other sites on the Twenty Mile Bench, due to the lower elevation, and yields a riper style of Riesling. This is bright and overt on the nose with green apples, lime-citrus, wet-stone minerality, and grapefruit zest. It has lovely texture and energy on the palate with saline/chalky notes, lanolin, grapefruit, fresh apple, a touch of ginger and a vibrant, freshening finish.
2027 Cellars Wismer Vineyard-Foxcroft Block Cabernet Franc 2020 ($50, previously reviewed, 94 points) — Cabernet Franc is benefitted from a breakout vintage in Niagara with the ripe 2020s now out in the wild. This beauty from Panagapka’s favourite source for grapes, the Wismer Vineyard on the Twenty Mile Bench, is an exceptional example of how well this variety can perform in perfect conditions. Now, some Cabernet Franc fans might favour the leaner vintages to better enjoy the complex herbaceous notes that define this grape, but I believe this riper, meatier style has appeal to a wider audience. The grapes for this wine were picked at optimum ripeness and the wine was aged for 12 months in Burgundian French oak (40% new) and finished at 14.7% abv, in stark contrast to most of Panagapka’s wines. He calls this a “super Cab” the best he’s ever produced in Niagara. It has a uber-charged nose of brambly wild raspberries, cassis, herbaceous accents, dried Cuban tobacco, and savoury oak spices in a dense and pure style that is both inviting and, frankly, exciting. There is even more complexity on the palate with richness and power ahead of thick, brambly red and dark fruits, mocha, savoury spices, integrated thyme/herb notes and layers of interest through a long and finessed finish. This has the stuffing and the ripe tannins to cellar to 2034 (maybe beyond).
Inferno Stallion
James Joseph Morocco, who owns the Inferno Stallion brand, is a sommelier at the HobNob Restaurant and Wine Bar at the Charles Hotel in Niagara-on-the-Lake. He passed the certified sommelier exam in 2017 after studying about wine at Niagara College. “This is my dream, to create this brand and be successful, Morocco told Wines in Niagara. This is his first wine, made at Niagara Custom Crush Studio and released on Oct. 1 there. Here’s what I liked:
Inferno Stallion Unoaked Chardonnay 2023 ($25, 90 points) — This first wine from Inferno Stallion, with the kitschy label that certainly stands out in a crowd, is a 100% unoaked Chardonnay sourced from the Twenty Mile Bench. The wine was aged on its lees for 12 months before bottling. For his first wine, Morocco said, “I just wanted it to be really approachable.” It has a lovely saline nose with flint, apple, creamy/leesy notes, pear and citrus. It’s generous and clean on the palate with stony minerality, yellow apples, ripe pear, lemon zest and a long, finessed finish. Very nice first effort from Morocco.
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