Robert Bell's

Wines of Canada

Since 1992

2027 Cellars

Kevin Panagapka

2027 is one of Ontario's Virtual Winery or was. It produces wines using the facilities of other wineries. They do not have a tasting room. Kevin Panagapka founder has been a viticulturalist and winemaker ‘in the making’ for most of his life. His father, Don, has been making wines, winning wine competitions, and judging wines for decades. Kevin wife Jodie is co-owner.

Kevin started 2027 Cellars, with the intent to make single vineyard, terroir-driven wines, focusing on varietals that excel in the Niagara Region. 2027 Cellars first bottling was a Riesling, and since then they have expanded to Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Sparkling, and Rose. In 2005, Kevin planted a small, experimental Pinot Noir vineyard in Beamsville. When he registered the vineyard with the Grape Growers’ of Ontario, they gave him the grower number 2027, and the name stuck. To this day, producing wines that are driven by the terroir of the vineyard remains Kevin’s focus."

One of the perks of selling through another winery was having a small space at the home retail store where consumers could purchase his wines. Panagapka ramped up production and developed a following for his wines, which quickly became much sought after.

Then in 2009, he switched gears. Panagapka acquired a series of licences (manufacturing, processing, excise, etc.), which meant his licence was portable and he could make his wines at a willing partner winery under his own licence but he could only sell to the LCBO and directly to restaurants. That worked well for a while, his wines were getting good traction at the LCBO and Vintages and he had a great relationship with restaurants. The only problem was the loss of retail sales.

Enter 2020. Panagapka partnered up with Peter Van-Helsdingen, the new owner of Jordan’s Calamus Estate Winery, where he was hired as the winemaker and also began making his 2027 wines there. He acquired a retail licence to go with all the other licences he had, and he can finally sell his own wines under his own licence to the public and still maintain his close ties to the LCBO and restaurants

One of the biggest benefits for Panagapka is having his winemaking equipment, barrels and tanks used exclusively for 2027 Cellars wines in a separate area of the large winemaking cellar at Calamus. He also has his own tasting room.

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