|
When you write about wine, you get to meet your share of interesting people.
Most of the folks involved in making the stuff we drink don’t have their names or faces on wine bottles — typically they just work away behind the scenes, making the wines we love to drink and leaving most of the schmoozing to marketing types and, occasionally (and begrudgingly), the winemaker.
Tawse Winery winemaker Paul Pender, seen here in 2008, died on Feb. 3 at age 54. (Cheryl Nadler / The Canadian Press files)
Paul Pender of Vineland, Ont.’s Tawse Winery (and Redstone, Tawse’s sister project) managed to wear both winemaking and marketing hats, as it were, with equal ease. Somehow he balanced heading up the winemaking team at two wineries with representing them at trade shows and tastings around the globe, acting as a proud advocate for the Ontario wine industry in general.
Typically sporting ripped jeans, a t-shirt and dusty Blundstones, Pender was infinitely skilled at both — enthusiastic, patient, approachable, easy-going and relatable, whether you were a wine novice, a sommelier or somewhere in between, he’d give you all the time in the world.
On Feb. 3, 54-year-old Pender died near his Ontario cottage in what the winery described in a press release as “tragic circumstances.” The grim details are out there if you poke around online, but my goal here isn’t to report hard (in more ways than one) news — more, it’s to remember the talented, extremely kind man I crossed paths with multiple times over my 15+ years of writing and tasting about wine for the Free Press, and as a judge at Wine Access’ Canadian Wine Awards (which later became WineAlign’s National Wine Awards of Canada).
Pender joined Tawse in 2005 after taking Niagara College’s Winery and Viticulture program (you can read the college’s tribute to Paul here), and was instrumental in helping the winery achieve organic and biodynamic certification. His name may not have appeared on the labels of most of the wines he had a hand in making, but he was the driving force behind Tawse’s award-winning output, leading the winery to winning Canadian winery of the year four times at the above-mentioned competitions.
I crossed paths with Paul a few times in Niagara, the heart of Ontario wine country, as well as a handful of times here in Winnipeg. The last time I saw him was here in town in 2019, when he was pouring Tawse wines at a 20th anniversary event for Banville and Jones (now Jones & Company, who carry over a dozen Tawse products, which you can order here.)
There was an impressive number of top-shelf winemakers from around the globe on hand for the event, but I lingered at Tawse’s booth the longest — not just because their wines are great, but also because Paul was always such a genuinely kind and thoughtful person to talk to, be it about wine or otherwise. He’s the kind of guy you wanted to shoot the breeze with over a glass of his wine (or, as he’d probably prefer, a beer).
Winnipeg private wine store Jones & Company carries a wide range of Tawse wines, including Riesling, Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Cabernet Franc and more.(Ben Sigurdson / Winnipeg Free Press)
For those in the Ontario wine industry, Paul’s death has hit particularly hard. There have been some lovely tributes written since his passing, including by my Toronto wine-writing pal Michael Godel, as well as by Rick VanSickle of the website Wines in Niagara, who first broke the news of Pender’s tragic death last weekend.
For more about Paul, including plenty of photos of him pouring wines and chatting with folks, see the Paul Pender Photo Memorial Group Facebook page. His very moving obituary is here.
My deepest condolences to Paul’s family, everyone at Tawse/Redstone and his extensive network of friends both inside and outside the Ontario wine community. I ordered a half-dozen Tawse wines from Jones & Co. earlier this week, and will crack one open and raise a glass tonight in his honour.
Ben Sigurdson, literary editor and drinks writer
|
|
|
|
