Sep 15, 2015 |
A new Grape King is crowned
A new Grape King is crowned
Jamie Slingerland of Pillitteri Estates Winery has been named the Grape King for 2015 by the
Grape Growers of Ontario, Niagara Grape and Wine Festival and Farm Credit Canada. The
Grape King installation event will be held Wednesday following the Grape Growers of Ontario’s
celebrity luncheon.
Niagara-On-The-Lake Town Crier
By Melinda Cheevers
NIAGARA-ON-THE-LAKE — There’s a new grape king in town and like many who wore the
crown before him, he has a long history in Ontario’s grape growing industry.
Jamie Slingerland of Pillitteri Estates Winery will be officially crowned the Grape King for the
2015/2016 season on Wednesday in a ceremony in Niagara-on-the-Lake following the Grape
Growers of Ontario’s celebrity luncheon.
“I’m tremendously honoured,” he said over the phone on Tuesday. “I really appreciate (the
honour) and am humbled by it.”
Slingerland started growing grapes in the 1980s but his family has been farming in Niagara-onthe-Lake since 1783. He was raised on the family grape and tender fruit farm, but admits his role
there was limited mostly to a labour capacity. After graduating university, he accepted a position
at the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture and Food. He held that for a number of years before
deciding to enter the grape growing industry. It was under the tutelage of his father-in-law Gary
Pillitteri — the 1981 Grape King — that he learned the ropes.
“The best advice he’s ever given me were in those early years, when I first started farming. I was
very green.... I mean, really green,” recalled Slingerland. “I learned an awful lot from my fatherin-law.”
While Pillitteri was able to teach him the traditional methods, Slingerland turned to researchers
in the province to stay ahead of the curve and on top of new best practices. He said wineries and
grape growers alike have tremendous resources at their fingertips in terms of the workshops and
research that’s available to them now. There’s one machine in particular, the sensaphone, that he
points to as a great example of modern technology improving on traditional techniques. It
monitors vine conditions and weather for him, alerting him via telephone of changes in
temperature. The result? Slingerland said he no longer has to worry about sleeping through an
overnight cold spell — something that haunted growers in the past.
In recent years, Slingerland, who works as director of viticulture at Pillitteri Estates Winery, has
gotten more involved in the research end of things, participating in trials to help find better
methods of growing. The winery’s work on the Verona Appassimento Project, an enterprise to
produce the first Ontario Appassimento wine made from Amarone grape varietals, netted them a
Premier’s Award for innovation excellence in the Ontario Agri-Food sector.
“I’ve really expanded our relationship in the last five years with the research community,”
Slingerland said, noting it’s paying off.
The grapes produced during that research project were used to make the reserve red that was
named best red wine at the Ontario Wine Awards this year.
“Within three weeks of it being named best red, we sold out,” he said of the wine.
Slingerland admits being a grower and working with the winery gives him a unique perspective.
For one, it allows him to work closely with the winemaker, Aleksandar Kolundzic. He says
they’re constantly checking in with each other regarding the grapes. Slingerland said another
advantage is that he enjoys being able to follow the grapes and discovering where they end up as
bottles of wine.
“My grapes are bottled as wine and sent to more than 35 countries,” he said. “I’m pretty charged
about that.”
When there are special tasting events, for example, he can find out who is drinking the wine
made from his grapes — like a recent event held at Canada House in London that saw Queen
Elizabeth tasting Pillitteri’s icewine.
“Who would have ever thought that the grapes that I grew would end up in wine that’s being
served to Her Majesty the Queen?” he said.
Slingerland enjoys working at Pillitteri, a true family winery in every sense of the word.
Slingerland’s wife, Connie, works there as chief financial officer and his son, Richard heads up
the China department. His daughter, Rachel, opted not to go into the family business and works
as a lawyer with Martens Lingard.
“It’s neat that there are three generations of family involved at Pillitteri Estates,” he said. “There
are eight family members involved with the winery.”
He looks at his mother- and father-in-law, Lena, 74, and Gary, 79, and says he sees his future.
“I don’t think I’m ever going to ‘get out,’” he said with a laugh, adding the couple still put in full
time hours at the winery, with Gary overseeing many of the activities on the winery site –
including renovations – and Lena looking after the small fruit market on site. He said that for
seven months out of the year, they can be found eating their meals, prepared by Lena, at the
winery.
“I admire the level of dedication and hard work they have,” he said. “It’s kind of neat to see them
working so hard even now.”
Slingerland said even though he’s been to the Grape and Wine Festival a number of times over
the years, he’s looking forward to attending as Grape King. Even more than that, he’s looking
forward to the other duties involved with the role, including a trip to visit grape growers in
British Columbia.
“I’m excited about sharing knowledge with them and the discussion that’s sure to happen,” he
said.
Slingerland’s appointment as Grape King was announced on Monday by Farm Credit Canada,
the Grape Growers of Ontario and the Niagara Grape and Wine Festival. GGO chair Bill George
referred to Slingerland as a “dedicated grower who believes that great wine starts in the
vineyard.”
It’s no surprise then that more than anything, Slingerland was excited about the upcoming
vintage.
While most years he said growers can expect a great crop of one (red or white) and a good crop
of the other, he anticipates this will be one of those rare years where growers will see a great
crop of both red and white grapes. Events conspired to make it so, with a warm spell during a
crucial growing period that held up through the cold winter.
“This vintage is really, really exciting this year. There’s just so much potential for it,” he said.
http://www.niagarathisweek.com/news-story/5843661-a-new-grape-king-is-crowned/