Remembering Paul Pender
Renowned Niagara winemaker Paul Pender passed away last week. Paul was the Director of Viticulture and Winemaking at Tawse, a family-owned organic winery located in Vineland, and its sister winery, Redstone, located in Beamsville, Ontario.
Paul was a carpenter before getting into winemaking, but after developing allergies to dust and solvents, he decided on a career change. Paul attended Niagara College’s Winery and Viticulture program, graduating in its second class.
Paul joined Tawse in 2005 and became head winemaker in 2006. He was known to have a non-interventionist winemaking philosophy, and under Paul’s leadership, Tawse achieved EcoCert Organic and Demeter Biodynamic certifications, and was named Canadian Winery of the Year in 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2016.
Paul was family to so many touched by his gentle and kind way. Only a man as frustratingly likeable as Paul could unite his life-partner and ex-partner and all their friends and loved ones into a family that bucks up against every definition of ‘normal’ in its brilliant blends. People, children and animals have all come into the family in the most adventuresome and unexpected ways – each one worthy of a story over a glass of wine.
The full obituary for Paul Pender can be viewed here.
Mourning the loss of Paul Pender, one of Canada’s best winemakers. The Globe and Mail’s Christopher Waters wrote that:
Pender made some of Canada’s best wines, which will be enjoyed for years to come, but his professional legacy is helping to put Canadian wine – wine, not icewine – on the map internationally with benchmark bottles that are sure to inspire future generations of Canadian winemakers to shine.
Waters wrote about how Paul used organic and biodynamic farming practices “in a bid to embrace a more down to earth winemaking style,” replacing pesticides, fungicides, and chemical fertilizers, with sheep and chickens to control weeds and pests.
Waters also wrote about the time when Tawse’s 2011 estate Chardonnay “was hailed as one of the world’s best chardonnays outside of Burgundy on the cover of Decanter Magazine,” and Pender “suggested that same credit applies to ones made by local colleagues such as Thomas Bachelder and Malivoire’s Shiraz Mottiar.”
Condolences posted by fellow winemakers, sommeliers and consumers all convey how approachable and genuine the 54-year-old was. While he was one of Canada’s most celebrated winemakers, he was devoid of ego, greeting everyone with a welcoming smile, always ready to talk about wine or his other passions, such as cycling, food or coffee roasting, a business interest he pursued in recent years.
Waters ends his tribute with a recommendation for the recent release of Tawse Quarry Road Chardonnay 2019 (available at the LCBO or direct through the winery), described as a “standout in the Tawse portfolio.”
A Few More Tributes. Over the past week, there has been an outpouring of tributes for Paul Pender, frequently described as humble, friendly, talented, respected, engaging, genuine, positive, approachable, and wise. Excerpts from a few tributes follow.
Moray Tawse, owner of Tawse winery, posted about losing “a brother, a mentor, a partner and one the nicest human beings I have met.”
Inside Niagara College’s NC remembers Paul Pender: award-winning winemaker, inspirational alumnus wrote that “The enormity of Paul’s impact on Canadian wine can only be matched by the impact he had on the people who knew him and by their memories of his good-humoured affability, his spirited sense of fun, his camaraderie and appreciation for a good, cold beer and a joke or two after a hard day’s work.”
Lifford Wine and Spirits posted that Paul “was an integral part of bringing international attention and acclaim to Canadian wines and our ability as a wine producing country to stand alongside some of the best in the world.”
Sommelier Krys Roman posted a photo of Paul holding a bottle of Tawse’s Cabernet Franc, which she says she has been buying for years, writing how “it's the people behind the wine as to why a lot of us buy it,” noting Paul’s impact on the Ontario wine and hospitality industry.
VineRoutes’ A champion of organic winegrowing outlines Paul’s path to winemaking, and “producing some of the country’s finest chardonnay, riesling, cabernet franc and pinot noir,” and includes a video featuring a recent interview and virtual tasting with Paul.
Wine journalist Michael Godel wrote that “Paul Pender humanized everything in his life and all that he touched,” in The walrus is Paul.
The Town of Lincoln’s statement said that Paul “leaves behind an indelible legacy in Lincoln’s Grape and Wine Industry- a legacy that we know will be celebrated for decades to come.”
Paul is survived by his wife Allison, his three children, his dog Maeve, and many other friends, colleagues, and family members. He will be missed.