Jamie Slingerland Crowned Grape King
2015 Gary Ireland Horticultural Scholarship
BY COURTNEY DENARD
BY COURTNEY DENARD
THE GRAPE GROWERS OF ONTARIO, THE NIAGARA GRAPE
GREG ZIELINSKI IS THE 2015 RECIPIENT OF THE UNIVERSITY
and Wine Festival and Farm Credit Canada recently named Jamie Slingerland of Pillitteri Estates Winery in Niagara-onthe-Lake as the 2015/16 Grape King. The Slingerland family has been farming in Niagara-onthe-Lake since 1783 and Jamie was raised on the family grape and tender fruit farm. He works today as director of viticulture at Pillitteri Estates Winery, which has 43 full-time employees and produces 100,000 cases of wine per year (half of this is icewine). The winery is a true family business that was founded in 1993 by Jamie’s father-in-law Gary Pillitteri (who was also crowned Grape King in 1981). Meanwhile, Jamie’s wife Connie is C.F.O president of operations and his son Richard is vice-president of sales. Jamie says being chosen as the 2015/16 Grape King and receiving this recognition from his peers is “an accomplishment.” He also says it’s a great opportunity to talk about the issues that are important to the Ontario grape and wine industries. The grape grower says he is particularly excited about the industry’s potential in red wines, especially cabernet franc. Another passion is continuing to expand the market for Ontario ice wine on an international level. As part of his official Grape King duties, Jamie will spend the next year traveling the country attending media events, wine festivals and industry gatherings representing the Grape Growers of Ontario.
of Guelph’s Gary Ireland Horticultural Scholarship. The Bachelor of Science Agriculture student focusing on Crop, Horticulture, and Turfgrass Sciences, grew up in the rural community of Burford, Ontario where he says he was surrounded by farms. Zielinski comes from a small but very close family who encouraged him to follow his interests in horticulture from a young age. He realized early on that he “enjoyed the opportunity to grow food and feed people.” Zielinski says he also liked the risk associated with horticultural production and saw that it could be a lucrative endeavour. This year’s scholarship recipient gained practical horticulture experience through various positions he held during his academic career and summers off from school. His work at Gillespie’s Garden in Cambridge taught Zielinski a great deal about fresh market production and good farming practices. As a research assistant at the Simcoe Research Station, Zielinski worked in the area of tree fruit research and maintenance. When it comes to being selected as this year’s scholarship winner, Zielinski says, “I was surprised to say the least” but “honoured to have been selected.” Zielinski will complete his studies at U of G in April 2016 and plans on finding a job in a horticultural oriented company.
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