Niagara Wine at Farmer’s Market

July 8, 2016 · 0 Comments

By Marni Walsh

Pillitteri Estates Winery from Niagara-on-the-Lake, famous for its production of ice wines, has become a popular vendor destination at the Shelburne Farmers’ Market this summer.

It is a welcome addition for local connoisseurs and cottage traffic heading north for holidays and weekends.

“Although the winery isn’t as local as our other vendors – we simply don’t have many local wineries,” says Shelburne Farmers’ Market board member, Rebecca Landman, who notes the group “jumped at the chance” when a winery applied for a vending position at the market’s new location on First Street.

“It had been a great success so far,” says Ms. Landman, who also runs a popular fresh produce and bakery booth at the market each week. “Pillitteri has many different wines including white, red, rose and ice wines.”

The company is the world’s largest producer of ice wines and has won more than 800 prestigious awards for their products. Ice wines are popular for their intense flavour and aroma due to the “concentration of sugars and acids” as a result of the grapes being harvested when temperatures reach -8 degrees Celsius or colder.

The history of Pillitteri Estates Winery links back to Sicily where grape growing was “the way of life for the Pillitteri family in Racalmuto.”

Gary Pillitteri, who immigrated to Canada at the age of 12, was raised tending vines and reaping the harvest alongside his father and grandfather.

Ethan Lavereau, who sells the wine for Pillitteri during market hours, is from Orangeville. Rebecca says he is “very enthusiastic about supporting local farmers” and having the winery join the other vendors “brings a completely different element to the market because customers are able to sample and purchase wine as well as their vegetables, baked goods, meat and eggs.”

The Shelburne Farmers’ Market runs every Thursday from 3 – 7 p.m. until September 22. Information about the Market and special events can be found on the Shelburne B.I.A. website: shelburnebia.ca.

Alongside Pillitteri Wines, come see the produce of Besley Country Market, Black Willow Farm, Connie’s Kitchen & Fresh Produce, Escarpment Foods, Landman Gardens and Bakery, Leitch’s Honey, Levendale Farms, Maple Grove Farm, Organic Gardens Farm, Triple H Farm and Woodfield Farm, Dainty Bites, Main St Cafe, Santa Maria, Shine Baking Co., Speers Quality Meats & More, and Walters Pierogies, as well as artisan and craft vendors: 2nd Lines Rustic Rehab, Crafty Nanny, Mother Nature’s Candles & Melts, Petals Flower Farm, and Sharnettes Jewellery.