I don’t usually write pieces like this. When I heard the news this past weekend of Paul Pender’s tragic passing I was stunned. Even though someone very close to him told me what happened, I could not and would not believe the news. It made zero sense and there was simply no way that this was true. I still feel this way and while I’m not one to live in fantasy and certainly understand the cruel reality of this world, I can still see Paul’s kind face and little boy sparkle as clear as every time I’ve been with him. I don’t imagine that will change any time soon. An hour ago I sat down to pen this note about Paul Pender. It just felt like the right time.
Related – Paul Pender’s Tawse and effect
(c) Stephen Elphick
I simply can’t approach Paul’s death from a journalist’s view. While it is true that I am a wine writer and a critic whose job includes assessing Tawse and Redstone wines, the work has always been kept separate from the friendship and respect Paul and I always shared. I have no interest in breaking news and unfolding circumstances. Remembering a great man, father, husband, uncle, friend, colleague and winemaker is all that matters.
Paul always struck me as a bit of a rock star but he was always humble. I think it was six years ago that I wrote “Paul Pender’s acumen and winemaking professionalism has reached a whole new level of Rock ‘N Roll. He is a big picture guy and Niagara renaissance man; songwriter, vocalist, lead guitar, producer and engineer. He’s Cuddy, Cripps and Chris Shreenan-Dyck rolled into one.” I once compared him to Bruce Springsteen. To me he is so much more. He is as if John Lennon were singing a lyric about him. “The walrus is Paul.” Buddha, “aesthetically thin and unassuming…I am he as you are he as you are me.”
In 2012 I reached out to Paul and asked for a visit. Even if some people knew me as a Toronto chef you could probably count on one hand how many knew me as a wine writer. Not only did Paul immediately and graciously accept the request, he gave an open-ended amount of his time. We tasted through two dozen barrels as if I were the most important journalist in the world. He invited me back again and again, each and every time there were new wines to assess. He valued my opinion and wanted to teach, share and converse about all that was on his winemaking mind. If I were wandering about at any point during the i4c Cool Chardonnay Celebration I could always count on Paul for a convo or just a quiet sit on a step over a glass at brunch.
Paul touched so many people, most of all his immediate family, his amazing wife Allison, for whom my heart aches and breaks. His work and kinship with Moray Tawse is legendary in the world of wine and I grieve for Moray who has lost both a son and a brother. Everyone at Tawse, Redstone and Vintage Coffee Roasters now have to say goodbye to a friend, mentor and no doubt the greatest guy to work with and be around. Vicki, Jessica, Devin, Jessica, Augusta, David, Daniel, Daniel, Pascal and everyone who worked alongside at the wineries. Magdalena Kaiser and staff at the Wine Marketing Association of Ontario. My colleagues at WineAlign and all the writers who had the privilege to interview and taste with the soft-spoken Mr. Pender.
So many Ontario vigneron and especially winemakers’ work and lives were bettered by Paul; Jay, Shiraz, Rene, Dan, Brian, J-L, Marco, Thomas, Ilya, Dean, Kelly, Sue-Ann, Dave, Adam, Kevin, Keith, Steve, J.P., Philip, Peter, Ann, Marlize, Emma, Craig, Charles, Angelo, Katie, Marty, Ben, David, Katie, Lydia, Greg, Chris, Amélie, Bruce, Lawrence, Jacob, Andrzej, Ryan, Rob, Yvonne, Jeff, Sébastien, Richie, Colin, Mackenzie, Casey, Arthur, Lee, Frédéric, Gavin, Richard, Derek, Jonas, Marc, Adnan, Gordon, Wes, Vadim, Ross, Ron, Gabe, Fabian, Sean, Nicholas, Will and the list goes on and on. To all of you and to all who will miss him. I’m so sorry to you all for your tremendous loss.
Paul Pender humanized everything in his life and all that he touched. He never expressed any dismay at comments I may have made about wines not being perfect, nor did he exalt in high scores or praise for wines about which I may have gushed or waxed rhapsodic. He was always zen, even-keeled, grounded and humble. Paul was the personification of gravitational constant, THE universal gravitational constant, a constant of gravitation. His presence and being related force to mass and distance, and he lived his life within the law of gravitation. I hope he taught everyone to be this way and that we can all go forward with his wise, sage and calm demeanour, safely tucked into our own lives.
Thank you Paul. I love you, man. You are the walrus.
Good to go!
godello
Twitter: @mgodello
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Godello 