Taylor Pendrith isn’t the only athlete’s name featured at Pillitteri. Sprinter Andre De Grasse, swimmer Kylie Masse and equestrian Amy Miller also have their own wines. Photo Credit: Pillitteri Estates Winery.
Yes, your eyes and ears aren’t deceiving you.
You did see golfers on the links, or hear ‘fore’ in the distance this past weekend, across Niagara.
There are close to 40 courses in the region, and this mild weather certainly has many at least thinking about the sport, or taking out their clubs to dust them off from a very mild winter thus far.
And while many hit the greens for fun and leisure in Niagara, some still dream of one day making the tour.
One such golfer, and his agent and caddie, has a connection to the region.
PGA Tour professional Taylor Pendrith has his own wine at Pillitteri Estates in Niagara-on-the-Lake.
To top that off, his caddie is former Niagara IceDog and pro hockey player Mitchell Theoret. And his agent is Elliot Kerr, a St. Catharines native.
So how did this partnership with Pillitteri come to be?
“My agent kind of mentioned to me about doing a wine with Pillitteri a while ago, and I’m in. I was in,” said the 32-year-old Pendrith, recently on the Niagara Sports Report on Newstalk 610 CKTB.
“My wife and I like drinking red wine when we’re home,” said Pendrith. “They sent me some samples of all their different wines to try and see which ones I like, and see which kinds of blends I would like to put in my bottle. I sampled them, and got back to them, and they got to work.”
“It’s a very nice wine. And it’s $20 a bottle – it’s very affordable,” Pendrith added humbly.
As for the connection with his now everyday caddie, Pendrith offered this: “I’ve known Mitch pretty much my whole life. We were kind of family friends; his first cousin was my best friend growing up who I played hockey and golf with.”
“Obviously I played hockey growing up, that was my dream to play in the NHL, probably like most Canadian kids,” said Pendrith. “I followed his hockey career through and through, I’ve been to tons of IceDogs games watching him, and when he turned pro and played overseas I followed him there. He’s awesome. He’s super competitive. He knows my game very well and knows the right things to say to me to keep me calm.”
And to continue the Niagara theme, or trivia if you will, who was Mitch Theoret’s former teammate with the Niagara IceDogs?
Alex Friesen. Son of Lucy Pillitteri, chief marketing officer at the winery, and Helmut Friesen.
Taylor Pendrith isn’t the only athlete’s name featured at Pillitteri. Sprinter Andre De Grasse, swimmer Kylie Masse and equestrian Amy Miller also have their own wines.
Pillitteri has also partnered with Team Canada for its Team Canada Collection, where with every bottle sold a $1 donation will be directly contributed to the Canadian Olympic Foundation and its efforts to support Canadian athletes.
Rod Mawhood is a lifelong Niagara native who has had the pleasure of working in all three mediums – Radio, Print and TV – for over 20 years. His first announcing gig was with the then St. Catharines Stompers. Since then he’s worked in radio and TV in Toronto, and currently is the announcer for the Niagara IceDogs and Niagara River Lions.
Rod also covers the Buffalo Bills for FOX Sports and the Buffalo Sabres for NBC Sports.
