It’s been a busy few spring weeks at Pillitteri Estates Winery in Niagara-on-the-Lake.

Federal Agriculture Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau paid a quiet visit during pre-budget consultations, Brock University president Leslie Ring and senior managers took a tour of the NOTL facility – and now the university has bestowed on Pillitteri the school’s Co-op Employer of the Year Award for small and medium enterprises.

In a letter to Jamie Slingerland, the winery’s director of viticulture, Brock recognized Pillitteri for “providing quality co-op work term experiences including training and mentorship opportunities for our students.”

“Pillitteri has been a long-term partner with Brock University from research to engaging student talent,” wrote Julia Zhu, the school’s associate director of co-op education.

Each fall, the winery hosts the incoming oenology and viticulture students to show them the production facilities, Zhu noted.

And, “since 2018, Pillitteri facilitated 17 co-op work terms and you established a year-round co-op student recruitment strategy to give our co-op students full exposure on harvesting and vineyard work,” including Brock’s first icewine co-op program.

She also credited the winery for its commitment to “learning quality and making each co-op work term experience a unique one based on each student’s learning goals.”