I’ve been working in the Wine Trade over 15 years. I was awarded the WSET Diploma in Wines and Spirits in 2010, at which time I was 10 years into my career in food and wine (Hospitality/Special Events/Wine Consulting), which led to teaching wine classes at Le Cordon Bleu Ottawa, La Cité Collégiale (Ottawa), Loyalist College (Belleville ON) and WSET classes through Adventure in Wine. Since 2012, I have mainly been focusing my career on wine production/wine making. I currently work for a dynamic company called Viniserve, under Oenologist/Chemist and Technical Director Dr. Matteo Meglioli. Based in Montreal, Qc, Viniserve offers wineries, cidreries and meaderies in Eastern Canada various mobile wine services (bottling, disgorging, cross-flow filtration, fault removal, pH adjustment etc), oenological consulting, full laboratory analysis. Check us out at www.viniserve.com, or @viniserve/#viniserve on Facebook/Instagram

The journey began in 2011-2012 when I packed a suitcase and headed to France to work as cellar hand to learn about winemaking for 1 year. This experience ultimately changed my career path. The work was extremely difficult sometimes. I worked for very little money. The culture shock was very real, despite my being perfectly fluent in French. But it turned out to be an extremely rewarding and enriching experience. I learned sides of the wine business I never knew even existed. I was living the dream!

Upon returning to Canada, I was offered the opportunity to join the team at Norman Hardie Winery in Prince Edward County. It was an instant love affair with this up and coming Ontario Cool Climate wine region. Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, had always held a special place in my heart but coming to PEC made me love ONTARIO Pinot Noir and Chardonnay as I discovered the gratifying yet oh-so challenging realities of making wine in such a marginal climate. During my time learning the ropes of winemaking under Norm Hardie, I flew to the Southern Hemisphere in the off-season making mostly Pinot Noir and Chardonnay in other cooler climate sites: Central Otago (New Zealand) and Hemel-en-Aarde Valley South Africa). By this time it was clear my passion for the craft and science of making wine would lead to more than just a hiatus from my old Somm Life.

I currently share my time between Sales/Client Relations and all things Operational at Viniserve. I continue to provide personal wine consulting.