Currently pursuing WSET 3 with the help of a scholarship focused on BIPOC community from Vinica Education Society.
A Chef by profession looking to sharpen the wine knowledge to help provide an even better food & wine pairing experience to the guests during the private cooking & catering events.

A Wine Marketing and Hospitality professional continuing my exploration of the wine world. I started my work-life in the hospitality industry, in F&B, and fell in love with wine almost immediately. My interest and curiosity grew into a passion that led me to Bordeaux where I delved into the world of wine through a Wine Marketing MBA. I am currently enrolled at IWEG for WSET's Award in Wine while focusing on gathering relevant experiences in the industry. With a creative mind and my passion for wine, I look forward to connecting, sharing and working with fellow vino lovers. Lastly, I am also a sommelier.

Cheers to exciting new journeys, colleagues and friends with good times & great wine!

I currently work in Marketing for a travel company that specializes in trips for seasoned world travellers, crafted by other world travellers. These are pretty incredible journeys that rely on a network of local experts in specific areas that strongly resonate with our high net-worth clients, including food and wine.

Previously, I spent the better part of a decade at global and independent Advertising agencies working on accounts such as Constellation Brands, Arterra Wines, and LCBO. This means I’m familiar with AGCO standards, but honestly, am way more into J-Ro’s ‘Wine Grapes’ and ‘World Atlas of Wine’ for a good read.

I consider myself very lucky in that I’m currently able to work from home during the pandemic. Like many of you, I've spent much of 2020 in self-reflection and I've chosen to finally pursue a personal and ever-growing passion, not an upward career trajectory. While my experience has taught me to speak about wine’s emotional consumer benefits, I intend to use my WSET studies to round out and formalize my knowledge. One of my 2021 goals is to finally launch a brand that will allow me to develop wine content that’s meaningful to my community and in a way that’s uniquely mine.

Originally from Mexico City and raised in Toronto. I recently graduated with honors from the Special Events Program at George Brown College where I had an introduction to wine class that intrigued and resonated with me. It sparked an interest that left me wanting to learn more about the industry. During the course of my studies, I had the opportunity to journey back home where I discovered that Mexico has a vibrant wine culture, rich with history. This inspired me to gain further knowledge about unique wines and to showcase my heritage.

After years of working in the Craft Beer scene in Ontario, I decided to shift my attention and focus into Wine. I was kindly provided the opportunity to complete my first harvest in Kelowna in the fall of 2020.

My name is Felipe Avendaño @pisco_avendano I started my studies at Escuela de Sommelier de Chile and am Certified by the Court of Master Sommelier, WSET Level 3 graduate and Certified Pisco taster at IDVIP (Wine and Pisco Institute) in Lima, Peru.
I have been working for a long time with wines and spirits in the main distributors of Chile with many wineries and brands of distillates;
Premium Brands, El Mundo del Vino- Cavas Reunidas and La Vinoteca, as well as Bodegas Tabernero in Peru.
The Sommelier profession requires a lot of knowledge, it is a continuous learning. I have had the opportunity to visit various wine regions and wineries in France, Spain, Portugal, Argentina, Peru, Canada and of course Chile.

I am a change management consultant based in the GTA and a WSET level 1 candidate. I realized my passion for wine as I would always buy a bottle of wine to celebrate momentous occasions with friends or family! Or I would always bring wine to a gathering with friends (pre-COVID). And from there I realized there was so much to learn and I wanted to explore more winemakers from across the world. I'm hoping to enter the wine industry as a distributor and looking forward to joining this network to learn more from everyone who's apart of it!

Moved to Canada back in 2017, pursued WSET level 2 as a hobby. In 3 years, climbed up the ranks in hospitality, from F&B admin to opening a wine bar & a coffee bar as General Manager at Pearson International Airport, thanks to the WSET wine education at IWEG in Toronto. Currently using the pandemic time as an opportunity to pursue DipWSET and I'm thankful to IWC (International Wine Challenge) for the part scholarship towards the education.

-10 years in the restaurant industry.
-there's no grape that i won't drink.

Hi there, my name is Leo Nguyen, i am 22 years old.
I am a student of wine with WSET level 2 certificate and multiple others wine tasting certificates. My goal was to study and focus study on pursue the Certified Sommerlier exam and WSET level 3 in 2020. However, there were many changes in my plans according to the situation, there fore i decided to stay at home and do self study by reading book and virtual wine tasting with friends.
I work at Richmond station as a support then move up to server and learning bartending as well. Ryan, who is one of the owners of the restaurant, is well aware of my passion with wine and he has a great affect and inspire me to move forward with my studies. He also organize many wine tasting practice for us to join, it was a great opportunity to learn by tasting wines because we have access to huge resources.
I want to appy for a scholarship to achieve WSET 3, which is my next goal. It would help me tremendously in my career path working in restaurants in the future.