Hi, I’m Grayson. I am a 28 year old professional sommelier and restaurant manager at a wonderful small plates wine bar and restaurant in Ottawa (play food and wine). I have the privilege to lead the best service staff in town. I also teach Sommelier Advanced in the Algonquin College Sommelier program. 

I’ve been meaning to start a blog for a while now (with much insistance from friends and loved ones) and a big reason it has taken me so long is this very blog post. I have a lot to write about and am very excited to do so however it is this introductory post that has caused some anxiety.  I consider myself very fortunate that I can make a living  in the wine world because I know that there are a lot less interesting jobs out there. Consider this a glimpse into what it is like to be sommelier everyday. 

I have a lot of opinions regarding wine that will inevitably shine through. I believe wine can be beautiful and like anything that is beautiful there are often bastardized, mass produced, less interesting versions of it. The wines I want to focus on are wines that taste like the place they come from. Wines with sense of terroir. Wines made by people whose passion come pouring out of the bottle with the wine. These are the wines that I get excited to share with people. That being said it’s important to not forget how much fun wine can be. It is created for our enjoyment, first and foremost, and it’s crucial that we always remember that. 

What I’m hoping to accomplish:

One thing that makes the world of wine so special is that it is always changing. Just when we wine geeks think we’ve got it down there is a new harvest in the Southern Hemisphere, or someone brings in an obscure and, until now, unknown Italian varietal, and then it’s Fall and the harvest starts in the Northern Hemisphere and then there’s a new wine region that pops up out of nowhere. As a wine professional I’m never going to know it all and that’s exciting for me. What I get to do for a living is keep on learning. This is what I want to share with this blog, the ongoing education. I have access to some great people in the wine world, with great stories and I believe their knowledge and stories should be shared. To a lesser extent I will touch on food, beer and cocktails. 

Ottawa is a great wine city. Another goal of this blog is to highlight what is happening in the Ottawa wine scene. This will include events and occasionally reviews of great wines that are at the LCBO (there are lot of those blogs out there and therefore this will not be a main focus).  I will also welcome comments and suggestions. 

I expect this blog to take on a life of it’s own and I will roll with the punches. Thank you for reading. I will do my best to be interesting.