WineMonkey.ca is serious fun with wine. Okay, actually it is a collection of people who have dedicated their professional lives to wine and the pleasures that surround it. We have experienced in person many great wine regions of the world, including our own backyard in British Columbia. We have met amazing personalities, consumed many great and fascinating wines, had great feasts in beautiful settings and will always continue to do so.
... great moments in life are all about the learning, experiencing and sharing of simple pleasures. This is what we do. We share experience.
We do study, are sommeliers, have worked in great restaurants and have cool letters behind our names too, but it still always comes back to one thing... Those great moments in life are all about the learning, experiencing and sharing of simple pleasures. This is what we do. We share experience. We let you know about cool wines on the website, we give you the wine geek info on Winopedia, we rant, balanced with some rave, we present interactive tastings, wine and food pairing classes, we come to your home, office or event. Wine is meant to be enjoyed, so when we say "Serious Fun with Wine", we don't just say it, we live it.
The WineMonkeys
Eric Blouin
Founder of WineMonkey.ca, Eric spent the most part of the last 20 years working in the hospitality industry in Toronto, Quebec City where he’s originally from, and Whistler. From Front of the House Manager, to Brand Manager for a beverage company, to Sommelier at the “infamous” Bearfoot Bistro, Eric has always kept his finger on the pulse of the industry.
He’s had the chance to taste an unbelievable array of the world’s best wines from Mouton to Masseto and everything in between. Eric has led many tastings and food and wine pairing seminars, where he’s built a solid reputation for his entertaining, no nonsense modus operandi.
His goal is to make wine more approachable, less intimidating. Eric encourages people to try different styles, varietals, to ask questions, to question their own wine selections but most importantly, to keep an open mind.
He’s completed the International Sommelier Guild Diploma program, holds the title of Chevalier de la Confrérie de Champagne DeVenoge and he’s also a current scholarship recipient from the Society of Wine Educators with whom he recently started to study for the Certified Specialist of Wine certification.
Eric currently works with a small progressive wine importing agency, where he’s involved with the sourcing, marketing and sales of fine wines in BC and Alberta. He also consults for a few wine programs in British Columbia.
Keith Nicholson
Keith Nicholson was born and raised in Vancouver. His career in the restaurant and wine industry of 25 years, has involved many different sides.
He has worked in some of British Columbia’s top restaurants, including Blue Water Café and has led some of the province’s most renowned wine programs, most notably the Bearfoot Bistro in Whistler and Le Crocodile in Vancouver.
Keith is a certified Sommelier and instructor through the International Sommelier Guild (ISG) for whom he is regularly teaching classes. He is a certified Spanish Wine Educator and he is also a past scholarship recipient from the Society of Wine Educators and winner of the 2009 Sommelier Challenge in Vancouver.
In the wake of his huge passion for champagne, in 2009, he became the first Canadian Officer of the Confrérie de Champagne deVenoge.
Inspired after completing the Introduction to Winemaking course through UC Davis extension, and a two-week wine tour of Australia awarded by Wines of Australia, he left Vancouver for the wine country to work harvest on the Crush Team at Laughing Stock Vineyards in the Okanagan Valley for the 2010 vintage.
Keith is currently a Sales Rep for Free House Wine & Spirits servicing retail and restaurant customers in Vancouver and Whistler.
Paul Watkin
As Oscar Wilde mused about the best means of dealing with temptation (he urged one to yield to it), so wine may also be approached. Preferably in tandem with Paul Watkin’s full-blown, irreverent and highly insightful guidance that always honours and celebrates, yet demystifies the ancient art form. After all, “There is more philosophy in a bottle of wine than in all books,” as was noted by Louis Pasteur, and Watkin, at once educator and entertainer, veers the wine fan gently away from serious text-digging, instead sharing his knowledge by means of discussion and of course, by tasting.
Wine educator and industry professional Paul Watkin, brings to each tasting nearly two decades of experience in the wine/hospitality trade. He has served as a fine dining room professional at renowned restaurants and hotels (such as O’Doul’s on Robson Street). He has acted as Beverage Program Manager and Wine List Consultant, cellar master for the South World Wine Society, as an Assistant Manager (for West Vancouver’s Dundarave Wine Cellar), and Dining Room Manager and Service Instructor at the prestigious Pacific Institute of Culinary Arts.
Paul currently is the sales manager for The Seacove Group. He is a member of the Society of Wine Educators, a writer, proud member of Wine Monkey and after all this time, still loves the grape more than ever.
Josh Clark
Josh Clark is a Certified Sommelier educated by the International Sommelier Guild, the Wine & Spirit Education Trust and the Court of Master Sommeliers.
He has been in the restaurant business for over 20 years with stints in Whistler, Vancouver and Victoria. He also spent two years in London, England as a Sommelier at Jamie Oliver’s restaurant “15”. He is currently working at Il Terrazzo in Victoria with one of the largest wine programs on Vancouver Island.
Josh has a casual easy going approach to wine. His passion is educating people and believes you don’t have to be an expert to enjoy wine. Oh yeah, and he’s also pretty handy with a sabre.
Contributors
Karen Graham
Karen has been involved in the BC wine scene for the past 12 years. She got her start in a management role at CedarCreek in Kelowna, and then ran her own marketing consulting business from her home base in Vancouver for the next five years, delivering projects for such clients as the BC Wine Institute, the Canadian Wine Awards/Wine Access, and New Zealand Winegrowers. While her day job has taken her in other directions since then (public policy analysis and government relations), she finds she can never truly walk away from the grape – or the great people in the industry. Striving to combine her real life and her wine passion, a few years ago she co-authored a chapter on policies that support sustainable wine tourism in the Pacific Northwest for an Australian academic publication. Having recently re-discovered her inner muse (or that found in an excellent Pinot Noir), she is delighted to be an occasional contributor to WineMonkey on the business, regulatory and policy aspects of the BC and Canadian wine industry.