About Us
Each issue contains wine reviews written by our team of critics and writers from across the country, and feature articles on food and wine, wine travel, and profiles of noteworthy producers and wine regions. Our success is owed to the talented writers and experts that contribute to the magazine.
Editor/Co-founder
Christopher Waters is the editor of VINES and author of a weekly wine column, Waters & Wine, which is syndicated in Sun Media publications across Canada. His wine writing also appears frequently in Kingston Life and Simcoe Life. In addition to wine writing, Christopher is Wine Appreciation Co-ordinator at the Cool Climate Oenology and Viticulture Institute, Brock University. Read more at watersandwine.com
Columnists
Jancis Robinson writes daily for jancisrobinson.com, weekly for The Financial Times, and bi-monthly for a column that is syndicated in every continent. She is also editor of The Oxford Companion to Wine and co-author with Hugh Johnson of The World Atlas of Wine, each of these books recognized as a standard reference worldwide. An award-winning television presenter, she is invited all over the world to tutor wine tastings and act as a wine judge. In 1984 she was the first person outside the wine trade to pass the rigorous Master of Wine exams and in 2003 she was awarded an OBE by Her Majesty the Queen, on whose cellar she now advises.
Sara d’Amato is a Toronto-based wine consultant, sommelier and contributor to VINES. She has worked in cellars both in Niagara and in France and formerly as sommelier of Four Seasons Hotel in Toronto. A graduate of the University of Toronto and of Niagara College’s winery and viticulture technician program, she was the youngest and only woman to win the grand prize at Canadian Renaissance Wine Tasting Challenge in 2006. Sara has been awarded The Ontario Hosteliery’s Top 30 Under 30 Award and is a staunch promoter of local wine and gastro-culture.
Contributors
Amanda Allison is a recent journalism grad with an appreciation for wine and food. After writing for the Durham Chronicle and hitting the air on DC News, Amanda has brought her skills to VINES’ editorial team. A wine enthusiast who enjoys finding a bottle that balances both quality and price, Amanda also has a passion for story telling. She blogs about uncorking the mysteries of wine at The Corkscrew and is a contributor to both VINES online and in print.
Michael Botner’s first career was as a Chartered Accountant. Today he devotes his time and energy to his business, Accounting for Taste, which is dedicated to demystifying wine and sharing its enjoyment and benefits. He is the developer and former instructor for the Sommelier Program at Algonquin College, Ottawa and a Co-founder and Governor of the National Capital Sommelier Guild.
Lindsay Groves originally studied oenology and viticulture at Niagara College, and has worked in wineries both at home and abroad, most notably in Champagne, Bordeaux and Stellenbosch. She is currently completing the diploma program through the Wine & Spirits Education Trust (WSET), London. Lindsay has worked in Toronto as a sommelier since 2007 and was awarded the title of Ontario sommelier of the year in 2007. She contributes to VINES, Food & Drink, CityBites, Gremolata and Sommelier India.
Vic Harradine has extensive wine experience as an author, writer, educator, and is well traveled in the world’s wine regions. He teaches wine courses at Algonquin College in Ottawa and is a graduate, now director, of their sommelier certificate program and is the publisher of Wine Current, a free bi-weekly E-newsletter that focuses on wines available in Ontario.
Rod Phillips is wine columnist for the Ottawa Citizen, and author of five books about wine including Ontario Wine Country and the 2008, 2009 and 2010 editions of The 500 Best-Value Wines in the LCBO. He is a regular contributor to VINES and The World of Fine Wine (UK). Read more at rodphillipsonwine.com
Zoltan Szabo is a Toronto-based Sommelier, wine consultant and educator. He has been recognized repeatedly by his colleagues, has appeared in dozens of publications and interviews and has become the poster boy of the modern sommelier: fun, confident, highly knowledgeable and down to earth. Professionally, Zoltan has created and oversees many award winning wine programs for some of the finest restaurants in Toronto and abroad, garnering him accolades from the local and international media.
James Treadwell is sommelier-owner of Treadwell Farm to Table Cuisine in Port Dalhousie. A graduate of Carleton University in Ottawa and the Algonquin College Sommelier program, his blog, Lip Service, is featured here on vinesmag.com.
Daenna Van Mulligen is a Vancouver based wine writer and publisher of WineDiva.ca and WineScores.ca. She is an accredited sommelier. Daenna has been a judge in wine competitions locally and internationally and she speaks regularly at consumer and trade wine events. She is a member of Les Dames d’Escoffier and sits on the Vancouver Playhouse International Wine Festival planning committee. Daenna has travelled extensively to wine regions around the world and shares her reviews and stories in VINES. She has a weekly wine segment on Terry David Mulligan’s radio show The Tasting Room Radio and contributes to Taste Magazine and FoodVancouver.com as well as making regular appearances on City TV.
