 |
||
|
|
Extensive business
travel peaked Debbie’s interest in wine and she enrolled in the
Sommelier Accreditation program at Algonquin College in Ottawa, Canada.
Realizing the market potential in the wine industry, she made a
personal commitment to gain further insight into the business of wine
beyond being an Accredited Sommelier.
In 2003, Debbie graduated from the Queen’s University Executive
MBA program with opportunities that directly applied her business
education to the wine industry. She has visited many wine regions of the world and complements her consulting work with wineries with ‘hands on’ experience, including volunteering during a Canadian icewine harvest at Malivoire Wine Company. In 2003 and 2004 she worked all aspects of the Italian grape harvest in Tuscany. Debbie established The Savvy Grapes Inc., in
2003, an innovative wine marketing company with the focus on making wine
accessible to everyone in creative ways by hosting winemakers dinners, Sommelier led
dinners and wine tastings for the general public, private groups and
corporate clients. Debbie continues to work with wineries in the areas of
marketing, developing and implementing strategic business plans and
establishing new international markets.
Debbie is a member of
several wine associations including the Society of Wine
Educators. The success of The
Savvy Grapes has been
featured in the Financial
Post,
National Post, Homemakers
Magazine, The
Ottawa Citizen and The
Ottawa Sun. The Ottawa business community recognizes The Savvy Grapes’ achievements. The Savvy Grapes received the Silver Award for "Professional Services of the Year" category at the 2006 Ottawa Chamber of Commerce Business Achievement Awards. In 2005, The Savvy Grapes was a finalist for the ‘New Business of the Year’ and Debbie was nominated by her peers for the Ottawa Women’s Business Network ‘Entrepreneurial Businesswoman of the Year’ and the Ottawa Business Journal’s ‘Forty Under 40 Awards’. Cheers!
A Votre Santé!
Susan
Desjardins, MA & MBA
After taking early retirement from high tech in 2001, she completed a horticulture program at Algonquin College in Ottawa, Canada and pursued her interest in international cultures with travel to a variety of countries, including Brazil, Costa Rica and France. After visiting a friend in France, who plied her with vintage
champagnes and fine Bordeaux, Susan decided it was time to learn a bit
more about the wines of the world. To
her delight, during her first sommelier course at Algonquin College, she
discovered the depth and diversity of wine. Wine is a microcosm of society, where culture, economics,
politics, horticulture and viniculture converge with passion!
One course led to another, and Susan completed the Sommelier
accreditation program in 2005. Since
that time, she has traveled to wine regions such as Niagara, the Okanagan
Valley of British Columbia, the southern Rhone, and will be visiting Italy
in the fall of 2006. In
addition, she has been involved in a variety of public and private wine
tastings, wine competitions and winemaker's dinners.
One of her personal
goals is to introduce friends and guests to high value, unusual wines,
paired with appropriately prepared foods.
Her gauge of success is the delight they experience, their requests
for the sources of these wines and their interest in additional
recommendations. Susan is a member of the National
Capital Sommelier Guild. Cheers! A Votre Santé! Salud! Cin Cin! Email Susan
Carol
Anderson
Now an erstwhile, though published wine and travel writer,
and an accredited sommelier (with Honours)
from Algonquin College in Ottawa,
Carol is delighted to be part of The Savvy Grapes team of
Associates, sharing her love
of wine and single malt Scotch with The Savvy Grapes clients. Born in Edinburgh, Scotland, where she started her working
life after a BSc in Computer Science, Carol has long been interested in
wine, and has traveled to many of the wine regions of the world. In 2005,
after an extended trip to Australia and New Zealand, Carol and her husband
Gerald, a particle physicist, spent a year in France, where she became
even more intimate with the wines of Burgundy, Bordeaux and the Rhône
Valley. This year, she took a solo trip to the great wine region of
Alsace, which produces some of the worlds greatest Riesling and Gewürztraminer.
Traveling to wine regions will continue to be a big focus
for Carol. “There’s no better way”, she explains, “ to enjoy the
full experience of regional wines
than to taste them with local cuisine, get to know the people, the
winemakers and growers, and experience the history, culture and geography
of the region first hand.” To The Savvy Grapes, Carol brings an extensive
business background in project, event and sales management, coupled with
entertaining presentation skills. While continuing to work on her novel,
Carol has also written many humorous and anecdotal travel and wine
articles. She has been published in several National newspapers and
magazines, including the Ottawa
Citizen, the Edmonton
Journal and
Outpost Magazine and will be featured in the spring 2008
edition of More
Magazine, Ottawa
Due West and
Ottawa Due East. Carol will lead some of The Savvy Grapes upcoming
events and seminars, presenting wine tastings, stories, and all things
oenological from various wine regions of the world. She delights in
sharing her passion and knowledge of wines with groups small and large,
whether a private function, or a public, corporate or fund-raising event. Off the wine stage, Carol can occasionally be found on
other Ottawa platforms. A Graduate of the Royal Conservatory of Music, she
has sung with several musical and theatre groups in the city, including Opera
Lyra Chorus, the Cantata
Singers of Ottawa, the Ottawa
Choral Society, at various Scottish cultural events and with the Savoy
Society of Ottawa. In
April 2008, Carol will be playing the part of Ruth in Savoy’s next
production of The Pirates of Penzance at Centrepointe Theatre. It is not
outside the realm of possibility that she burst into song during a wine
presentation, if particularly impressed by some outstanding vinous nectar!
Carol looks forward to seeing you at upcoming events. Cheers!
Santé! Slàinte Mhath!
Jean-Sébastien
Morin
Jean-Sébastien is an instructor of the nationally recognized Sommelier Certificate offered by La
Cité Collégiale in Ottawa, Canada.
His love of wine began in the late 1980s, while studying and
working in Europe. Visiting
small villages in the wine regions of Spain and taking part in colorful
food and wine festivals was a revelation.
The spontaneity, the authenticity and the energy of these
celebrations captured his heart. It is this spirit that Jean-Sébastien
brings to all The Savvy Grapes events he organizes and hosts
in English, French or Spanish. An Accredited Sommelier, Jean-Sébastien
has formal studies with national and international organizations,
including l’Amicale
des Sommeliers in Gatineau, Quebec, Algonquin
College in Ottawa, Canada, and the Wine
and Spirit Education Trust (UK).
He has also worked for the Liquor
Control Board of Ontario Before the wine bug overtook him
entirely, Jean-Sébastien, a trilingual honours graduate in International
Relations, was a senior analyst with the Canadian Federal Government.
Over a period of 15 years, he led policy and program initiatives in
fields as diverse as international development, information management and
stakeholder consultations. His organizational, people and facilitation skills were an
asset to various departments and agencies including the Canadian
International Development Agency, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada and
Canadian Heritage. Jean-Sébastien’s own wine travels have taken him to France, Spain and the United States, with many more destinations planned. Jean-Sébastien is a member of
many wine-related organizations, including the National
Capital Sommelier Guild. Jean-Sébastien seeks to introduce everyone to wines that embody the soul of their place of origin, wines that transport mind and spirit to the most amazing regions of the world. He aims to transmit his lifelong passion for wine while always keeping in mind that the pleasure of a glass of wine often resides in the moment and the company in which it is shared. Cheers! A
Votre Santé! Salud!
Photos on this page are courtesy of: |
Copyright © 2004 The Savvy Grapes Inc.
All rights reserved. OUR
PRIVACY POLICY: The Savvy Grapes will
not sell or distribute your contact info.
|
Debbie is a bilingual marketing and international business
executive who has worked for various software companies including 
Susan
(left) is a multi-lingual executive, who since retiring from the high tech
industry has pursued with passion her interest of horticulture and wines.
When
Carol left a high profile job in information technology in 2003, it was
with some trepidation, a vague plan to write a novel and no idea that four
years later she would be a passionate oenologist.
