28 Episodes
3 Ratings
Weekly Cadence
2025 First episode About Tasting Notes Toronto by Insider Wine Hosted by a Toronto-based sommelier Tasting Notes Toronto explores the people shaping the city’s food and wine culture—from Michelin-starred chefs and master sommeliers to restaurant operators and winemakers. Each episode goes behind the scenes of hospitality careers, restaurant culture, and the decisions that shape what we eat and drink in Toronto today.
Publisher Alex Abbott Boyd
Category arts · leisure
Language en
Explicit No
First episode 18 Jul 2025
Latest episode 29 Sept 2026 Latest episodes 28 episodes in the feed.
29 Sept 2026
Sommeliers Aren't Supposed to Sit Down. — Bruce Wallner, MS Should a sommelier ever sit down while the rest of the room is working?
Bruce Wallner is a Master Sommelier and the founder of Sommelier Factory, Toronto's wine school. He built the wine program at Palazzo Versace, worked under Gérard Basset at Hotel du Vin, and ran the cellar at the Trump Hotel Toronto, now the St. Regis.
We talk about the $140,000 cellar Versace told him to ignore, why a bottle should reach your table in three minutes (he once waited 45), and whether a sommelier should ever taste with an importer on the restaurant's time. Plus: Gérard Basset's rule for whoever walks through the door.
We also get into the closet of tinfoil-wrapped bottles behind his Master Sommelier exam, the dawn walk home that made him quit, and why Jancis Robinson was always staring at him during exam prep.
If you're a sommelier, you're studying to become one, or you just want the story of one of Toronto's most influential sommeliers, this episode is a must-listen.
Sommeliers Aren't Supposed to Sit Down. — Bruce Wallner
Timestamps:
00:00 The $140,000 cellar Versace told him to ignore
04:14 Tall poppies: the Australians who trashed the place
06:28 Skipping a level: "a terrible mistake"
10:15 Hotel du Vin: a Michelin-star wine list on a bistro
12:41 Gérard Basset's rule: put down what you're doing
16:23 Why chase the pin? "It's not the destination"
18:31 Four hours' sleep and a closet of tinfoil bottles
21:08 "Must be Etna": the wines that still trip him
24:07 The Trump Hotel: clearing out the grower Champagne
25:46 Walking home at dawn, two weeks before his first child
27:07 Australia gave 100%. Toronto: "meh"
29:35 Three minutes to the table — or 45
32:42 Tasting with importers on the clock?
39:14 $25 an hour, half the staff
43:06 What he drinks with his own money
🎧 Enjoyed the episode? Follow, rate, and review Tasting Notes Toronto on your favourite podcast platform — it really helps others discover the show. And don't forget to subscribe so you never miss an episode.
Links:
Bruce Wallner — @masterchefsomm
Sommelier Factory — @sommfactory
Tasting Notes Toronto — @tastingnotestoronto
https://www.youtube.com/@TheTastingNotesPodcast (https://www.youtube.com/@TheTastingNotesPodcast)
If this episode was worth your time, the best thank-you is sharing it with one person who'd love it.
Hosted and produced by Alex Abbott Boyd · Recorded in Toronto · © 2026 Tasting Notes Toronto.
15 Sept 2026
Tasting Menus Are Out. Sara Bet on One. — Adam Minster Why would a restaurant kill à la carte when the majority of fine dining is bringing it back?
Adam Minster is a partner in The Food Dudes — the group behind Rasa, Sara, Chop'Hop and Pantry — and this spring Sara went all-in on a single seven-course tasting menu.
We talk about the 70% of guests who'd already made the decision for him, the choices that keep it $115 instead of $300, and how a $60 wine pairing works economically. Plus: the hospitality reflex you can hire for but can't train.
If you run a restaurant, work a floor, or just want to know what a $115 tasting menu is really buying you, this episode is a must-listen.
Tasting Menus Are Out. Sara Bet on One. — Adam Minster
Timestamps:
00:00 Why Sara killed à la carte
02:12 $115, not $300: the strip loin math
04:02 The Journey, course by course
09:15 The hospitality reflex: hire for it, can't train it
11:07 A $60 wine pairing, and why guests just want to trust you
17:49 "I can't eat your dry eggs anymore"
20:57 "This is the guy": The Food Dudes to Rasa
24:13 Cook for the guest — and the salad people would riot over
29:50 Opening Sara: "I wasn't ready"
35:25 COVID, the great equalizer
37:55 Closing Rasa for a month. Still worth it?
40:06 Chop'Hop, 3pm closes, and the best salads in Toronto
51:12 Delivery apps: "They f***ing suck"
53:04 Which half of the restaurant the robots replace first
🙌 Enjoyed the episode? Follow, rate, and review Tasting Notes Toronto on your favourite podcast platform — it really helps others discover the show. And don't forget to subscribe so you never miss an episode.
Links:
Sara — @sararestaurantto (https://www.instagram.com/sararestaurantto/#)
Rasa — @rasarestaurantto (https://www.instagram.com/rasarestaurantto/#)
Chop'Hop — @chophop_salads (https://www.instagram.com/chophop_salads/#)
The Food Dudes — @fooddudes (https://www.instagram.com/fooddudes/?hl=en#)
Tasting Notes Toronto — @tastingnotestoronto (https://www.instagram.com/tastingnotestoronto/?hl=en#)
https://www.youtube.com/@TheTastingNotesPodcast (https://www.youtube.com/@TheTastingNotesPodcast)
If this episode was worth your time, the best thank-you is sharing it with one person who'd love it.
Hosted and produced by Alex Abbott Boyd · Recorded in Toronto · © 2026 Tasting Notes Toronto.
1 Sept 2026
Wine Is Getting Too Expensive. Who's Buying It? — Jeffrey Roel Is wine becoming too expensive for the people who love it?
Jeffrey Roel is the General Manager and Head Sommelier at Henry's Restaurant in Toronto, an Advanced Sommelier with the Court of Master Sommeliers, and winner of the CAPS Cup.
We talk about the $150 tab that used to cover five courses, the Bordeaux house asking over $1,000 for its second wine, and how a sommelier finds value as everything climbs — including saying yes to wines Jeffrey once had to reject for being "too cheap." Plus: wine's gatekeeping problem, and what hospitality feels like once the choreography drops away.
We also discuss his pursuit of the Master Sommelier title — hard days included — and why you'll never see a pile of gummies on a Christmas table.
If you work in wine or hospitality—or just want to understand where the wine industry is headed—this episode is a must-listen.
Wine Is Getting Too Expensive. Who's Buying It? — Jeffrey Roel
00:00 The industry can explode — or fall away
02:34 You still spend $150 dining out — you just get less
06:13 Wine's gatekeeping problem — and where the great somms went
08:26 The $1,000 second wine: Who is that for?
10:23 What the GM sees that the somm never could
15:06 A $15 wine of the day that isn't cheap
17:40 “I'm sorry, it's too cheap” — the wines that finally have a home
21:34 The Greek red that sold 24 bottles in a week
26:43 What to order at Henry's, from the guy who runs it
28:30 Chasing Master Sommelier out of boredom
36:50 What makes the sacrifice worth it? “Nothing.”
42:37 Winning the CAPS Cup — and what Ontario Chardonnay gives away
49:33 Hot take: Syrah belongs in the cold
54:25 Jeff flips the mic: Is wine actually dying?
59:32 Why there will never be gummies on the Christmas table
🙌 Enjoyed the episode? Follow, rate, and review Tasting Notes Toronto on your favourite podcast platform — it really helps others discover the show. And don't forget to subscribe so you never miss an episode.
Links:
Henry's Restauant — https://www.henrystoronto.ca/ · @henrys.to (https://www.instagram.com/henrys.to/#)
Jeffrey on Instagram — @je.frey.chambertin (https://www.instagram.com/je.frey.chambertin/#)
Tasting Notes Toronto — @tastingnotestoronto https://www.youtube.com/@TheTastingNotesPodcast
If this episode was worth your time, the best thank-you is sharing it with one person who’d love it.
Hosted and produced by Alex Abbott Boyd · Recorded in Toronto · © 2026 Tasting Notes Toronto.
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