Steve Thurlow is a passionate wine aficionado who has had a long history with wine. He is Senior Editor at Wine Access, Canada's national wine and food magazine responsible in eastern Canada for international wine content. With Anthony Gismondi he founded the International Value Wine Awards held annually in Calgary to find the best wine in Canada no matter its origin that sells for $25 or less. He is a wine judge at the annual Canadian Wine Awards and frequently appears at corporate and private wine tastings, such as client appreciation events and food and wine dinners.

Steve is the Education Director for IWEG, which delivers the International WSET Education program in Ontario, accepted as the benchmark of wine education throughout the global trade. IWEG has been educating trade and wine lovers since 1977.

Graduates of IWEG are amongst the “Who’s Who” of the Ontario and Canadian Alcohol Beverage Industries, counting amongst its graduates key buyers and category managers in the LCBO, the first Master Sommelier in Canada as well as the first Master of Wine in Canada.

He established Wine Cellars as a wine agency in 1993 to import wine into Ontario. It grew steadily until it was incorporated into Corby Distilleries in 1999 on his appointment as Director of Wine for Canada, a position he held until April 2001.

Upon leaving Corby, Steve established his wine education and communication business, Wine for Life. The company is involved in the training and education of hotel and restaurant wine staff and wine agency personnel. Additionally, Steve frequently conducts wine education sessions on behalf of international trade agencies and leads annual wine exploration travel trips to Sicily, New Zealand, Greece and South Africa.

Additionally he spends much of his time organizing Salute, Toronto's annual international wine celebration where he is responsible for the wine content. On the executive team since 2008, Steve Thurlow is responsible for organizing winery participation, wine education content, and serves as the Chair of the Wine Selection Committee.

He is married with two daughters aged 13 and 15 and lives in Caledon, about an hour's drive north of Toronto, in rural Ontario. He holds a degree in Software Engineering from Imperial College, University of London, England.