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Instructors

Our instructors are professionally trained educators and subject-matter experts who are dedicated to your learning, engagement and success. They have a proven track record of achieving higher WSET pass rates on exams than the global average. Many of them are industry leaders in the drinks and hospitality sectors in Canada and worldwide. Click on their names to learn more about their experience, teaching approach and study tips.

Meet our instructors

  • Carrie Rau

    Carrie Rau DipWSET is a proud Cree food and wine professional living and working in Toronto, Ontario.

  • Joel Gorenkoff

    Joel Gorenkoff is an educator, consultant and certified sommelier who is extremely proud of his own wine journey through WSET and sommelier studies and training.

  • Debbie Shing

    Debbie (she/her) is a WSET Level 4 Diploma graduate and a certified WSET Instructor with nearly 20 years of experience in wine sales and marketing across Canada.

  • Chris Robertson

    Chris Robertson DipWSET is the senior director for beer, cider & ready-to-drink at the LCBO. 

  • Kim Berdusco

    Kim’s wine journey started in the United Kingdom where she lived for 18 years.

  • Yuuji Nagaoka

    Yuuji is a WSET Diploma graduate from IWEG and a certified WSET educator with nearly 15 years of experience in the wine industry.

  • Erin Salmon

    Erin Salmon DipWSET is a sales account manager with Nicholas Pearce Agency, working with licensees and private clients in the Toronto region.

  • Peter Wearing

    Peter discovered a love for wine while travelling to wine regions after university.

  • Christopher Waters

    Christopher Waters DipWSET is a WSET certified instructor who has served as the education director of IWEG since January 2019.

  • Danielle Chandler

    Danielle Chandler is a lawyer turned strategic human resources consultant turned passionate wine professional.

  • Nancy Reynolds

    After twenty five years in the information technology industry, including six years as the Chief Information Officer of FedEx Canada, Nancy Reynolds DipWSET decided to pursue her passion in the wine business. 

  • Mario Cagnetta

    Born in Milan, in the Lombardia region of Italy, Mario’s passion for wine comes naturally.

  • Aleksandar Simic

    Aleksandar Simic DipWSET has been working in the information technology field in the financial industry for almost 30 years.

  • Michael Tremblay

    Michael’s foray into wine and sake has been 25 years in the making, traveling around the world and using wine and sake as a lens for learning about the history and culture of different regions.

  • Karen LaVigne

    Karen LaVigne DipWSET is a WSET certified instructor at IWEG for over 10 years and the lead instructor for the WSET Level 1 Award in Wines, an interactive and comprehensive introduction into wine and food pairing concepts.

  • Caitlin Ferguson

    Caitlin is passionate about Spanish and French wines as well as sherry and she likes to keep wine fun, and leave the pretentiousness behind. 

  • Alex Boyd

    Born and raised in New Zealand, Alex’s career in the hospitality industry has taken him from the South Island to the Okanagan and through the Canadian Rockies before landing in Toronto in 2014 as part of the opening team at the Delta Toronto. 

  • Eugene Mlynczyk

    Eugene became a Master of Wine in 2015 after four years of study, gladly passing both parts of the written examination on his first attempt.

  • Geoffrey Moss

    Geoffrey Moss is a Master of Wine and a WSET Diploma alumnus.

  • Elsa Macdonald

    Always studying and traveling in her spare time, in 2018 Elsa achieved the highest standard of wine credential when she became a Master of Wine. She is only the second woman and sixth person in Canada to do so.

  • John Szabo

    Master Sommelier John Szabo was the first Canadian to add the “MS” after his name in 2004. He holds the international Wine & Spirits Education Trust Diploma with honours, as well as the Canadian Sommelier Guild diploma.