2008 Judges

Cinda Chavich

is a journalist and author, specializing in wine, food and travel writing. She writes for The Globe and Mail, Avenue and West, and has a regular food column on CBC radio in Alberta. Her work has appeared in a variety of publications, from Wine Spectator and Wine Access, to Canadian Geographic,up!, Westworld and Chatelaine. She has been a judge for the Canadian Wine Awards and reported from many wine regions of the world, from Portugal’s Douro Valley to South Africa’s Stellenbosch, California’s Napa Valley and Italy’s Piedmonte. Cinda has won several national awards for her food and travel writing, and her book High Plains: The Joy of Alberta Cuisine (Fifth House) received two gold medals from Cuisine Canada – named the best English language cookbook in the country and honored with the top Canadian Food and Culture Award. Among her five best selling cookbooks, The Girl Can't Cook and The Guy Can't Cook (Whitecap) are the latest editions.

Cinda lives with her husband Delbert Meeres and cats Farley and Peyto in Calgary, but spends much of her time traveling the world, digging up the latest wine, food and travel stories. You can find more of her published stories at her website, www.tastereport.com

 

Margaret Webb

The author of Apples to Oysters: A Food Lover’s Tour of Canadian Farms (Penguin, 2008). Last spring, she ate her way across Canada while travelling aboard Via Rail (Toronto Star, June 28, 2008) and through much of Southern Ontario for a series on locavore tourism for the Globe and Mail. She spent July in Toronto eating salads. Margaret grew up on a farm just outside Barrie, Ontario, and had held senior editorial positions at several national and city magazines. Her articles have appeared in The Globe and Mail, Saturday Night, Chatelaine, Toronto Life and Canadian Geographic. She lives in Toronto with her partner, Nancy, and teaches magazine writing at Ryerson University. www.margaretwebb.com

 

Jamie Drummond

After a fledgling journalistic career, Jamie Drummond made the decision to change directions and follow another of his passions. From 1991 to 1997, Jamie worked as Sommelier for the Michelin recognized Atrium Restaurant in Edinburgh, Scotland. Over this period Jamie studied with the Wine and Spirits Education Trust up to Diploma level. After an 18 month sojourn on a pirate ship in the south Caribbean, Jamie decided to take his talents elsewhere. Arriving in Canada in early 1997, he moved into the position of Sommelier at Toronto’s Granite Club, purchasing both wines and spirits for North America’s largest private club. In the Summer of 2004, Jamie D brought his knowledge and experience to Jamie Kennedy Wine Bar and now oversees the entire Jamie Kennedy wine program.