TORONTO — The Ontario chapter of the Canadian Association of Professional Sommeliers (CAPS) held its Best Ontario Sommelier Competition last week at Bovine Wine Club in Toronto. Christian Perreault Hamel, wine director at Harbour Sixty Toronto and co-founder, Pelican Wines Import has been named the 2024 Best Ontario Sommelier and will go on to compete in the Best Sommelier of Canada competition in Winnipeg in 2026. From there, the national winner will compete in the world competition, ASI, in 2026.
“It’s slowly sinking in that I’ve won this prestigious title from CAPS,” says Hamel. “I’ve spent so much time looking up to past winners, seeing where they are now, and feeling inspired by their journeys. It reminds me of the importance of paying it forward – supporting others, just as these seasoned professionals have supported me – and I look forward to extending that same encouragement to our local sommelier community.”
Matthew Landry, sommelier at Restaurant Pearl Morrisette in Niagara, Ont. and founder, Tannin Management, placed second; Junxing (James) Li, restaurant manager and lead sommelier at Enigma Yorkville, placed third; and Christophe Reitz, sommelier, placed fourth.
The expert judging panel included José Luis Fernández, winner of 2019 BOSC; Pier-Alexis Soulière, MS, and Best Sommelier Canada, 2021; and SOMM Factory wine educator, Nabilah Rawji. Jennifer Wood, CAPS Ontario acting president, emceed the event.
The four-hour competition challenged the sommeliers in a series of skill-testing, live-audience scenarios, including a blind tasting, wine knowledge and theory, and service components.
