David Calado, Founder, Global Wine Tour

I have always loved wine, but getting into the wine business was a huge change in my life, as well as an accidental one! 

6 years ago, my wife and I attended an “Intro” wine tasting class taught by Steve Thurlow, Senior Editor for Wine Access magazine, and my future business partner. He also offered a 4 week “Exploring The World Of Wine” course, that after we loved the “Intro” workshop so much, we signed up for it. I really began to discover how much I loved the world of wine and wanted to learn more! Steve Thurlow had told us at the 4 week course that it was the last time he was going to offer this publicly, due to other wine related business demands. He had also mentioned that he was also the Wine Director for the Toronto “Sante” Wine Festival scheduled 3 months later.

At that festival, Steve and I had seen each other again, and I informed him that I had a table full of people asking about the course he had done, and when the next one was going to be. Steve replied that he didn’t have the time to deal with the administrative side of the business, but if I wanted to start a business dealing with these issues, he would be very happy to continue this program.

After a few months of discussing details, I started Global Wine Tour, dealing with marketing, sales and administration, as well as the website creation & management. Eventually, we changed the format to one that explored a different country every month. Demand for this new monthly format created far more demand, as many people were unable to commit to a 4 week course.

During that time, I began to study wine on a professional basis. I enrolled in the WSET (Wine & Spirits Education Trust – London, England) Level 2: Intermediate course, and once completed, I enrolled in the far more difficult and detailed Level 3: Advance course, where after completion, I became WSET Certified. These courses were provided by IWEG (The Independent Wine Education Guild) in Toronto, the not-for-profit professional wine school certified to educate the WSET certified courses.

During my enrolment with them, they asked me to rebuild their website. At that time, they had a very simple 4-5 page website. After the completion of building an enormous new site for them, it has recently hit the 240 page mark, offering students password sections, access to documentary videos, downloadable PowerPoint presentations, and so much other content. This is all something that has completely changed professional wine studies for students, something of a luxury that was not there when I went through both programs!  I continue to manage their website for IWEG.

After completing my studies, I decided to begin teaching a new workshop, the “Introduction To Wine Tasting”, where it became a hit! This has been occurring since July 2009. Since then, due to growing popularity, as well as my education and personal love for discovering so many of the world’s wines, I added the “Exploring Wines Of The World” monthly series 2 years ago, something that continues to grow in interest to so many people!

During all of this time, I have also been the Wine Logistics Manager for the Toronto “Salute” Wine Festival, where meeting so many in the wine industry also got me into wine sales with Amethyst Wine Agency. I became partnered with them in wine sales to restaurants, as well as private orders for students who have attended our workshops. I have also done wine tastings at LCBO Vintages locations for them, promoting their latest LCBO Vintage releases.

Private “In-Home” workshops have also been done numorous times, through a partnership developed with Aeroplan. Private events have also been done for large corporate clients including CIBC, TD Canada Trust, Amex, Air Miles, Equifax and Bank Of Montreal’s wealth management division.

One of the main ambitions I have always had was not only to teach the world of wine to people, but to do so in a fun and entertaining way. Nobody wants to spend an evening seriously studying wine in a boring environment, but instead, looking for a fun event where the wine knowledge gained is unprecedented. There are no other single evening options of this calibre available in the Toronto area, giving students amazing knowledge and the ability to analyze wine. This is because I teach the “Systematic Approach To Tasting”, something only offered by the WSET in professional studies. I always entertain throughout the evening, as well as ensure the groups are small and intimate in size. Applause at the end of the evening, as well as amazing comments, many posted on the website in the “Personal Testimonials” page, shows that people enjoyed the event, something that is a prime motivation.