Sandy Hamilton, former Sommelier of acclaimed restaurant The Cannery Seafood House, Vancouver, was crowned winner of The Art Institute of Vancouver’s Wine Professional Challenge 2010, on April 13, 2010
This year’s competition was held at The International Culinary School at The Art Institute of Vancouver as part of the Playhouse International Wine Festival 2010. It tested the skills of nine short-listed competitors from the best of BC’s wine industry, including The Fairmont Chateau Whistler and Cioppino’s Mediterranean Grill.
Sandy, who completed his International Sommelier Guild qualification in 1999, worked as Sommelier and Restaurant Manager for the Cannery Seafood House for the past five years, working with acclaimed chefs such as Frederic Couton and Wayne Sych. On winning the award, Sandy said, “It’s huge, especially right now, as I’m taking a break from the Vancouver restaurant scene. It’s a tremendous sense of accomplishment to cap everything off.”
Sandy Hamilton was presented with the Puddifoot Award: a Riedel Carafe, an Engraved Challenge trophy and a bottle of vintage port, by John Puddifoot, of WH Puddifoot Ltd, at the Playhouse International Wine Festival’s Seventh Annual Awards Lunch: Celebrating Excellence event on Friday, April 23, 2010. He will also receive a Trade Super Pass to the Playhouse International Wine Festival for 2011.
Sandy especially enjoyed the creative nature of the questions he faced at the Wine Professional Challenge, saying “It was a lot of fun, and great to see who else was there from other fields and backgrounds. It certainly brings a lot of different perspectives to the contest.”
The event (formerly The Sommelier Challenge), currently in its fifth year, gives Sommeliers and wine professionals the chance to compete for the Puddifoot Award, through demonstrating their knowledge on a range of wine related topics to a team of industry professionals.
The judging team consisted of Stephen Bonner (ABV); Neil Ingram (Boneta Restaurant); Michaela Morris AIWS (House Wine); Barbara Philip MW (BCLDB); and Mark Shipway AIWS (The International Culinary School).
Previous Sommelier Challenge winners include Keith Nicholson, Le Crocodile (2009); Chris Giroux, Bacchus at the Wedgewood Hotel (2008); Kimberley Hall, The Fairmont Waterfront (2006); and Pamela Cohen, International Sommelier Guild (2005).
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Photograph: John Puddifoot with award winner Sandy Hamilton
About the Playhouse Wine Festival (http://www.playhousewinefest.com)
The Vancouver Playhouse International Wine Festival grew from humble roots as a fund-raising initiative of then Playhouse board member John E. Levine. The inaugural festival in 1979 featured one vintner – Robert Mondavi – and saw approximately 1,000 people attend the two-day event at Hycroft, the Shaughnessy mansion owned by Vancouver’s University Women’s Club.
In its second year, the Festival was also a one-winery show, but had grown by its fourth year to attract 45 California wineries. The ninth festival in 1987 was the first multi-national event, with wineries from six more countries joining to showcase their wines. After outgrowing several different venues, the Festival moved to the Vancouver Convention and Exhibition Centre in 1988, where it has been held for the past 20 years.
About WH Puddifoot Ltd
WH Puddifoot Ltd began as an import business specializing in high-end retail giftware, and has since grown into one of Vancouver’s premier fine-glassware retailers.
About The Art Institute of Vancouver
The Art Institute of Vancouver is one of The Art Institutes (www.artinstitutes.edu), a system of more than 45 education institutions located throughout North America, providing an important source of design, media arts, fashion and culinary arts professionals.
