{"id":1112,"date":"2016-01-13T19:50:43","date_gmt":"2016-01-13T19:50:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/itsacloud.ca\/staging\/viwf-multi\/tradedays\/?page_id=1112"},"modified":"2026-03-13T12:56:53","modified_gmt":"2026-03-13T19:56:53","slug":"sommelier-of-the-year","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/vanwinefest.ca\/tradedays\/trade-days-conference\/celebrating-excellence\/celebrating-excellence\/sommelier-of-the-year\/","title":{"rendered":"Sommelier of the Year"},"content":{"rendered":"[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]The Sommelier of the Year Award recognizes working sommeliers who consistently demonstrate an outstanding passion for marrying wine with food and a dedication to exceptional service.[\/vc_column_text][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width=”2\/3″][vc_column_text]\n

2026 Sommelier of the Year<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Michael Littleford<\/strong>, This is Wine School<\/h4>\n

This year\u2019s winner, Michael Littleford<\/strong>, was selected through a hands-on competition organized by the BC Chapter of the Canadian Association of Professional Sommeliers. As Sommelier of the Year, Andrew receives Delta Air Lines vouchers valued at $2,000 from the festival, and also receives the Terry Threlfall Legacy Scholarship.<\/p>\n

Past winners include:<\/p>\n

    \n
  • Andrew Forsyth, 2025<\/li>\n
  • Ian Casterton, 2024<\/li>\n
  • Kelcie Jones, 2023<\/li>\n
  • Jayton Paul, 2022<\/li>\n
  • Peter Van de Reep – 2020<\/li>\n
  • Matthew Landry – 2019<\/li>\n
  • Sean Nelson – 2018<\/li>\n
  • Shane Taylor – 2017<\/li>\n
  • Alistair Veen – 2016)<\/li>\n
  • Jason Yamasaki – 2015)<\/li>\n
  • Mike Bernardo – 2014)<\/li>\n
  • Samantha Rahn – 2013)<\/li>\n
  • Terry Threlfall – 2012)<\/li>\n
  • Owen Knowlton – 2011)<\/li>\n
  • Kurtis Kolt – 2010)<\/li>\n
  • Andrea Vescovi – 2009)<\/li>\n
  • Neil Ingram – 2008<\/li>\n
  • Chris Van Nus – 2007<\/li>\n
  • Sebastien Le Goff – 2006<\/li>\n
  • Tom Doughty – 2005<\/li>\n
  • Mark Taylor – 2004<\/li>\n
  • Barb Philip MW – 2003<\/li>\n
  • Peter Bodnar Rod – 2002<\/li>\n
  • Mark Davidson – 2001<\/li>\n
  • Brent Hayman – 2000<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1\/3″][vc_single_image image=”2870″ img_size=”medium”][\/vc_column_inner][\/vc_row_inner][\/vc_column][\/vc_row]\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    [vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]The Sommelier of the Year Award recognizes working sommeliers who consistently demonstrate an outstanding passion for marrying wine with food and a dedication to exceptional service.[\/vc_column_text][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width=”2\/3″][vc_column_text] 2026 Sommelier of the Year Michael Littleford, This is Wine School This year\u2019s winner, Michael Littleford, was selected through a hands-on competition organized by the BC Chapter of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":1104,"menu_order":2,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":[],"yoast_head":"\nSommelier of the Year - Trade Days Conference - Van Wine Fest<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/vanwinefest.ca\/tradedays\/trade-days-conference\/celebrating-excellence\/celebrating-excellence\/sommelier-of-the-year\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Sommelier of the Year - Trade Days Conference - Van Wine Fest\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]The Sommelier of the Year Award recognizes working sommeliers who consistently demonstrate an outstanding passion for marrying wine with food and a dedication to exceptional service.[\/vc_column_text][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width=”2\/3″][vc_column_text] 2026 Sommelier of the Year Michael Littleford, This is Wine School This year\u2019s winner, Michael Littleford, was selected through a hands-on competition organized by the BC Chapter of […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/vanwinefest.ca\/tradedays\/trade-days-conference\/celebrating-excellence\/celebrating-excellence\/sommelier-of-the-year\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Trade Days Conference - Van Wine Fest\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-03-13T19:56:53+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/vanwinefest.ca\/tradedays\/trade-days-conference\/celebrating-excellence\/celebrating-excellence\/sommelier-of-the-year\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/vanwinefest.ca\/tradedays\/trade-days-conference\/celebrating-excellence\/celebrating-excellence\/sommelier-of-the-year\/\",\"name\":\"Sommelier of the Year - 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