BA
WESTERN CANADA’S PREMIER WINE AND DRINKS EDUCATION FACILITY OFFERS WINE, BEER, AND SPIRITS COURSES FOR EVERYONE FROM THE HOBBYIST TO THE PROFESSIONAL.
EG
IT
O
W CO
LL
KS
D R & IN E NI
E
N MA
Student Profile: Josh Schettler Josh Schettler has the service industry in his genes. From his humble beginnings in the dish pit of his uncles’ catering company at 12 years old, Josh has worked his way up through the ranks at some of the best restaurants and bars in Winnipeg, studying styles of service, different wine and beverage programs, and learning all he could about the industry. Josh is currently the General Manager of Merchant Kitchen and Beverage Director for Academy Hospitality (which includes Merchant Kitchen, Pizzeria Gusto, and True North Square). As Josh’s passion for food and wine evolved, he became serious about building his knowledge along with his experience. Josh has completed WSET levels 2 and 3, the Italian Wine Scholar courses, and is completing the last modules of the CAPS Professional Sommelier Program, all at WDCM. Many wine lovers say they have a defining moment when they were caught by a great wine. What is yours? When I was serving at 529 Wellington, I realized that the passion I had for cocktails could be transferred to wine. At first, it was like my co-workers were speaking a different language: they were talking about producers, regions, and vintages. I started doing my own research and developing my palate so I could keep up. And then my ah-ha wine moment: A guest at 529 was drinking a 1995 Penfolds Grange and a 1998 Mouton Rothschild. They poured a few ounces out of each bottle and left them for me to taste. After my shift, I sat for two hours, smelling them, not even drinking them because I didn’t want the moment to be gone. Tasting those wines was like tasting that year, that history in the bottle. It’s alive in the bottle, and that draws me to it. A glass of wine captures two moments: the moment it was made, its history, and the moment you are drinking it—who you are sharing it with, how you are sharing it, the atmosphere, and that experience. 62 http://banvilleandjones.cornervine.com
I believe there is a wine for every experience—when I drink wine out of a coffee cup on the dock at my cabin, that will be an amazing memory for me, just in a different way that the Grange was. Give me any experience, and I’ll tell you a wine that will work. What attracts you to formal wine study? It is a step toward making hospitality a career rather than just a job. Being based out of Winnipeg, to be able to get a formal education that is internationally recognized through WDCM is amazing. And compared to big classes in other places I researched, like in Toronto, I know all of my instructors, they know me, we know one another’s drinking styles and palates. It also opens doors for me: I have just stepped into a position as Beverage Director for the Academy Hospitality—a position with much larger responsibility and scope—and I am there because of these programs.
