Meet your Masters of Wine
From the beginning, and for 50 years now, Opimian has relied on the expertise of a Master of Wine to ensure that only top-quality wines from around the world are offered to Members. Kenneth Christie MW started it all and then passed the mantle to Jane Masters MW in recent years.
To mark our 50th Anniversary, we are excited to begin introducing you to your new consultant Masters of Wine. Together, they will continue to provide a curated range of exclusive wines to suit all occasions and tastes. In addition, the diversity of opinion and style will take your Member experience to the next level of enjoyment.
Meet Louise Wilson MW and Michael Palij MW, the two experts who selected all the wines in this Cellar. Together, they tasted 157 wines and spirits over four days in our Montreal Head Office in order to make the selections for our 300th Cellar.
For the first time, two literal masters of their tasting skills were able to make their assessments of each wine and then compare their notes. The result is a stellar lineup of wines for you to try.
Michael Palij MW is a Canadian living in England. He specializes in Italian wines. The result when his first trip to Italy in 1993 sparked a passion for the country, as well as for its food and wine. Having worked closely with vignerons for years, he is regularly asked for technical advice in the winery to help blend or comment on different ferments. Over the years, Michael has introduced Opimian to some truly special producers. In this Cellar, Michael tasted and wrote about some very special Australian and Burgundian wines.
You may now be familiar with Louise Wilson MW, who joined our ranks last year as Opimian’s Senior Manager—Procurement & Category Management. Louise lives in the Niagara region and is one of ten Masters of Wine in Canada. She has worked in a number of different fields including export, retail, hospitality and education. One of the highlights of her journey to becoming a Master of Wine in 2020 was the honour of receiving the Yalumba Scholarship and having the opportunity to visit Australia’s oldest winery. Louise brings her expertise to the wines from New Zealand and Australia in this Cellar.