Michelle Bouffard

After a promising start as a classical musician, Michelle Bouffard unexpectedly ventured into the wine and gastronomy world, while she worked in one the highest rated restaurants in Vancouver. Enthusiastic and determined to make her mark in the wine industry, she graduated as a sommelier with the highest honors from the International Sommelier Guild (ISG) and then completed the Diploma Program from the renowned Wine & Spirit Education Trust (WSET). She also holds a Bachelor’s degree in dramatic arts and she is a well-known food critic.

Michelle’s career has been on a very successful path. Today, she sits on numerous boards and international committees. Founder and co-owner of House Wine, a company based in Vancouver from 2003 until 2015, Michelle is also business savvy and a very talented communicator. She was president of the Canadian Association of Professional Sommeliers of British Columbia, which she founded and sat on the board for a period of four years.

Now back in Quebec to pursue her career, she teaches the Wine & Spirit Education Trust across Canada. Michelle is an educator for many wine associations including Wine Australia, Wines of New Zealand, Wines from Spain, Spanish Wine Institute and Inter Rhône, amongst others. She organises numerous master classes and gives conferences nationally and internationally (among them is MUST Fermenting Ideas in June 2017), and continues her own training at the prestigious Masters of Wine Institute. Michelle also sits on numerous panels and is a wine judge in many competitions internationally.

Researcher and invited critic at Radio-Canada since 2006, Michelle also writes in various publications and participates actively in Exquis Magazine. She newly became the official sommelier of the popular Véro Magazine and she recently published her first book “Dis-moi qui tu es, je te dirai quoi boire” at Cardinal Editions, which highlights wine suggestions directly linked to the intimate stories collected in interviews that she conducted with more than twenty famous personalities from Quebec. She also contributed to the prestigious Meininger’s Wine Business International magazine.

On television, Michelle participates regularly in shows broadcasted on ICI Radio-Canada Télé, namely Par ici l’été (summer 2015), but also on the networks RDI, CBC, Global TV and CTV. She is now a regular member of the Curieux Bégin team (since September 2016) and she frequently makes wine suggestions on the show, Tout le monde en parle.

Very involved in discussions around the effects of climate change in the wine world, Michelle is the organizer of the international conference Tasting Climate Change, which first took place at HEC Montreal in October 2017 and which will be held every two years. On top of all her commitments, she is now working on the development of various other projects linked to the wine world.