Joris Gutierrez Garcia

The Essentials Canadian by nationality, Joris Gutierrez Garcia works as a sommelier, a role that sits between service, study and technical judgment. His entry into wine came through a first class, then narrowed into a field that held history, geography and gastronomy in the same frame. “After the first class I understood that wine really touched many of my passions and interests, like history, geography and, of course, gastronomy.” That progression from first contact to national and continental titles reads as a craft built on repetition and disciplined learning. The 2023 honors — Best Sommelier of Canada and Best Sommelier of Quebec — established him nationally, before ASI Best Sommelier of the Americas in 2025 placed him on a wider competitive stage. The sequence matters: provincial, then national, then continental recognition. His own words suggest a professional still working from the edge of the map outward. “I have so much to discover about Canadian wines because every time I spend time with sommeliers from BC, Ontario or Nova Scotia, they tell me about a winery that I’ve never heard of before.” For a sommelier, that is the job in plain terms: keep learning the field, even as the field keeps changing.

In Their Words “I have so much to discover about Canadian wines because every time I spend time with sommeliers from BC, Ontario or Nova Scotia, they tell me about a winery that I’ve never heard of before.” “It was a great accomplishment for me because it showed me that hard work and dedication pays off.”