Should a sommelier ever sit down while the rest of the room is working?

Bruce Wallner is a Master Sommelier and the founder of Sommelier Factory, Toronto's wine school. He built the wine program at Palazzo Versace, worked under Gérard Basset at Hotel du Vin, and ran the cellar at the Trump Hotel Toronto, now the St. Regis.

We talk about the $140,000 cellar Versace told him to ignore, why a bottle should reach your table in three minutes (he once waited 45), and whether a sommelier should ever taste with an importer on the restaurant's time. Plus: Gérard Basset's rule for whoever walks through the door.

We also get into the closet of tinfoil-wrapped bottles behind his Master Sommelier exam, the dawn walk home that made him quit, and why Jancis Robinson was always staring at him during exam prep.

If you're a sommelier, you're studying to become one, or you just want the story of one of Toronto's most influential sommeliers, this episode is a must-listen.

Sommeliers Aren't Supposed to Sit Down. — Bruce Wallner

Timestamps:

00:00 The $140,000 cellar Versace told him to ignore
04:14 Tall poppies: the Australians who trashed the place
06:28 Skipping a level: "a terrible mistake"
10:15 Hotel du Vin: a Michelin-star wine list on a bistro
12:41 Gérard Basset's rule: put down what you're doing
16:23 Why chase the pin? "It's not the destination"
18:31 Four hours' sleep and a closet of tinfoil bottles
21:08 "Must be Etna": the wines that still trip him
24:07 The Trump Hotel: clearing out the grower Champagne
25:46 Walking home at dawn, two weeks before his first child
27:07 Australia gave 100%. Toronto: "meh"
29:35 Three minutes to the table — or 45
32:42 Tasting with importers on the clock?
39:14 $25 an hour, half the staff
43:06 What he drinks with his own money

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Links:
Bruce Wallner — @masterchefsomm
Sommelier Factory — @sommfactory
Tasting Notes Toronto — @tastingnotestoronto
https://www.youtube.com/@TheTastingNotesPodcast

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Hosted and produced by Alex Abbott Boyd · Recorded in Toronto · © 2026 Tasting Notes Toronto.