Craig Pinhey
Craig Pinhey is a food and beverage columnist for the New Brunswick Telegraph Journal and KV Style, & writes for TAPS Beer Magazine, Palate Press, Halifax’s The Coast, Progress and East Coast Living magazine. He covered the Atlantic Canadian wine scene for Wine Access for 7 years, including writing the entire Atlantic section of their Canadian Wine Annual. He has also been CBC Radio’s Shift Sommelier for 5 years.
Craig had his booze epiphany circa 1985 with his first pint of Ginger’s Best cask conditioned real ale at the original Ginger’s Tavern in Halifax. This led him to a lifelong love of quality wine, beer and spirits.
A certified Sommelier and BJCP Judge, Craig has judged at the Canadian Wine Awards, International Value Wine Awards, All Canadian Wine Championships, Atlantic Wine Awards, Moncton’s World Wine Expo Awards, PEI’s Wine Show Awards and the Canadian Brewing Awards. He was also part of the judging team for the 2013 WineAlign National Wine Awards of Canada.
Craig designs wine lists, does restaurant service training, and conducts wine and food events.
Read our interview with Craig below…
1. How many years have you been working with wine?
15 years professionally. Longer for beer 
2. What was your first wine related job, article, or assignment?
I used to pour at Niagara wine shows for my wife when she worked at Kittling Ridge, but my first paid (other than wine;) work was writing wine pairings to match the weekly recipes in the food column at The Times Globe (Saint John). Incidentally, that food columnist is now one of my best friends, and a respected writer/photographer: Mike Hawkins at http://www.foodfunk.ca.
3. Is there a grape or style of wine you are personally attached to?
Riesling more than anything, because I lived in Niagara from 1987-98, and grew to love those wines. My trips to Germany have strengthened this love, and I am thrilled that Nova Scotia (where I grew up) is now producing some good Riesling.
4. What was your first Canadian “aha” wine moment?
That’s difficult to recall, but it was probably single vineyard Chardonnay from Stoney Ridge, perhaps from the Eastman Vineyard, back in the early 90’s
5. Which grape(s) do you feel is/are Canada’s best bets in terms of producing top quality wine?
Riesling, Chardonnay, Cabernet Franc, Syrah, Pinot Noir, Acadie Blanc
6. What would you like consumers to know about Canadian wine?
That the quality and diversity is good enough that we could consume it all year round without needing wines from other countries, if only we could produce enough, and if our national/provincial wine sales system wasn’t so backwards…
7. How many years have you judged Canadian wine?
My first national competition was in 2000 or 2001 – the All Canadian Wine Championships. I have only missed one year of that competition since then. I first judged the Canadian Wine Awards/National Wine Awards in 2007, and have judged every year since. I think that makes me the most experienced national judge of Canadian wine! (don’t tell Gismo, David or Tony Aspler I said that! ;))
8. What do you enjoy most about judging at The Nationals?
Getting intimate with our best wines, while also seeing our wonderful wine regions, and all the time interacting with winery people and my fellow judges. Best job in the world!
Questions or comments? Contact us: [email protected]
