Michael Godel
For the past 12 years Michael Godel has been tasting and assessing wine as a journalist, a critic and partner at WineAlign.com. He is often called “Godello,” a nickname that just happens to double as a terrific white Spanish grape. Godel has spent the better part of his writing career travelling planet wine in search of varietal truth and in that time has crafted more than 29,000 lengthy tasting notes, most of them positive, all of them thorough. He processes his thoughts, musings, stream of consciousness and experiences on wine, travel, music and pop culture at his eponymous website godello.ca.
Chef Michael hung up his well-used, 25 year-old whites when he closed up shop in December 2013 after a rewarding 25-year culinary run in Toronto restaurants and with the catering business he owned called All Our Favourite Foods. In March of 2011 he teamed up with Chef David Neinstein at Toronto’s Barque Smokehouse and March 2023 will mark his 13th anniversary as Wine Director of the Toronto restaurant. He also makes a line of small lot wines out of Chianti Classico in Tuscany and the Niagara Peninsula, including Corretta Chianti Classico, All Day Rosé, Interloper Cabernet Franc, As Is Field Blend and Paramour Gamay.
Investigative wine travels in the last seven years have included destinations like British Columbia, Nova Scotia, California, New York, Argentina, South Africa, Germany, France, Portugal and Spain, but Italy has commanded much of Godel’s attention. Fortune has smiled to the tune of more than 50 trips in the past eight years with nearly half of them to Tuscany. In February 2018 the Consorzio Vino Chianti Classico made Godel one of their first five recipients of an Ad Honorem title, “Ambasciatore.” Now as Canadian ambassador he educates on behalf of the Tuscan territory’s Gallo Nero and their noble Sangiovese. More than a dozen excursions to Montalcino have also led to educating on behalf of the Consorzio del Vino Brunello di Montalcino. Godel has also served as an educator for the Italian Chamber of Commerce of Toronto (ICCO), Rioja Wines, Wines of South Africa, Vins de Bourgogne and Wines of Portugal, including the wines of Vinho Verde.
Serving as a judge for the annual WineAlign National Wine Awards of Canada since 2013 has been the greatest honour and Godello has always been proud to taste, assess and award medals alongside colleague David Lawrason at Canada’s Great Kitchen Party and with Tony Aspler’s Ontario Wine Awards. Michael lives in Toronto with his wife of 29 years and three children.