Sean Moher, Groovy Grapes Co-Founder and Sommelier: As co-founder of groovy grapes, Sean is responsible for dreaming up, planning, and delivering entertaining wine events and seminars for public and private clients. He was recently named Wine Person of the Year for 2006 by the National Capital Sommelier Guild, and has graduated from the Sommelier program at Algonquin College as well as completed the Advanced Certificate from the Wine Spirits and Education Trust (WSET). As a key figure in the Ottawa wine industry, he is one of the resident Sommeliers at the urban element cooking studio, works with wine councils to bring regional wine fairs to Ottawa, Canada, and judges wine competitions including Cellars of the World for the Ottawa Wine and Food Show and in Prince Edward County as a celebrity judge for Taste the County. He is also a founding board member of the Australian Wine Society of Ottawa, a member of the National Capital Sommelier Guild, and producer for La Vendemmia, Ottawa’s Annual Celebration of Italian Wine and Food, organizing celebrity chef cooking demonstrations and Sommelier-led wine tastings.

ILIKE CSABA, Sommelier - Ilike Csaba's passion for all things wine related came about quite naturally... a familial history of barrel makers, grape growers and wine makers in her ancestral Hungary, Ilike's father had the entire clan stomping grapes for as long as she can remember. Ilike's reverence for delicious food was realized at a tender age; her peers in elementary school were constantly perplexed by her proferred lunches of gorgonzola , head cheese and other "aromatic" offerings. Her family's everyday enthusiasm to food and wine set a precedence for a long foray in the restaurant industry. Having managed several popular Ottawa hotspots and having worked in every aspect of the restaurant scene, Ilike's appreciation and thirst for knowledge of food and wine matching grew. Her love of travel has taken her all over South East Asia, most of Europe and Central America, and the tremendously varied cuisines of each region have left their culinary mark on her palate. An Honours Graduate of the Sommelier Program at Algonquin College in 2002, Ilike has hosted many Groovy Grapes events, and attends local, and not-so-local wine tastings on a regular basis. Ilike has also completed the Advanced Certificate of the WSET (http://www.wset.co.uk/) offered by the International Wine Education Guild. Her presentations are offered in both English and French.