About Steve Thurlow

Steve Thurlow is a passionate wine and spirits aficionado who has had a long history with wine and spirits. He is a Principal Critic and a Partner in WineAlign, one of the most read sources of wine and spirits information in Canada.

For WineAlign he tastes thousands of wines and spirits each year and travels extensively all over the world of wine and spirits.

He was a contributor to Wine Access, Canada’s national wine magazine, from 2001 until it ceased publication in 2013. Prior to Wine Access, he was an importer of wine for many years. However today Steve mostly concerns himself with his wine education and communication business, Wine for Life, in addition to his activities at WineAlign.

He leads groups of wine lovers on several travel trips each year to explore the wine, food, culture and history of wine regions all over the world. Such trips include Australia, Burgundy, Provence, Sicily, Chile, Argentina, Portugal, New Zealand, South Africa and the wine regions that lie along the Danube. Go to Tours to find out more.

Some will also remember that Steve was the Education Director for IWEG for over a decade. IWEG delivers the International WSET education program in Ontario and has been educating the trade and wine lovers since 1977. Graduates of IWEG are among the “Who’s Who” of the Ontario and Canadian Alcohol Beverage Industries.

In the past he was much in demand as an international wine judge and he also spent time organizing Toronto's annual international wine festivals. For example, Steve was on the executive team of the Santé Wine Festival from 2003 to 2008.

He is married with two grown daughters and lives in Caledon, about an hour's drive north of Toronto, in rural Ontario. He holds a degree in Electrical Engineering from Imperial College, University of London, England. He specialized in computer software.