Peter Shokeir | [email protected]
Jasper-raised Jayton Paul was named Sommelier of the Year at the 2022 Vancouver International Wine Festival earlier this year.
Paul is currently the acting wine director at Published on Main in Vancouver, B.C.
鈥淪ince working in Vancouver, I鈥檝e worked in a couple different kinds of establishments, but over the last little bit, it鈥檚 kind of taken a whole other level,鈥� Paul said.
Paul also won the Best Sommelier of British Columbia 2022 competition hosted by the Canadian Association of Professional Sommeliers and will be competing for Best Sommelier Canada next year.
In addition, his restaurant was recently awarded the number-one spot in this year鈥檚 Canada鈥檚 100 Best Restaurants.
鈥淚t鈥檚 been pretty insane just to think about the amount of influx of guests nationally and internationally,鈥� Paul said.
鈥淲e鈥檙e sold out months in advance. We just released our availability and our books for September and we鈥檙e already sold out, so to be locked out until October is pretty crazy, and there鈥檚 just no stopping right now.鈥�
Growing up in Jasper, with his parents still residing in town, Paul had plenty of opportunities to get experience in the restaurant industry.
During his preteens, Paul made some money breaking down cardboard boxes in the back of Jasper Liquor and Wine Cellar.
He also worked in a number of restaurants, setting plates and buffing tables at Cassio鈥檚, delivering pizzas for NorthFace Pizza and bartending at the Jasper Brewpub.
鈥淚 think I was kind of born into it,鈥� Paul said.
In 2012, he travelled across New Zealand where he found work at several wineries, 鈥渇ell in love with getting his hands dirty鈥� and got a passion for fine wine.
Paul鈥檚 favourite part of being a sommelier, or wine steward, was being able to help out people while also tasting what the world has to offer.
鈥淭here鈥檚 never been a better time to drink wine in our entire existence than right now,鈥� he said.
鈥淲e have technology that has reached a point where we have an opportunity to have the cleanest wine, the best readily-available wine, the best it could be made in the most efficient way possible.鈥�
The wine industry is also striving towards having sustainable and ethical growing patterns as well as becoming less elitist and more inclusive.
Anyone looking to get into wine should listen to the experts.
鈥淭here鈥檚 a lot of professionals out there who know what they鈥檙e talking about, whether it鈥檚 at your local liquor store or at a restaurant,鈥� Paul said.
鈥淚 think people are very stuck in their own understanding of what wine should be. Some people only like Chardonnay, some people will have anything but Chardonnay, things like that where I think being more open minded to the experience and letting people give you an opportunity to learn is one of the best parts.鈥�
