E130 Rick Baroncelli

Rick Baroncelli is a wine professional from Waterloo, Ontario representing “The Case For Wine, Vinexx”. Rick has over 37 years’ experience in the restaurant industry, most notable was his 20 years at iconic Canoe Restaurant in Toronto. At Canoe, he served food and wine to a high-end clientele; it is there where he really discovered his love of wine and his passion for honing sommelier skills. The Canoe environment had a great wine list but also focused on tasting menus, so food and wine pairings were a top priority. Canoe has a reputation as a high-profile restaurant and is a foodie destination. This enabled Rick to be on episodes of Food Network shows such as, MasterChef Canada, Top Chef Canada, Fink, and Michael Smith’s Chef At Large. Rick has also served high profile people such as, David Beckham, Shania Twain, Justin Trudeau, and every Canadian bank CEO, to name a few.

Once leaving Toronto Rick worked at Langdon Hall, The Bruce Hotel, and ran the wine program at The Berlin in Kitchener. Currently, Rick works at The Elora Mill as a Sommlier. While managing a busy work schedule Rick also enhanced his wine knowledge by completing courses with the Court of Master Sommeliers (CMS), WSET, and the Italian Trade Commission and is a Sommelier candidate with the CMS.

A lifelong learner, Rick obtained his Honors Degree in Political Science at York University. After graduation he continued to study accounting and economics at the University of Western Ontario. His love of numbers lead him into day trading, where he has traded for over 13 years. He is currently a Proprietary Trader of Futures at Leeloo Trading. Futures are a form of investment derivatives and is one of the many investment vehicles day traders choose to trade.

Rick keeps busy with many projects and is currently working on perfecting his food and wine pairing program that can easily be presented to groups. Also in the works is a wine tasting program that studies the effect of salt, sweet, and acidity on the wine taster’s palate. A believer that the balance between food and wine can make or break a pairing, and he always strives for balanced pairings. His favorite white wines come from the Loire Valley in northern France and reds from Barolo. The portfolio of old and new world wines that the The Case For Wine offers, coupled with Rick’s experience, creates many wine pairing options, whether a clean crisp Sancerre, a buttery Chardonnay, or a bold California Cabernet Sauvignon…

Links:

@rickbaroncelli

thecaseforwine.com

Contact Rick: [email protected] kyppsaunders.ca

@sugarrunbar

@babylonsistersbar

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@littlemushroomcatering

@the_industry_podcast

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Podcast Artwork by Zak Hannah

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