No. 1
No snobs at the table
Nobody gets corrected for saying “fruity.” Every question is a good question, especially the one you think is silly.
Hi, I'm Odile
Sommelier & wine teacher for people who “don’t really know wine”
1,400+ students poured for
Host of Pour Decisions, the podcast
Ciao, sono Odile
Sommelier, teacher, and your excuse to open the good bottle
I spent twelve years carrying wine lists that made people feel small. Now I teach the opposite.
I run tasting classes, private flights and long-table cellar dinners out of a converted basement on Locke Street in Hamilton.
If you’ve ever panicked at a wine list, ordered the second-cheapest bottle, or nodded along while someone said “notes of graphite”, you’re my people. We’ll taste, we’ll laugh, and you’ll leave knowing exactly what you like and how to ask for it.
See the classes
first swirl of the night
House rules
No. 2
Drink what you like
My job isn’t to change your taste. It’s to give you the words for it, so you can go find more of it.
No. 3
Small growers first
Most of what I pour comes from families farming a few hectares, including plenty from just down the road in Niagara.
No. 4
Sip or spit, your call
Six wines on a Tuesday is a lot. There’s a spit cup at every seat and absolutely nobody is keeping score.
Try it · a flight in four clicks
Build tonight’s flight
Tell me the vibe and I’ll pour you three glasses to go looking for.
Glass one
Beaujolais Gamay
Bright cherry, a little earthy. Chill it for fifteen minutes.
Glass two
Côtes du Rhône
Warm spice and plum. Basically a sweater.
Glass three
Valpolicella Ripasso
Dried cherry and cocoa. Made for the couch.
Odile’s tip: pour the lightest first and save the Ripasso for the second episode.
The wine list
Classes & tastings
Wine 101: Stop Nodding Along
$65
Two hours, six wines, zero jargon. How to taste, read a label, and order without panicking. · Thursdays, 7pm
The Blind Flight
$80
Eight glasses in black stemware. You guess, I reveal, and everyone is wrong about the Merlot. · Every second Saturday
Natural Wine, Calmly Explained
$70
Skin contact, pét-nat, the cloudy stuff. What it is, why it smells like that, and which bottles are worth it. · Monthly
Weeknight Pairing Club
$55
Bring Tuesday’s dinner problem. We’ll find the twenty-dollar bottle that fixes it. · Wednesdays
Private Tastings
from $480
Your place or my cellar, up to fourteen guests. Birthdays, team nights, extremely fancy proposals. · By request
Cellar Dinners
Twelve seats. Six courses. One very long table.
Once a month I take over the cellar with a chef friend and pour a wine for every course, with the winemaker on speakerphone whenever we can get them.
Next: Saturday, November 21 · “Cold Nights, Big Reds” · $145
7 of 12 seats left
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New episodes every other Tuesday
The podcast
Pour Decisions
Short episodes about wine for people who’d rather drink it than talk about it. Except, you know, we talk about it.
Save me a seat
Let’s open something
Classes fill up about three weeks out. Tell me what you’re after and I’ll write back within two days, usually with a bottle recommendation.
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