You might associate sommeliers (wine experts) with fancy restaurants and snooty attitudes, but Canada’s Best Sommelier is as likely to be found traipsing the backwoods in steel toed boots and a cowboy hat, as in a MICHELIN starred restaurant in a three piece suit. 

It all depends on what he’s up to: is he harvesting maple syrup at the sugar shack he runs with his family? Or is he representing Canada as he competes for the title of World’s Best Sommelier in Paris? 

This week on Storylines, Acey Rowe follows Pier-Alexis Souliere as he does both.

We’re heading from Pier's home town in rural Quebec where he learned about wine and service at his mother’s knee, to the international capital of wine (Pairs!) where he’s determined to champion Canada on the world stage—and prove himself.

But this competition has left him conflicted. Where wine and home were once entwined, Pier’s heart may now be asking him to choose.