Tony Aspler C.M.

Photographer Steven Elphick

Tony Aspler, a former award-winning CBC Radio producer (‘Echoes of Children’, ‘Africa Week’) and founding chairman of Crime Writers of Canada, has been writing about wine for over 30 years. He was the wine columnist for The Toronto Star for 21 years and has authored fourteen books on wine and food, including ‘The Wine Atlas of Canada,’ ‘Vintage Canada,’ The Wine Lover's Companion`, `The Wine Lover Cooks` and `Travels With My Corkscrew‘. Tony’s latest book is, ‘The Definitive Canadian Wine & Cheese Cookbook’ (with chef Gurth Pretty).

In December 2007, Tony was awarded the Order of Canada.

In February 2001, Tony co-founded a charitable foundation with Arlene Willis. `Grapes for Humanity` raises money through the wine community for the victims of landmines and children with disabilities (www.grapesforhumanity.com).

Tony is an accomplished wine educator and lecturer. He averages 40 - 50 personal appearances a year at seminars and lectures.

Tony is the creator of the annual Ontario Wine Awards competition, an honorary governor of Cuvée and a director of the Independent Wine & Spirit Trust. He is also a director of The Canadian Wine Library. At the Niagara Grape & Wine Festival 2000, Tony was presented with the ‘Royal Bank Business Citizen of the Year’ Award.

Tony writes for a number of international wine magazines, including Wine Spectator, Wine Business International, Tidings, Post City Magazines, Lexpert, Fine Wine & Liquor (China), www.decanter.com and www.appellationamerica.com. He is the Canadian contributor to Tom Stevenson’s annual ‘Wine Report’. You can hear Tony on 680News – Friday, Saturday and Sunday - talking about wine.

Tony also writes fiction. He is the author of nine novels. His latest series is a collection of wine murder mysteries featuring the itinerant wine writer/detective Ezra Brant: `Blood Is Thicker Than Beaujolais`, `The Beast of Barbaresco`, and `Death On The Douro` (published by Warwick Publishing). He is currently working on `Nightmare In Napa Valley.’

Tony Aspler’s website can be found at www.tonyaspler.com.

Books

Fiction:

The Streets of Askelon
One of My Marionettes
Chain Reaction (with Gordon Pape)
The Scorpion Sanction (with Gordon Pape)
The Music Wars (with Gordon Pape)
Titanic
Blood Is Thicker than Beaujolais
The Beast of Barbaresco
Death on the Douro

Non-Fiction:

International Guide to Wine (with John C. Lindsay)
Vintage Canada
The Wine Lover’s Companion
Aligoté To Zinfandel
Guide to New World Wines
The Dinner Companion
Cellar & Silver (with Rose Murray)
The Wine Lover Cooks (with Kathleen Sloan)
Canadian Wine for Dummies
Travels With My Corkscrew
A Taste for Wine
The Chef’s Table (with Lucy Waverman and James Chatto)
The Wine Atlas of Canada
The Definitive Canadian Wine Cheese Cookbook (with Gurth Pretty)

Back to Wine