Manuel Gonzalez was born in Guadalajara, Mexico. His journey with wine began in 2015 when he decided that this was going to be his area of study. He graduated as a CAPS certified sommelier the following year from Niagara College.
In 2018, he successfully completed the CMS exam finishing with the highest grade overall and was thus awarded the Walter Clore Scholarship. Manny's experience includes a rewarding stage position at one of Ontario’s notable restaurants, Quatrefoil, under the supervision of Jose Luis Fernandez, 2019 winner of Best Ontario Sommelier presented by CAPS. He currently holds the Head Sommelier position at Treadwell Cuisine in Niagara-on-the-Lake where he and owner, restauranteur and fellow sommelier, James Treadwell manage the Two Glass- Best of Award of Excellence beverage program.
He's an active working sommelier, with firsthand knowledge to areas in need of expanding the CAPS program so it's viewed by other wine professionals as a program with world-class standards.