Michael Tremblay is co-author, with Nancy Matsumoto, of the James Beard Award-winning book Exploring the World of Japanese Craft Saké. Michael is a global leader in sake and wine education. In addition to being a certified sake instructor for the Wine and Spirits Education Trust (WSET), he is a senior sake judge for the International Wine Challenge (IWC), the largest sake competition in the world. In September 2018, he was inducted into the select group of “Sake Samurai,” an honor bestowed  by the Japan Sake Brewers Association at a ceremony in Kyoto’s sacred Matsuo Taisha, a 1,300-year-old-shrine to sake. Sake Samurai are chosen for their deep familiarity with sake culture and their local beverage markets, and for their work as educators and ambassadors for sake.

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Michael is a regular guest on Toronto’s Global TV’s “Morning Show,” and has been featured in and written for numerous national and international publications. He has given seminars and led tastings for groups of up to 150 people on a variety of sake-related themes. Michael is currently preparing to launch a course on sake regionality. He is also sake sommelier for Ki Modern Japanese + Bar, where he manages the largest sake program in Canada. 

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